Anglican theology is often described as holding together three sources of authority: Scripture, tradition, and reason. This way of framing Anglican theological method is closely associated with the sixteenth-century theologian Richard Hooker, though it is worth noting that Hooker's own writing placed primary weight on Scripture, treating tradition and reason as aids to rightly understanding it, rather than three strictly equal authorities.
This approach is sometimes popularised as a “three-legged stool,” a later summary rather than Hooker's own phrase. Whatever the label, the underlying idea has shaped Anglican theology since: Scripture as the primary authority, read in light of the Church's historic tradition (the Creeds, the early Councils, the Thirty-Nine Articles), and engaged with reasoned reflection rather than treated as requiring no interpretation at all.