Posted on 02/11/2007 5:33:45 PM PST by sionnsar
Ruth Gledhill sounds increasingly pessimistic about Dar es Salaam:
Only a few days ago one senior Church of England bishop rounded on her, although not because she’s a woman. He said she was “increasingly departing from basic Christian belief in the Lordship and Uniqueness of Christ.”
If she’s at the meeting as an equal, there’s a strong chance there’ll be a walk-out. In an attempt avoid this, the meeting’s only set-piece eucharist is voluntary. The Primates will not be forced to share communion with her or with each other. All they’ll have to do in is to say mattins. And even they might manage to do that together without a fight.
Leading the march this week against Bishop Schori and any other champions of pro-gay liberalism will be Peter Akinola, the Nigerian Primate. His is an orthodox, Biblical view on homosexuality.
And over these squabbles will preside headteacher Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. Having pledged his heart to the Gospel mandate of one church, one Lord, he’s the one carrying the cross on this Via Dolorosa. Expect a crucifixion if it all goes wrong.
What makes it all so insoluble is that each faction has got right on its side. The Episcopalians have justice, the Global South leaders have tradition and Biblical orthodoxy.
Sometimes I just wish the Anglican hierarchy could step back and consider for a minute how all this looks to the outside world.
To friends of mine in journalism and at the school gates, it looks no better than the politics of the playground. They laugh about it, or shake their heads with incomprehension. Yet these are not children but Anglican bishops and archbishops we are talking about. Is it any wonder that secularism is on the march in Britain today?
Ruth? Here's the deal. The reason things may just come to a head this week involves a particularly un-Anglican characteristic. Realism. A lot of us finally figured out in 2003 that there are two religions in the Anglican world, Kate Schori's and mine, and that men will learn to divide by zero before these two religions can be reconciled.
This situation could have been resolved long ago if the Episcopal Church had not been so staggeringly arrogant from October, 2003 to the present day. But TEC is what it is and the fact that too many of my religion took a little too long to come to that conclusion is our fault. The Anglican split should have happened years ago, the Anglican Communion cannot be salvaged in its present form and the sooner that all of the Communion realizes that, the happier all of us will be.
UPDATE: The Captain nails it:
Er, no. Both sides probably would agree that one of the Church’s purposes is to help individual Christian grow in holiness to-Godward. One side, taking it’s stand with historical Christianity and the great majority of Christians worldwide today, says that certain behaviors stand in the way of that progress in holiness. The other side would have it that those behaviors are not an impediment. This is the presenting difficulty. As the matter is debated and discussed, other problems are highlighted, including fundamental matters of who Jesus is, of God’s relationship to his creation and his plans for it, and of the nature of evil and sin and of humankind’s participation in them. TEC’s presentation of this as a justice issue is deceptive and misleading.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. That assessment is a bit late...the train has already left the station.
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