Anglicans No Longer Weird!

Last updated on: December 27, 2014 at 10:00 am by Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Anglicans No Longer Weird! 2014-12-27T10:00:47-05:00 Fr. Dwight Longenecker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Church of England General Synod has finally voted to allow women bishops. The Daily Telegraph reports here.

The main thrust of the argument seems to be that the members of the Church of England didn’t want to feel ‘weird’.

During the debate at Church House in London one leading women cleric warned that the failure to agree the issue in the past made them simply look “weird”.

During the debate Canon Rosie Harper, chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham, said:

“I would like to take a moment to look at this from the outside in.

“I would like to name the sheer weirdness of a community arguing about discrimination in the 21st century – people out there don’t care enough to be angry but they do dismiss us as weird.

“If we are serious about our mission, and I know this is a very basic point, we really do have to stop being weird.”

I remember the debates in the Church of England in the late 80s about women’s ordination to the priesthood. There was solid debate from clergy and laypeople about the underlying important issues. We discussed (and disagreed) about the theology of priesthood, our sacramental theology and the impact of the decision on church unity. We discussed the scriptural arguments, the theological arguments, the political and practical arguments.

Now it all comes down to, “Hey folks, people think we’re weird! Let’s not be weird! Let’s fit in and go with the crowd!” Rosie Harper keeps harping on this theme and as she does she recites the Anglican creed from it’s formation in the sixteenth century, “The spirit of the age is our spirit! We must go with the prevailing trend in society! What the king says goes. What the culture dictates we accept. We must fit in. We are after all, the established church.”

What has this to do with the gospel at all? “Render unto Caesar” has become “render everything to Caesar.” In fact it has become “We have no king but Caesar” and where have I heard that before?

I am always amazed at how the Pope seems to speak accurately to the Anglican situation almost exactly at the right time. This week while the Church of England General Synod has broken out the champagne to celebrate yet another marriage with the Spirit of the Age, Pope Francis delivers this blistering rejection of compromise with the Spirit of the Age.

the people of God prefer to distance themselves from the Lord in favour of worldly proposals. He said worldliness is the root of evil and it can lead us to abandon our traditions and negotiate our loyalty to God who is always faithful. This – the Pope admonished – is called apostasy, which he said is a form of “adultery” which takes place when we negotiate the essence of our being: loyalty to the Lord.

I’ve written further on this topic here. The other irony is that this report comes in the same week when former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has bemoaned the decline of the Church of England…saying the CofE will be gone in another generation. More on that here.

This shows the typical self righteous blindness of the progressives. A progressive is never self critical. So blinded by their ideology they cannot imagine that they basic principles and precepts are flawed. That can never be. Therefore with the naive optimism of the truly stupid they go on making the same mistakes over and over again. In fact, they make the same mistakes on a larger and larger scale until the whole thing caves.

Since the 1960s the Church of England (like all the mainstream Protestant denominations) has been following the progressive path–accommodating one liberal cause after another, compromising the faith, denying the basic Christian doctrines, ignoring Christian-Biblical morality, throwing out tradition and espousing every crazy craze that seems like a good idea. The evidence is that their churches are emptying. The whole thing is going down the pan very fast.

And their response is to do more of the same.

And they say that they are no longer weird?

UPDATE: This comment from an Anglican exults in the decision and says pretty much, “We sat down and worked it out and talked to each other and have agreed to disagree. Once again–a perfectly Anglican solution: you may believe what you like as long as you let me believe what I like. What we will not tolerate is intolerance.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 20, 2013

Dating the New Testament

Next Post

November 21, 2013 The Relentless Protestant Pursuit of Progress

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anglican Matters Apologetics Architecture Blobble Study Book Reviews Brideshead Caitlin O'Rourke Catholic Art Catholic Culture Church Politics Chust for Nice Contemporary Culture Duane Mandible Ed Blanch Film Reviews Fr Harvey Nicolaitan Frank Viola Mantilla the Hon More Christianity Mrs Brady Catholic Old Lady Mystery of the Magi Norman Anderson Queen Hillary Saints and Supernatural Spirituality The Inklings The Vicar Theology Todd Unctuous Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz