New Anglican Schism = Old Protestantism

Last updated on: January 12, 2016 at 9:58 am by Fr. Dwight Longenecker

New Anglican Schism = Old Protestantism 2016-01-12T09:58:43-05:00 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.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

You remember the three “R’s” of “Readin’ Writin’ and “Rithmatic”? Consider three “R’s” that are tearing apart global Anglicanism: Relevance, Relativism and Revolution.

Edward Pentin writes here about the formal schism that faces the worldwide Anglican Communion. To put it briefly, the modernists in the Anglican Church are facing a widespread walkout by those who adhere to historic Christianity. The big issue this time is homosexuality. The liberal Anglican churches of the UK, USA and Canada are ramping up their campaign for the LGBTI agenda while the Anglicans of the developing world –especially Africa–(along with mostly Evangelical Anglicans in the North) are holding to Biblical principles of Christian morality.

This trouble has been brewing in the Anglican church for decades, and now the progressives in the church have got everything they pushed for in the area of women’s ordination (the Church of England finally ordained women bishops last year) they have moved their armies to the next battlefield and are launching a full attack for the LGBTI campaign. As an Anglican diocesan bishop said to me once in that lofty, self righteous way perfected by the English upper classes, “We have been at the forefront of equality for women. Now we must see that the church embraces gay people with the same heart of justice!”

His comment should help conservative Christians who are opposed to the progressive agenda to understand just how the progressives see themselves. They are the prophetic pioneers who are urging their brothers and sisters to reach out in peace and justice to the oppressed and marginalized. They are the ones who are willing to overthrow the old ways in order to usher in a new age of the spirit. They love the vision of Peter in which all the unclean things were declared clean because that shows how the Holy Spirit is always calling the church to re-examine her old prohibitions and throw them away in favor of a new way of love and peace. They love the “old wineskins cannot contain new wine” passage for it justifies the breaking of the old and the valid revolution of the new.

Pentin discusses a progressive missive to the Archbishop of Canterbury:

Pressure has also been building in the run-up to this week’s meeting with more than 100 Anglicans, including the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, sending a letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York urging repentance for treating homosexuals as “second-class citizens.”

“The time has come,” they wrote, for Anglicans to acknowledge that they have failed in their duty “to care for LGBTI members of the Body of Christ around the world.” The Anglican Communion, they added, needed to “apologize” for not “challenging ill-informed beliefs about LGBTI people.”

The signers of the letter said they understood there are “differing ways of interpreting the Scriptures” but urged the primates to be “prophetic” and “Christlike” in dealing with “our LGBTI sisters and brothers who have been ignored and even vilified for too long.”

We should step back and understand how this is part of a much bigger philosophical issue, and part of a march larger historical narrative. The schism facing the Anglican Church is simply the history of Protestantism being re-enacted again and again. From the beginning Protestantism has been driven by the three “R’s” of Revolution, Relevance and Relativism.

Look at the founding principles of Protestantism five hundred years ago. The same self righteous, pioneering, “prophetic” attitude was present. Using the name of “Reformation” the zealots were actually revolutionaries. What is the difference between reform and revolution? A reformer calls for a refreshment of the original calling, and a renewal of the original charism. A true Reformer doesn’t break anything. He repairs it and re-paints it. A revolutionary, on the other hand, is driven by a perverse need to destroy what he considers to be out of date and oppressive. Protestantism is a revolutionary movement, and it is no coincidence historically that directly after the Protestant reformation came five hundred years of revolution and violence.

The present turmoil in the Anglican Church simply represents the whole underlying principle of Protestantism. Continue Reading

Image Creative Commons

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 10, 2016

Who Is Tom Bombadil?

Next Post

January 12, 2016 Understanding the Power of Prayer

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