Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries

Anglican church a ‘drunk man’ staggering ever closer to the edge of a cliff, Archbishop says

by   - 2

Source:  http://life.nationalpost.com

 

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that the Anglican church is tottering on the brink of disintegration amid disputes between liberals and traditionalists.

In his most stark comments yet about divisions over issues such as homosexuality, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the Church was coming perilously close to plunging into a “ravine of intolerance”.

He even drew parallels between the crisis afflicting the 77-million-strong worldwide network of Anglican churches and the atmosphere during the Civil War. And he likened the collective behaviour of the Church to a “drunk man” staggering ever closer to the edge of a cliff.

Yet he added that many of the issues over which different factions in the Church were fighting were “incomprehensible” to people outside it.

He spoke out during a sermon in Monterrey, Mexico, which he was visiting as part of a plan to travel to every province of the Anglican Communion at the start of his ministry.

The Archbishop, who took office in February, inherited a Church deeply divided at home and abroad.

At home, he has been attempting to resolve the seemingly intractable disagreements within the Church of England over women bishops. But the worldwide Anglican Church has also been split between liberal provinces, particularly in North America, and more conservative regions for several years after the US Church consecrated its first openly homosexual bishop.

***************************************

The Anglican Church is drunk man staggering ever closer to the edge of a cliff

Source: http://www.anglicansamizdat.net

So says the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that the Anglican church is tottering on the brink of disintegration amid disputes between liberals and traditionalists.

At last someone has noticed. Sadly, although the prognosis is probably accurate, the diagnosis isn’t.

The cause of the Anglican malaise has never been the fact that there are disputes between liberals and conservatives; the cause is simply that liberals have got it wrong.

Justin Welby went on to note:

In his most stark comments yet about divisions over issues such as homosexuality, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the Church was coming perilously close to plunging into a “ravine of intolerance”.

“Intolerance” isn’t the problem either; misrepresenting Christianity – and that’s what liberals in the homosexuality debate tend to do  – is intolerable.

Yet he added that many of the issues over which different factions in the Church were fighting were “incomprehensible” to people outside it.

Undoubtedly true; but the incomprehensibility of the debate doesn’t mean – as Welby seems to imply – that both factions must be incorrect.

“On one side is the steep fall into an absence of any core beliefs, a chasm where we lose touch with God, and thus we rely only on ourselves and our own message. On the other side there is a vast fall into a ravine of intolerance and cruel exclusion. It is for those who claim all truth, and exclude any who question.”

The first sentence is a suitable epithet for North American Anglicanism. The second is a sure sign that Welby has been conned by liberals into believing that conservatives are intolerant and that making any demands of anyone renders a church exclusive. The third appears to be a concession to contemporary relativism: truth is unknowable.

At least one thing is correct: we are staggering close to the edge of a cliff.

 

Article published in English on: 1-9-2013.

Last update: 1-9-2013.

UP