Maybe the Last Straw...

The Washington Times today reports that openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson wants to be one of the first in New Hampshire to marry his gay partner. So after the consensus of Global Anglican bishops was that the Episcopal Church should toe the orthodox line on gay issues, this is yet another outrageous and defiant slap in the face to orthodoxy. Meanwhile the NY Times reports that presiding bishopress Katherine Jefforts Schiori is upset that Othodox Nigerian Bishop Peter Akinola is about to consecrate Martin Minns as a bishop here, crossing "boundary" lines. Predictably she considers crossing territorial lines more divisive than biblical morality. She protects her turf, but not the truth.



I have to be honest. I spent my first 16-18 years as a Roman Catholic and spent the next 27 years as a bible-church evangelical. I backed away from that, not because of theological disagreement, but because of a search for something more solid and lasting than the "change the paradigm every 3-5 years" approach that had taken over evangelicalism, and because of a hope that an ecclesiology with a bit more structure might mitigate the endless fragmenting of congregationalism.

I was attracted to Anglicanism because of a rich doctrinal heritage. For example, regarding scripture, Anglicanism was thoroughly founded on the supreme authority of scripture.

VI. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation. Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.

Regarding sin, salvation, redemption, Anglicanism originally was quite reformed. Although Anglicanism tilts toward Calvinism, it is not rigid on that point.

XI. Of the Justification of Man. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

Yet the Anglican church was originally very respectful of the history of the faith, not tending to toss aside as irrelevant the life of the church from Nicea to Luther. The articles of religion explicitly affirm the universal creeds of the faith.

VIII. Of the Three Creeds The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius' Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed; for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.

And the Anglican faith retains a careful and moderated acceptance of sacrament.

XXV. Of the Sacraments. Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God's good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him. There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. (Note: The remaining five lesser sacraments are retained as well, but not quite on the same level as baptism and communion).

I was not unaware that Anglicanism in the USA, in the form of the Episcopal Church, had largely gone the way of heresy, with many, many in leadership denying the miraculous in scripture and one-by-one casting aside essential doctrines. The 39 Articles fell by the wayside and Orthodox, biblical Christianity was gradually replaced with something else.

But when I found that there were deeply committed orthodox people in the Global South who were uniting with committed orthodox people in the United States to affirm scripture and historic Anglican theology and practice I cautiously waded in. It appeared to be the best of both worlds. Evangelical/Biblical and historical/sacramental. Decidedly not Episcopal/liberal.

Yet today, as I follow the political machinations of the Anglican Primates, I find I remain connected, as part of this Anglican Communion, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who remains connected to the Presiding Bishopress, who is in turn connected to the first defiantly, openly, gay bishop, who now publicly states he wants to marry his gay partner.

As such, I feel a bit like an accomplice to heresy, an enabler of what Christians and Jews for 3400 years have called sin. The unofficial agenda of the next few months is that if the Episcopal church does not reject its current path by this September, there will be consequences in the larger communion. That is good. But no one knows what those consequences will be. The Archbishop of Canterbury has a lifelong history of sympathy to the gay rights cause. It is doubtful he will take an strong, final, irreversible action. And the door is apparently open that a different consensus might possibly emerge, one that would one day declare the revisonists the winners.

Which, if decisive action is not taken, leaves only one real option for conservatives. Leave the Anglican Communion. Will they? I think so, but honestly don't know. And if conservative Anglicans left the larger communion, what would that mean? A new denomination. Another division of Christianity.

I once hoped that an embracing of essential faith, that which is biblical on the one hand, and understood by the majority of Christians for 2000 years might be a path toward greater Christian unity. I see that hope fading. Evangelicalism is hopelessly fragmented (and I share guilt for that) and mainline churches are sliding in the same direction as the Episcopal mess.

I know one thing. I will not remain attached, however distantly, to Gene Robinson or those who support him beyond September. I will not enable heresy or morality turned on its head. As much as I long for a path to Christian unity, my first allegiance is to Christ, not to any organization.