I have mixed feelings about this. In general I favor dialogue with other Christians provided that there is a sufficient level of commonality to make such a dialogue worthwhile. Such is clearly not the case with TEC as Met. +Jonah has rightly concluded.
However this does beg the question of exactly what the objective here is. +Jonah has stated that “full communion” is the objective. That raises interesting questions in and of itself. Does +Jonah mean to imply a tacit acceptance of Anglican orders and sacraments and that the division between the ACNA and Orthodoxy is one of schism and not heresy?
From what I know of +Jonah this seems exceedingly unlikely. And of course as evidence we have his well received address to the founding convention of the ACNA in which he outlined a variety of points of serious theological importance that the ACNA needs to address. Among those he singled out as non-negotiable were the acceptance without reservation of the first seven OEcumenical Councils, the repudiation of iconoclasm the filioque and Calvinism (all of which are condemned heresies) and an end to W/O.
I can not realistically see how the ACNA as it is currently composed can agree to these conditions as there is within it significant support for all of the above. For the ACNA to embrace even one of the above conditions would almost certainly spark another Anglican schism. The unhappy truth is that the ACNA is being held together by the slenderest of threads right now. It is composed of groups with doctrinally incompatible positions and that tension is simmering under the surface. I think it would be fair to say that much of the glue holding the ACNA together is coming from 815. But once they become more comfortable with their independence and the fierce battles with TEC over property and similar issues start to fade then I think these internal tensions are gong to become more pronounced.
My suspicion is and has always been that +Jonah, while talking pro forma with the ACNA, is in fact addressing the High Church Anglo-Catholic wing of that body. He knows that the Anglo-Catholics are profoundly uncomfortable in the ACNA especially with a presiding bishop that many consider to be a heretic and whose support for W/O is anathema to them. It is something of an open secret that there is not inconsiderable sentiment in favor of following the lead of the TAC and seeking communion with Rome under whatever terms they can get. Many if not most of the Anglo Catholics are coming to the conclusion that the Anglican Communion is lost to the catholic tradition.
I believe that what +Jonah is doing in a subtle way is presenting the High Church wing with an option that does not include the Pope which many of them had almost certainly given scant thought to. Adding flavor to all of this are a number of remarks since his election as Primate hinting at a more favorable view of the Western Rite, which hitherto has not enjoyed much enthusiasm in the OCA.
This does not mean +Jonah is entering dialogue with the ACNA under false pretenses. He is himself a former Anglican and I think he, being a true idealist, yearns to bring the Anglican Communion into Orthodoxy. But I also think he is intelligent enough to be able to grasp the odds. And if he can’t bring them all in he will be happy to receive those who are willing and able to accept the Orthodox Faith.
I would counsel Metropolitan Jonah to look at the history of ARCIC. Decades of discussion and joint statements have not brought the Anglican Communion any closer to Rome. Anglicanism is far too fractured for there to be any institutional reunion – either with the RCC or the OC. The best hope is to expose the life and teaching of legitimate Orthodoxy to individuals and welcome the converts on Orthodox terms, not theirs. The greatest challenge for a convert is to leave the old baggage behind.
Protestants in general and especially Anglicans love to boast about not leaving you brain at the door. This is eqally true of conservatives as well as leftists, it’s just the the left comes up with greater mush. But there is no greater engagement of the brain, no greater mental challenge than to study the teachings of the Church, not to critique and change or adapt them, but to “inwardly digest them.” To learn them and to live them out.
I have mixed feelings about this. In general I favor dialogue with other Christians provided that there is a sufficient level of commonality to make such a dialogue worthwhile. Such is clearly not the case with TEC as Met. +Jonah has rightly concluded.
However this does beg the question of exactly what the objective here is. +Jonah has stated that “full communion” is the objective. That raises interesting questions in and of itself. Does +Jonah mean to imply a tacit acceptance of Anglican orders and sacraments and that the division between the ACNA and Orthodoxy is one of schism and not heresy?
From what I know of +Jonah this seems exceedingly unlikely. And of course as evidence we have his well received address to the founding convention of the ACNA in which he outlined a variety of points of serious theological importance that the ACNA needs to address. Among those he singled out as non-negotiable were the acceptance without reservation of the first seven OEcumenical Councils, the repudiation of iconoclasm the filioque and Calvinism (all of which are condemned heresies) and an end to W/O.
I can not realistically see how the ACNA as it is currently composed can agree to these conditions as there is within it significant support for all of the above. For the ACNA to embrace even one of the above conditions would almost certainly spark another Anglican schism. The unhappy truth is that the ACNA is being held together by the slenderest of threads right now. It is composed of groups with doctrinally incompatible positions and that tension is simmering under the surface. I think it would be fair to say that much of the glue holding the ACNA together is coming from 815. But once they become more comfortable with their independence and the fierce battles with TEC over property and similar issues start to fade then I think these internal tensions are gong to become more pronounced.
My suspicion is and has always been that +Jonah, while talking pro forma with the ACNA, is in fact addressing the High Church Anglo-Catholic wing of that body. He knows that the Anglo-Catholics are profoundly uncomfortable in the ACNA especially with a presiding bishop that many consider to be a heretic and whose support for W/O is anathema to them. It is something of an open secret that there is not inconsiderable sentiment in favor of following the lead of the TAC and seeking communion with Rome under whatever terms they can get. Many if not most of the Anglo Catholics are coming to the conclusion that the Anglican Communion is lost to the catholic tradition.
I believe that what +Jonah is doing in a subtle way is presenting the High Church wing with an option that does not include the Pope which many of them had almost certainly given scant thought to. Adding flavor to all of this are a number of remarks since his election as Primate hinting at a more favorable view of the Western Rite, which hitherto has not enjoyed much enthusiasm in the OCA.
This does not mean +Jonah is entering dialogue with the ACNA under false pretenses. He is himself a former Anglican and I think he, being a true idealist, yearns to bring the Anglican Communion into Orthodoxy. But I also think he is intelligent enough to be able to grasp the odds. And if he can’t bring them all in he will be happy to receive those who are willing and able to accept the Orthodox Faith.
In ICXC
John
I would counsel Metropolitan Jonah to look at the history of ARCIC. Decades of discussion and joint statements have not brought the Anglican Communion any closer to Rome. Anglicanism is far too fractured for there to be any institutional reunion – either with the RCC or the OC. The best hope is to expose the life and teaching of legitimate Orthodoxy to individuals and welcome the converts on Orthodox terms, not theirs. The greatest challenge for a convert is to leave the old baggage behind.
Protestants in general and especially Anglicans love to boast about not leaving you brain at the door. This is eqally true of conservatives as well as leftists, it’s just the the left comes up with greater mush. But there is no greater engagement of the brain, no greater mental challenge than to study the teachings of the Church, not to critique and change or adapt them, but to “inwardly digest them.” To learn them and to live them out.