A parallel national Anglican church was launched on Thursday amid charges by a leading theologian that the Anglican Church of Canada has been poisoned by liberalism and is real the cause of the schism now underway.
“Schism means unwarranted and unjustified separation from the rest of the Church (structure), causing an indefensible breach of unity,” said J.I. Packer, a Canadian who Time magazine called one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. “Those who are unfaithful to the heritage are the schismatics. It is not we who are the schismatics.”
Mr. Packer said the Anglican Church of Canada has been “poisoned” by a liberal theology that “knows nothing of a God who uses (the Bible) to tell us things and knows nothing of sin in the heart and in the head.”
Existentialism poisons truth.
He is absolutely right of course, and hundreds have said what he is saying in the USA, but for whatever reason….it continues to fall on the deaf ears of a majority of the Bishops and Delegates of TEC. It matters not what scripture one quotes, they SPIN it and disregard it.
So Sad, so NOT the church that I was ordained in 33 years ago.
“Bishop Michael Ingham, the bishop of New Westminster, B.C., which started performing same-sex blessings in 2003, said the network is using “Orwellian double-speak” to get out from under the word schism. But he agreed the issues go beyond sexuality. “They are deeply discontented with a church that accommodates diversity. They want to draw boundaries more tightly around themselves.”
He said since 2003, the eight parishes in his diocese — out of a total of 79 — have performed 20 same-sex blessings “and the sky is not falling.”
Mr. Ingham believes the network is just another splinter group among many that have popped up through the history of the church.
“It’s the latest instance of an occasional trend. The vast majority of Anglicans, including conservatives and traditionalists, will stay with the church.” ”
Hear ye, Hear ye! The mighty +Ingham has pontificated yet again. Just recall who endorsed gay blessings and who it is that is saying the sky is not falling as the Anglican Communion falls apart over his actions and those of his ilk. CAN YOU SAY “Denial”, Michael?
I knew you could.
“existentialism poisons truth” What does this mean? Must I start flipping through Sein Und Zeit to figure out this cryptic analysis?
In the history of ideas, liberalism and evangelicalism came from the same subjective root, outside the political sphere of Catholicism. The bible was posed against church authority as the location for forming the mind.
Liberalism, however, deepened into a general critique of most forms of tradition. For Christian reformers, it is a “friendly” critique of tradition.
As far as knowing nothing about a God that speaks through scripture or of sin etc, Packer draws a straw man. Liberals do not deny God speaks through scripture; nor do we deny the sins of heart and head. If anything, we all stand condemned before scripture. Who is righteous? A better view is that Liberals would not say God only speaks through scripture; and that sins of heart and head have the consequences conservatives demand. There is a reverential, practical agnosticism in parts of liberalism in making broad public assertions with certainty. There is no reason a liberal could not be a private conservative, but wary about testing their statements in the public forum. A liberal can be privately pious, publicly skeptical.
4. John Wilkins:
Ah! But Existentialism poisons Liberalism.
I am a Liberal. I attended a liberal arts college.
Existentialism poisons truth. There I must remain.
Am not sure what “existentialism poisons the church”, but…
“Inclusivity” poisons the church.
Inclusivity is just a dissembling, cowardly spin word that means ordination of practicing homosexual clergy and blessing of the SSU’s without having the integrity to say this. ABp Anis called for such forthrightness in language and he was met with curses from US bishops.
Can a Christian Church survive “inclusivity”. I see no evidence that it can. Does Michael Ingham care? I see no evidence that he does.
Jim Packer is one of the few Puritans left in the Anglican Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._I._Packer
No, I am not he. 🙂
[Bishop Ingram] said since 2003, the eight parishes in his diocese — out of a total of 79 — have performed 20 same-sex blessings “and the sky is not falling.”
You have two retired bishops starting up an alternative province; your number are nose-diving; and the level of unhappiness within the denomination is high enough that people are opening saying the S-word.
Exactly what would it look like if the sky was falling on the Anglican church in Canada?