By Canon Phil Ashey
..by their own admission, these Canadian bishops are “unable to come to a common mind about what the Spirit is saying to the Church.” Really? From which “Spirit” are they seeking discernment? The Spirit of Jesus Christ, whose mind is undivided, as Paul so powerfully expounds in Philippians 2:5-11? The Spirit who inspired God’s revelation from creation, in Holy Scripture, that God created humanity “male and female” (Genesis 1:27) and that marriage is a holy estate between a man “who shall leave his father and mother” to be united to his wife so that “the two will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)? Were they seeking discernment from the same Spirit who inspired Jesus to cite this ordinance in Matthew 19:5, and in the very next verse to emphasize its holiness and permanence by declaring “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matt. 19:6)?
Or were they seeking discernment from some other Spirit, or the Spirit of the age?
The Holy Spirit who reigns with the father and the Son from the beginning is the same Spirit who at creation hovered over the unformed depths and waters of creation. The Holy Spirit is the same Spirit who helped bring order out of that chaos. He is not the author of chaos. And he is certainly not responsible for the doctrinal chaos in the Anglican Church of Canada today.