The Gospel of God in Christ is faithfully proclaimed by Canadian Anglicans today just as it has been by generations who have gone before us. I believe it is important to state this truth in response to the recent statement from the GAFCON gathering in Jerusalem, which suggests otherwise.
The GAFCON statement is based on a premise that there is “acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different gospel which is contrary to the apostolic gospel.” The statement specifically accuses Anglican churches in the Canada and the United States of proclaiming this “false gospel that has paralysed the Communion.” I challenge and repudiate this charge.
In my first year as Primate, I have visited many parishes across the country, attended synods and participated in gatherings of clergy and laity who care deeply for the church, its unity and witness. What I see is a faithful proclamation of the apostolic gospel in liturgy and loving service to those in need and in advocacy for justice and peace for all people.
As I read the GAFCON response of Fred Hiltz, Archbishop and Primate, a passage of scripture comes to mind:
[blockquote] This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’ –Proverbs 30:20 [/blockquote]
This simply shows that there are two totally different conceptions of what the Gospel is at play. You can tell that the false gospel is false because no Christian would recognize it up until about 40 years ago.
As a delegate to GAFCON, I could see this coming.
+Hiltz fails to realize that the “new gospel” that he and the ACiC proclaiming is one of affirmation, not faith (=trust). It is a gospel that denies that personal sin is a barrier to God. It is a gospel that denies the authority of God spoken through Holy Scripture and that denies the Church as the Body of Christ. This is the new gospel.
The Gospel that the Church teaches is the Good News that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us – that we are burried with Christ in His death and share in His resurrection. We are sinners who cannot find God on our own, so He came looking for us. Jesus didn’t come to make us nice. He came to make us new!
[url=http://www.deaconslant.blogspot.com]I’m slanted, not twisted[/url]
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
How could anyone believe that we are not as committed as anyone else in the Communion to the Millenium Development Goals?
Lovely, makes one feel all warm and fluffy.
For Canadians, the main import of this statement is that ++Hiltz has for the first time agreed to have his responses written by a ghostwriter. There is absolutely no way ++Hiltz wrote this statement; it is too well organized. Canadians may now start to try and deduce who his ghostwriter is.
In the past, the distinguishing feature of all ++Hiltz’s genuine utternance have been that they are incoherent, sometimes close to illerate. Either someone has got to him, or, like many Canadians, he’s going on vacation and just asked someone he trusts to write something up so he could sign it and take off.
Toral
*utterances*, *illiterate*
“…loving service to those in need and in advocacy for justice and peace for all people.”
Does anyone else realise that justice for all people (except for the grace of God) is Hell?
Sorry, Mr Hinz, I deserve justice but am very grateful that I receive redemption and grace instead. You have no gospel at all.
Don
#5 I had the same thought as I read the first sentence.
I would urge readers to think deeply about this sentence:
[b] What I see is a faithful proclamation of the apostolic gospel in liturgy and loving service to those in need and in advocacy for justice and peace for all people. [/b]
So here is my question. Is the proclamation of the apostolic gospel preaching repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, or is it reading a prayer book in front of someone dressed like a Jedi Knight?
And another question. Is the church the temple of God Himself, built by the Holy Spirit of men women and children who have put their trust in Jesus, and in whose midst the apostolic gospel is preached, believed, and obeyed, or is it a social club with a religious theme?
Let’s see:
Diocesan leaders in Niagara are proclaiming that the truth of the Nicene Creed, and doctrines of Christology [url=http://www.anglicanessentials.ca/wordpress/index.php/2008/06/30/niagara-anglican-truth-of-nicene-creed-doesnt-really-matter/]”don’t matter”[/url]
+Michael Ingham bishop of New Westminster once gave a lecture on Pluralism in which he concluded:
[blockquote]Can modern Christians learn to sing two religious tunes at the same time? Can we sing the song of the Christian tradition, the Nicene Creed, the hymns, songs and poetry of our ancient and lovely tradition, which proclaim Jesus Christ as redeemer of the world and saviour of all humanity – and can we at the same time sing the song of the inter-faith movement, which proclaims the saving activity of God in other ways, an infinite variety of ways, in this diverse and complex world? Can we sing the Lord’s song as we have come to learn it, and a new song which places God at the heart of the universe, God at the centre of other ways of believing, God who is ultimately beyond our knowing and even perhaps beyond our religion? Are they in fact different songs?
Well, one will be a Christocentric song – that is, a song centred in Jesus Christ as the final revelation of God for us. The other will be a Theocentric song, which we will learn to sing with others who love, worship and obey God by a different name. If you say this is intellectually dishonest, that these songs are disharmonious and incompatible, a blasphemy against Christ, then I would say, try it and see. God works much more effectively through music than theology in my experience.
In fact, we do sing different songs all the time. We couldn’t live in the modern world unless we did. We sing ancient hymns written when people thought the earth was flat, and we translate them in our minds. We read sacred texts that presuppose ideas we no longer believe in, but we search those texts for eternal truths which still illumine and inspire us. We listen to language that excludes but hear it as including us, inviting us in. We are modern technological people, computer nerds, scientists, or at least deeply influenced by a scientific world, and yet we dance in circles, we pray to the invisible depths, we hold truths that are incapable of verification by anything except the soul. [/blockquote]
[url=http://www.olst.ca/ingham.htm]source[/url]
Is that the authentic Apostolic gospel? I don’t think so.
I could go on, but time is tight tonight.
Note: Stand Firm has started a great [b][url=http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/13902/]”document the heresy” thread[/url][/b] for the purpose of enabling all of us reasserters to refute claims such as the one +Hiltz and +Schori (and yes, ++Rowan too) are making that “all is well” and that there is no widespread heresy.
With the possible exception of Fr. Jake (who proudly proclaims it at the top of his blog), how many heretics admit that they are in fact, heretics?
IXCX NIKA
John
Does anyone else realise that justice for all people (except for the grace of God) is Hell?
Can’t say that I do Don. That’s simply punishment.
When you are old as I am, your focus on the “next world†is very real. I would hate to be in the good Bishops shoes in twenty, thirty or forty years from now. I will pray for his soul when he leaves this life. In the meantime, I pray for the souls of all who follow him in this “new thing.â€
I won’t follow him, or +Schori or my own Bishop. But how many will? They will not repent of their sins today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter. They will end up with nothing to offer God, since while they were here, they didn’t listen to what God has told us through Jesus Christ. They had rather follow this good Bishop, +Schori, and a gaggle of other Bishops who have decided they know the road better than God’s own Son.
They will have nothing at that final day, for they will have decided man’s (and woman’s) way is for them to pronounce.
Will they leave in the Glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit after they rejected Him while here?
I must note that the comments in the Niagara Anglican are not official statements of the Niagara diocese. During past controversies, bishops of Niagara have made it clear that the Anglican is run under an independent editorial board not under the bishops’s control.
For those who are wondering, then, what, the Niagara Anglican‘s editorial policy is and how it differs from the national church journal’s editorial policy , I will dispense an old joke I have been saving up for some time: The Anglican Journal makes one want to commit murder; the Niagara Anglican makes one want to commit suicide.
Toral
BfT19, who do you think said the most about Hell? Just curious.
[blockquote]7. DonGander wrote:
Does anyone else realise that justice for all people (except for the grace of God) is Hell?
[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
11. Brian from T19 wrote:
Can’t say that I do Don. That’s simply punishment. [/blockquote]
Brian – Being denied entry to heaven because we are sinful is not a punishment, it is a consequence. God do not do it to us, it is the result of our actions. God is merciful and has given us Jesus so that those that believe in him will be granted the special gift of entering heaven. But we must believe and must repent. What part of that do you not believe?
#10 Ad Orientem says:
Oh, I’ll cop to it quite readily. I am at the very minimum a semi-Pelagian heretic, and doubtless at least some kinds of the many Trinitarian heresies. There are certain areas where I’m fairly orthodox, but taken all in all I’m unabashedly heterodox.
Reminds me of:
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
BfT19, who do you think said the most about Hell? Just curious.
I’m not sure I understand your question. The concept of ‘Hell’ has been around in one form or another forever. Every society/religion has a concept of a place of torment or of separation.
Brian – Being denied entry to heaven because we are sinful is not a punishment, it is a consequence. God do not do it to us, it is the result of our actions. God is merciful and has given us Jesus so that those that believe in him will be granted the special gift of entering heaven. But we must believe and must repent. What part of that do you not believe?
Actually, I don’t believe any of it. I don’t believe that anyone is denied entry into heaven. If I did believe that, then the inescapable conclusion is that God did do it to us. If we are born into sin, then that is how we are created-it is not a choice that I personally made. I am familiar with the theology behind Original Sin and I simply don’t believe it.
Brian do think of yourself as a Christian? If you do, what do you think is the reason/purpose of God becoming man and being crucified? What do you think one has to believe to be a Christian? If you would prefer to take this to Private Messages I would really like to try to understand.
Brian do think of yourself as a Christian?
It wouldn’t be the term I would use, but I am a follower of Jesus.
If you do, what do you think is the reason/purpose of God becoming man and being crucified?
God became incarnate to demonstrate His love for man and to gain an understanding of what His creatures experience. His crucifixion was a tragic rejection of God by man.
What do you think one has to believe to be a Christian?
To be a Christian, one has to believe in the Creeds of the Church (Apostles and Nicene).
If you would prefer to take this to Private Messages I would really like to try to understand.
I suppose the elves would prefer that since the next 20 posts will be spent flaming me;-) My address is dopeypugdog[at]aol[dot]com
#18: If all are granted entry to heaven, then the concept of divine justice is meaningless and human justice becomes acts in isolation.
Beside that, however, is you declaration that “God did do it.” The tale of the Garden of Edan is a metaphor and an allegory We will grant that. But what is it a tale of, a metaphor phor? Evolution has programed into us a set of instincts which long centuries ago aided in our physical survival. They are still with us. Shall we give them free rein as once we did? Obviously we cannot if society is to cohere, though their sublimation and redirection have obvious value.
What then. The Garden is human choice, the tale of free will. We did what was wrong – we disobeyed God’s will for us – and we did so by virtue of intellectual vanity – Eve – and by love misapplied – Adam. Who is the serpent? All those elements we carry with us that convince our will – we convince ourselves, after all – to do what we know we should not do and not to do what we should. At no point were we coerced by outside forces. God does not interfere in our lives COERCING our will. This is actually rather simple and obvious:
We do “it” to ourselves. And then we die: God now DOES “it” to us and our will is frozen. We had our chance. We sin in the mind first because our will permits it, and then we sin in fact because our will permits it.
We cannot help lust boiling up from the medulla; but we can recognize it for what it is and refuse to allow it to control what we wish for and what we do. We fail often, and yet the intent NOT to fail is there in those who know it should be there. And so we try again. I have coveted my neighbor’s wife. I have not acted on it
(and this is not easy to do, if one is invited.) Does God distinguish between the desire and the suppression of the action because our will will not let us do wht we know is wrong? If he doesn’t., I am in deep s–t. God and Evolution are one thing; I need lust or else the race will die, but evolution has also given me free will. Only in giving me free will has God done “it” to me. Would I give I up if I could? NO, not I. Larry
As Sarah at Stand Firm would say, there’s no point in further discussion of these matters with Brian from T19. foundational world views are simply too different.
Brian – Thank You
Since you do not consider your self a Christian, I would not expect you to believe all the Christian tenents. It seems that you have found things about Jesus you like and you follow those select things. I see this a being consistent and honest. Consider that if find enough about Jesus you believe that you can consider yourself a follower of Jesus, keep the door open to more.
To appropriate what Gamaliel said about the Gospel, if the gospel to which +Fred Hiltz refers is of God it is unstoppable.
But I would ask, in light of last Sunday’s gospel (Peter’s confession), does that gospel foster a faith that will smash the gates of hell? I don’t think so, for it is more concerned with being nice to the gatekeeper.
[blockquote] the gospel calls us to be reconciled, to pursue healing and to seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit [/blockquote]
The gospel calls each of us to repent. Calls each of us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Calls each of us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Calls each of us to be servants. Calls to each of us that Jesus is the way, truth, and life. Warns us not to give up the law and the prophets in order to enter the kingdom of God.
Wait, law and prophets?
Jesus in those pesky recorded gospels is quoted as saying, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” And, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
So, good bishop, what are we reconciling, here? Where is repentance in the gospel in the church in Canada?
BlueO
The gospel calls each of us to repent. Calls each of us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Calls each of us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Calls each of us to be servants. Calls to each of us that Jesus is the way, truth, and life. Warns us not to give up the law and the prophets in order to enter the kingdom of God.
AMEN! Sin has tinted their sight so much so that
they are calling evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.
For that, they believe theres nothing to repent of…..alas….as in days of Sodom and Gomorah. Maranatha !
BfT19, let’s make it clearer. Who in the New Testament said the most about Hell?