Whether the Anglican Communion’s dialogue partners will have the patience to wait while this journey unfolds is also unclear. In a letter of greetings to the conference, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State wrote the “ecclesiological questions which form the framework of your deliberations are a reminder that ministry conferred by ordination is bound by the apostolic faith handed down from the beginning and by the ‘regula fidei’ faithfully transmitted, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through the ages.”
In a carefully phrased critique of recent theological innovations and ecclesial practices within the Communion, Cardinal Bertone said: “Our different understanding of the divine plan for this ministry in the Church is one of the issues which the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission has been addressing for the past 40 years. New issues that have arisen in our relationship pose a further and grave challenge to the hope for full and visible unity that has been the long-standing goal of our joint ecumenical endeavour.”
Alexy, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia was blunt. “The topic of Christian morality, linked with that of gender, is high on the agenda of the present Lambeth Conference,” he wrote.
“There is intense debate about these issues among Anglican bishops, clergy and laity. It seems to me that members of the conference have a very serious task: they have to choose between the traditional, biblical norms of morality and tendencies which consider sin and general permissiveness as manifestations of love and tolerance. That is why there is laid on members of the conference such a great, historic responsibility.”
It’s been all spelled out now — the RCC, the Orthodox, evangelicals of other Christian denominations, and substantial numbers of Anglicans share a common faith. TEC, the AC of C, and fringe elements in other countries — all led by the gay lobby — want a “new thing.”
Did +++Rowan anticipate that Rome would be sending in the cavalry or that the Orthodox, whom he seems to hold especially dear, would lay it on the line? If he can look at orthodox Anglicans, hear their stories, and still be unmoved to act, then will the leaders of other churches convince him? I pray the answer is “yes.”
This Hegelian model is post-Christian and has been the wedge by which orthodoxy has been undermined in the Anglican Communion. The “synthesis” that has emerged from the encounter with liberalism has removed the admixture of Catholic truth.
“Truth is not the possession of any one party with the church or a single denomination, but can only be found through sustained dialogue with one another.”
Hmm….interesting. I wonder if it’s true?
Many Lambeth prayers at Lent & Beyond.
Truth is not held by any one party … we know this to be true because we have the truth and those who disagree with us don’t.
Um, I mean …..
[i]“If we are not yet one as we hope and pray to be,†Dr Williams said, “Perhaps it is because we have not yet gone deep enough. We have not yet together sunk into that bottomless well of God’s love and God’s promise.â€[/i]
Or perhaps it is because some refuse to listen to the clear message of God found in Scripture and in the historic teaching of the Church? That will, indeed, hinder growth in God’s love and promise.
Two cannot walk together if one chooses to go on his/her own path apart from the Other.
It is really wonderful the way the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians have come alongside us at this difficult time.
Sorry Cardinal, most of those attending this “conference” have already made the choice you ask them them to make and they didn’t decide in favor of any traditional understandings of the Bible. For THOSE Anglicans you’ll need to direct your attention to a new structure within the Communion call FCA – Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. They make up well over half of the historic Anglican Communion, and they’re finally getting their act together. They shouldn’t be hard to find, but you won’t find a lot of them at Lambeth — they have better things to do with their time.
Standing in the long tradition of Russian Patriarchs, +++Alexy speaks the truth without mincing words. Anyone who thought we could maintain a relationship with the RO due to our prior hospitality to +++Tikhon needs to see the new reality. TEC is out of the conversation.
“Quid est veritas?”
In his missive to the assembled Anglican bishops, Cardinal Bertone referred to “ministry conferred by ordination ….” Am I missing something, or does this suggest that Rome might be starting to regard Anglican ordinations as valid?
Truth [b]is[/b] held by one party…Jesus Christ. So it is safe to argue that those who discount, disregard, or deny the uniqueness of Christ are not the bearers of the Truth. And those who claim Christ as the only Savior of the world have the Mind of Christ and are the bearers of the Truth.
The simplicity of this fact obviously confounds many educated people.
I have just about had it with the wicked spreading of confusion, fudge and Anglican compromise. ‘Both sides don’t hold full truth’. etc.. What rot!
It is simple really.
Relativism is a product of modern secular thinking. Adopting this philosophy leads to the refusal to accept one truth over another. That is what this statement smacks of.
Jesus Christ as truth incarnate who left us his holy scripture and the apostolic tradition is the position of Christianity. When you have a question you hold it to the light of scripture and doctrine and if it falls short- the answer is so simple as to be obvious.
The orthodox churches are clear. The Roman Church is clear. Most protestant churches are clear. So why are we pretending its in any way difficult? Why are we debating it as though we were the house of commons? As though we are to uphold relativism in our thinking?
Same sex relationships very clearly have no place within Christian living as proclaimed in scripture and taught throughout the Church’s hostory. Only a total imbecile could fail to aknowledge this.
Your vocation Mr. Archbishop is to DEFEND THE FAITH- not allow the proclamation of a new one. If you hold onto that fact – it will all be very clear. You uphold marriage and celibacy. And you discipline all and any who would attempt to muddy Christian teaching- especially those in holy orders.
The increasingly lame and ludicrous C of E tried to keep everyone happy by ordaining women- and surprise, surprise – as things unfolded it led to chaos, pain and fracture. Hardly the outpouring of God’s blessing. And in the end the devil’s finger print is most obviously seen in that it is the genuinly faithful and orthodox who were just betrayed with the breaking of a promise. Yes! Those who upheld scriptural teaching ended up hurt and unwanted. Will anything be done? Will the church ever admit it got it worng in 1992 and this was proved at last months synod? Never. There is not enough honesty or humility.
If you do the same again with active homosexuality- you will have a similar outcome- a drifting away from true faith into a messy and fractured situation.
The time for papering over cracks is long since past. It is now crystal clear. We need one expression of Anglicanism for those who would re-invent and ‘improve’ on what God has chosen to reveal.
And another for those who would submit to faith and obey -even when it leads to unpopular decisions.
Women priests and active homosexuals can then be placed on one side of the tracks. The orthodox on another. And let us watch them grow. Perhaps the Holy Spirit could be dsicerned quite quickly!
Show me just one place in the scripture when Jesus shied away from clear teaching – refusing to make a definitive statement due to truth being held on ‘all sides’ …enough – iT IS GETTING SILLY.
And those who organised GAFCON need to ask two questions.
1) Will we make room for the Catholics and prayer bookers?
2) Will we be brave enough to banish women priests and remarriage after divorce in order to ensure the cancer of non-scriptural innovation is not carried into a new body? Don’t give me this first orderr issue and second order nonsense. Christ never offered us first order truth and second order truth.
The answer to those questions might be crucial. Someone needs to be brave and create a new Anglican revival. But they need to ensure it is totally Anglican and not just Evangelical. Be brave!
#11
No. He was just being polite by not being blunt.
#14 Amen!