That, in the opinion of this Conference, unity in faith and discipline will be best maintained among the several branches of the Anglican Communion by due and canonical subordination of the synods of the several branches to the higher authority of a synod or synods above them.
–Resolution IV of the 1867 Lambeth Conference
“Synods above them”…
What does that mean? Lambeth?
Gloria in SC
I think it means a province cannot act on its own or decide for themselves when wnating to make changes in doctrine or faith or matters of discipline.
Exactly, Libraryjim! Now just try to explain that to TEC!
So who gets to decide which synod is “above” which?
One of my concerns is that the innovators will say (as they have with Scripture and Tradition) “that was then and this is now…”
In 2003, one province shoved a bishop down the throats of the rest of the Anglican Communion, completely ignoring what the rest of the Communion thought about and thus deciding that its view was right and had to prevail. I guess that province decided that it was above everybody.
#4: Susan, I think that within Anglicanism today one decides if they will subordinate themselves to a Synod by whether or not they agree with the decisions of that Synod. If you disagree on some major point with that Synod then it is not “above” you.
As far as Lambeth goes one “moderate” Episcopal bishop told me (on more than one occasion) that Lambeth has “moral authority, but not legislative authority”.
I never understood how “legislative” is a higher authority than “moral”, but I do see how the law of TEC (Canons and GC Resolutions) operates above the influence (moral) of the Instruments of Unity within Anglicanism (including Lambeth).
Susan,
I would think that when 80 – 90% of the primates and synods disagree with the decision of ONE province, that province is shown to be in a lower position due to sheer numbers.
A province acting on their own, alone, apart from and in defiance with the rest of the communion, needs to rethink their position and return to the fold, recognizing that THEY are in error, not the 80 – 90% of the rest.
Susan,
I’ll answer your question when you can answer this one. We bless marriages, not because we like the pretty ceremony or because society likes marriage. We bless marriages because [blockquote]The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it ot be honored among all people.[/blockquote]
Can you tell me where homosexual sex is “established by God in creation” or where Jesus adorns that manner of life or where Paul speaks of it signifying the union between Christ and his Church or where Holy Scripture commends homosexual sex to be honored by all people?
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
The quote is interesting for what the attendees of that Lambeth conference thought of themselves, not for what is actually true about Anglican polity. A group of representatives cannot bind their respective constituencies under the authority of that group without each representative having plenipotentiary powers. Otherwise, I assure you, the sovereign nations of the world by now would be no more and each would merely be an administrative department of the United Nations. Or, as a different illustration, consider the U.S Constitution of 1787. The representatives to the convention understood they were not plenipotentates when they admitted that the draft would have to be ratified by the state legislatures (but note!: not ratified by the people of each state, or the people in the whole!)
I should add to the conclusion of my last posting that it is in this regard that the 50 U.S. states are, indeed, “states”.
Consistent with this, the Treaty of Paris 1783, which ended the U.S. Revolutionary War, although negotiated and signed by a small American commission, was ultimately between the King and each of the several states:
[blockquote]
Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent [b]states[/b], that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.[/blockquote]