{"id":118716,"date":"2023-02-14T18:58:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T23:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=118716"},"modified":"2023-02-14T19:01:40","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T00:01:40","slug":"stepehn-noll-put-not-your-trust-in-clause-g-a-north-american-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=118716","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Noll–Put Not Your Trust In Clause (G):: A North American Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Paul\u00a0argues<\/a>\u00a0that the issue facing the Church of England is ultimately theological and that \u201cthere is no institutional unity apart from theological coherence.\u201d He writes:<\/p>\n

How can all this be squared with the consistent teaching of Scripture? This cannot be lightly set aside, since Canon A5 delineates our doctrine as being \u2018rooted in the Scriptures\u2019, and Article XX of the XXXIX Articles states \u2018that it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God\u2019s Word written.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nevertheless, with the passage of clause (g), he thinks the revisionists won at most a \u201cPyrrhic victory,\u201d as it will force them to explain themselves clearly. Martin Davie goes even further in\u00a0claiming<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe passage of clause (g) to the Synod motion was a great victory\u201d for traditionalist Anglicans.<\/p>\n

I would that Ian Paul and Martin Davie were right, but the lesson I take from the Episcopal Church USA two decades ago is that the addition of clause (g) will not snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Let me explain.<\/p>\n

In 1997, I submitted, as part of the discernment process in the Episcopal Church (called \u201cContinuing the Dialogue\u201d), a book-length defense of the traditional doctrine of marriage titled\u00a0Two Sexes, One Flesh: Why the Church Cannot Bless Same-Sex Marriage<\/em>\u00a0(a summary is available online in\u00a0Theology Matters<\/em>\u00a06:3 May\/June 2000). This book was circulated to all bishops and delegates prior to the 1997 General Convention, as the Church was proposing development of same-sex rites. I received exactly zero theological response at the time, although one bishop took me aside, Nicodemus-like, and said he agreed with me (he later went on to vote with the majority). While the Episcopal Church did not officially approve same-sex rites until 2006, there was clearly no interest in debating further the theology underlying the matter. From their point of view, the \u201cdialogue\u201d was over, and implementation was the only issue going forward.<\/p>\n

This is this point concerning clause (g) that I think Martin Davie misconstrues.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain received a rowdy homecoming after signing a peace pact with Nazi Germany\u2026.we need Ukraine to win, not to negotiate with the evil empire. pic.twitter.com\/WkIaSG5gmL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ludwik Klimkowski (@ludwikmoneyweb) February 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n