One sentence in Canterbury’s address shows why managerial solution is unravelling

Jan 13, 2016 by

By Julian Mann:

The words in bold in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address to the Primates on Monday show why the attempt at a managerial solution to the Anglican Communion conflict over sexuality is unravelling:
“We can also paint a gloomy picture of the moral and spiritual state of Anglicanism. In all Provinces there are forms of corruption, none of us is without sin. There is litigation, the use of civil courts for church matters in some places. Sexual morality divides us over same sex issues, where we are seen as either compromising or homophobic. The list can go on and on.”
‘Homophobic’ in Western politically correct parlance applies to anyone who does not approve of homosexual practice. From the Western PC perspective, confessing Anglicans are thus homophobic whereas revisionist Anglicans are not.
That is why the statement above about different perceptions of the Anglican Communion – some Provinces being seen as biblically compromised, others being seen as homophobic –  effectively places confessing Anglicans and revisionist Anglicans on a spiritual and moral par.  The divergent moralities underlying the two negative perceptions of orthodox and revisionist Anglicans are set side by side as if the respective judgements were of equal value, like two headlines on a news stand.
But the orthodox Archbishops do not see the spiritual and moral problem within the Anglican Communion that way. They see unfaithfulness to the revealed Word of  the Lord Jesus Christ as the fundamental problem that needs to be addressed and resolved by repentance.
So, if we want to understand why the Primates’  meeting in Canterbury is now unravelling, that one sentence provides the key.

 

Related Posts

Tags

Share This