Why Be Anglican?

I don't know who is reading this blog, but one thing stands out starkly from what Rowan Williams said last week, the Archbishop values denominational unity above gospel unity.

A similar thing happened to the now effectively defunct Student Christian Movement about 100 years ago. The battles are outlined in the book pictured on the left.

But there has now been time for a response on the issues at hand.
Nigerian Bishops Respond

The Archbishop says we “have tried to be a family of Churches willing to learn from each other across cultural divides, not assuming that European (or American or African) wisdom is what settles everything, opening up the lives of Christians here to the realities of Christian experience everywhere”. He then goes on to suggest that the genuine concerns expressed about orthodoxy and the need to contend for the faith once entrusted to the saints, have made the debate harder, and “reinforced the lines of division and led to enormous amounts of energy going into ‘political’ struggle (!) with and between churches in different parts of the world.” The idea that these genuine concerns have degenerated to the “politicization of a theological dispute” instead of “reasoned debate” is very sadly patronizing. One would have expected that those who had embarked on this religious misadventure would be encouraged to judge their actions against our well-established historic tradition.

A prominent Sydney man responds:

Christian unity is not forged in constitutional structures. Christian unity is a unity of mind and understanding. It is “being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).

It is ridiculous to pretend that the Anglican Communion has such unity. A new non-theological covenant of constitutional unity, created by the bishops who have caused so much of our present unhappy divisions will inevitably be a new tyranny.

If the Archbishop wants a theological covenant – we have one already called the 39 Articles of Religion. It was agreed upon “For the avoidance of diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching upon true religion.” Rather than getting the bishops to write a new one, why not call them back to the observing the old one. It is called repentance. It is something that the Episcopal Church has repeatedly refused to do.

I guess the title once again reflects my frustrations. There is a reason to be Anglican, but unfortunately, if being Anglican is the main game, the gospel will be ignored.