Other Christians: August 2003 Archives

Talking About the Fall of a Church

Erik at Erik's Rants and Recipes(the post sited et seq.) has some excellent points about the self-destruction of the Episcopal church. As you will note in my response below, I have a great deal of sympathy with a portion of the view, but cannot crow over the cause. Jesus has suffered yet another grievous insult, and in our own fuddled ways, we fail to see the real issue. (Not all of us, but unfortunately a great deal too many.)

Dear Erik,

Speaking as one whose dearest friend (other than my dear wife) is an Episcopalian, you'll probably be quite surprised to hear that I don't disagree with your anti-anglicanism all that much. I look down upon them for the crimes of the past that have settled in the present. The Martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More as well as St. Edmund Campion and St. Robert Southwell are all one their heads as a communion, not to mention the many dreadful depredations that followed. (Yes, i know to be raised to Martyrdom for Christ is a great honor and privilege in heaven, but it doesn't stop me from being selfish and wishing that their work had been allowed to continue.)

But I do not crow over this self-destruction because of the grave nature of the insult to Christ. Many Episcopalians do love God, deeply, sincerely, and completely, and yet they are so fuddled, they do not realize that this blasphemy they crow is another slap in the face to Jesus. This is a grave and serious crime against humanity and God, and in it there is nothing good.

Its stain is upon this land and like so much toxic waste, it will trickle into the ground to contaminate the groundwater for a great many years to come. One triumphalist Episcopalian was quoted as saying that now the Episcoplal church can lend its moral weight to the debate on gay marriage. You and I recognize that as infinitely risible. Unfortunately the majority of American people and even a sizable minority of Catholics probably view this a sterling example of truth and courage.

So, you'll pardon me if I don't crow along, I am too saddened by yet another crime against the God I try so hard to love.

shalom,

Steven

The Fruits of Crisis

As you can see from the posts below, I have plumbed some of the depths of feeling that have overcome me in the past few days and have determined the reality that lay behind them. I am wounded because Christ is again assaulted, torn, spat upon, and ignored. This isn't merely "an Episcopalian thing." It is a physical and spiritual assault upon the Body of Christ. We have once again freed Barrabas and crucified our King. Not everyone of course. Just as there were those in the crowd who sorrowed over what was happening, so too now, there are many who sorrow. But the profound offense, the deep wound that has been made, the insult to Our Lord, once again shows the strength of His love, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

I wish ignorance could excuse them and I pray God's mercy upon them, for in this case, I must believe that they know very precisely what they do, and yet they do it anyway.

It is time once again to make reparation for the damage we have inflicted upon Our Lord. We're called once again to realize our own depth of sin and to turn toward His gracious love. We're called once again to bring our straying brethren with us.

And what never fails to amaze me in all of this is His Graciousness--in all the multitude of meanings that term has--His complete Graciousness, His all-encompassing Love.

For Our Troubled Episcopalian Brethren

Mr. Lane Core has compiled a list of readings for those who are looking for a way out of the current crisis.

To his list I would append the entire contents of the Project Canterbury Site (see left column), as a very focused recognition of what the Anglican Church, until recent times, has always been.

Contributed by Mr. White

How did I overlook it? Novena to Our Lady of Walsingham and other appropriate devotions. As Mr. White points out, perhaps a proper refuge in this time of trial.

The Episcopalian Church

Please pray for those Bishops who do not wish to set aside six-thousand years of tradition and who wish to remain loyal to the teachings of Jesus Christ that they can find a way to peacefully and amicably separate from their apostate brethren. Let us pray that it may be done without endless litigation and vitriol. This vote is truly a sad day for the Episcopal Church and the dawning of many sad days for all Christian Churches.

As a coda--I honestly wish I understood why this weighs upon me so heavily. It isn't my communion, so in some sense, isn't even my business and yet, it feels pressingly important and urgent. Nevertheless, after this point, I promise to try to keep it merely in my prayers and not in the face of my readers.

On the Episcopalian Problem

I honestly, really do hate to say this, but I can't see what all the fuss is about with the "reports" on the new Bishop-to-be. After all, if we're ordaining gay bishops, what could really be wrong with pornography? Or, if it is wrong today, surely it must become right when a sufficiently large group of the populace believes it to be. And inappropriate conduct--who's to decide what is truly inappropriate? We eschew biblial guidance and the wisdom of tradition. After all this has been in the works for years and years. Never mind the fact that even if it has been brewing for 20 years, we have 6,000 years of unbroken tradition in opposition.

I have a very dear friend who is Episcopalian and she doesn't see this argument. When I press and ask her on what grounds one can make any value judgment if you have discarded biblical guidance and 2,000 years of tradition, she has no answer--and yet she still sees this as a mighty step forward for the Church. She's convinced these false allegations have been brought forward as the work of Satan. If they are false, they are Satan's work and should be done away with; but if there is an element of truth, they are the relentless play of logic in the field of wandering away from the Lord.

As much as I prefer not to weigh in on such matters, of recent days I have gotten the impression that I need to stop sitting on the fence and to take a stand, for or against. Fortunately, I picked an easy one to start with.

The Episcopal Church

Please continue to pray for our brethren in this distraught Church. The momentary crisis has not yet passed, and will not pass until they have drunk the last of their bitter draught. Let us pray that people of good will come to their sense and understand the full ramifications of what they are doing. Barring that, let us pray that it will be possible for those who can no longer belong to the communion to separate in a Christian and dignified manner. Oh, the terrible times we are in, when one cannot distinguish between the innate worth every every human being and the necessary sanctity of holy office. As T.S. O'Rama pointed out yesterday, this is the necessary result of a logical follow through on decisions made decades ago. Let us thank God that despite our own current difficulties and crises, we have a Church and a Holy Pope that is not reluctant to take a difficult stand on issues of morality, doctrine, and practice. Praise God for His guidance and steady hand with His Holy Church. Let us all pray that she too is not put to the test.

For Our Episcopal Brethren

I think of this particularly at a time when the Episcopal Church seems poised to take yet another plunge in Bishop Spong land. These erstwhile believers seem intent on forging brave new paths of scriptural denial. It seems that if one begins down the path of question inerrancy, everything in the Bible, no matter how clearly spelled out becomes dispensible.

We need to pray for our sister Church and be ready to support what are hopefully the many who will eschew this terrible, riving betrayal of God's word.

I think of the passage from Ezekiel (3:17-21):

17
Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me.
18
If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.
19
If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.
20
If a virtuous man turns away from virtue and does wrong when I place a stumbling block before him, he shall die. He shall die for his sin, and his virtuous deeds shall not be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for his death if you did not warn him.
21
When, on the other hand, you have warned a virtuous man not to sin, and he has in fact not sinned, he shall surely live because of the warning, and you shall save your own life.

Woe to those who lead the sheep to places where they are easily slaughtered. Woe to the shepherds who take their direction from the sheep, because while the sheep may die, their destruction shall be upon the heads of the shepherds. The Bishops of the Episcopal church seem poised on the brink of mortal peril--peril of their souls. We need to pray for each of these men of God that they have the firm resolution to do not what the sheep and modern, depraved, secular minds require, but they have the courage to do what God demands.