The Future of Anglicanism

http://ocrpl.org/samuelfutureanglican.html

[ocrpl.org] 18 Apr 2007--Rowan Williams in his latest work “Anglican Identities” ends his introduction like this “Its future is of course unknown and I have already foresworn any aim to provide a fresh rallying point for Anglican Identity in these papers. But perhaps there is one thing worth drawing out. The writers discussed here in their different ways are apologists for a theologically informed and spiritually sustained patience. They do not expect human words to solve their problems rapidly, they do not expect the Bible to yield up its treasures overnight, they do not look for the triumphant march of an ecclesiastical institution. They know that as Christians they live among immensities of meaning, live in the wake of a divine action which defies summary explanation. They take it for granted that the believer is learning, moving in and out of speech and silence is a continuous wonder and a continuous turning inside out of mind and feeling. This in an age dramatically impatient and intolerant of many sorts of learning; and the modern Church is not exempt".

The above reflects a continuing and dominant theme in William’s writings and shapes his leadership and response to the current crisis in the communion. He speaks earlier of “passionate patience”. Patience is presented as the pre-eminently “Anglican” way of holding and exploring Christian truth. Patience becomes the category in which truth must operate. For someone shaped by the way biblical narrative and teaching approaches truth and patience this is a confusion of categories.

Apprehended by Christ the truth, led into truth by his Spirit affirmed in the truth by the testimony of fellow believers in the communion both past and present, I do not end up with epistemic silence, confusion or pride. It is a degree of epistemic confidence that is the foundation of any virtue of patience I must cultivate. Patience founded on epistemic silence or vagueness is not what scripture teaches, nor is it the teaching of the Anglican divines like Hooker, Westcott and Ramsey who are co-opted for his view of patience as the governing virtue for contemporary Christians. Patience is related to judgement and God’s promises in the Bible and not as the essential companion to truth.

I have explored the above briefly to show the nature of the task ahead of us, as we challenge the reigning theological methodologies in liberal Anglicanism and construct an orthodox / biblical theology which deals effectively with the assumptions and criticisms of liberal theology.

Below I will identify the key areas of concern as I see them....