Put not your trust in
princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his
breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Psalm
146: 3-4 ESV
By Robin G. Jordan
In its formularies, in its fundamental declarations, its
canons, its catechism, and its proposed Prayer Book, the Anglican Church in
North America takes doctrinal positions that are not in line with genuine
Biblical Christianity as well as authentic historic Anglicanism. In the same
formularies the ACNA has adopted an exclusionary policy toward the beliefs and
convictions of Anglicans whose theological views are in line with the teaching
of the Holy Scriptures and the doctrine of the Anglican formularies.
In their refusal to publicly recognize and acknowledge the
existence of this problem, much less its seriousness, Archbishop Iliud Wabukala
and the other GAFCON and Global South Primates who attended the Cairo meeting
have lost their credibility as champions of Biblical Christianity and historic
Anglicanism in the Anglican Church. Their talk of intervening on the behalf of
excluded groups comes across as just that—talk.
The existence of the problem is indisputable. Its
seriousness is beyond question. The evidence is there in the Anglican Church in
North America’s formularies.
The Anglican Church in North America takes a position that
is the same as or close to that of the Roman Catholic Church on a number of key
issues, for example, the essential nature of the episcopate, the order of
salvation and the number of sacraments.
The Anglican Church in North America’s formularies do not
simply permit clergy and congregations to subscribe to these positions among
others. They make these positions exclusively the official doctrine of the
jurisdiction. The jurisdiction’s canons require that its clergy conform to this
doctrine, teaching it to their congregations as well as subscribing to it
themselves.
When Archbishop Wabukala and the other GAFCON and Global
South Primates that met in Cairo recognized the Anglican Church in North
America as a partner jurisdiction of the Global South provinces and seated
Archbishop Foley Beach as a voting member of the Global South Primates Council,
they condoned the ACNA’s exclusion of confessional Anglicanism from its
official doctrine. They revealed themselves not to be champions of Biblical
Christianity and historic Anglicanism. Rather they came out of the closet as its opponents!
Actions do speak louder than words. Their actions showed
that their championing of Biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism are
empty words. They gave their unqualified support to a jurisdiction that in its formularies opposes the
Protestant and Reformed principles of the Anglican Church based upon the Holy
Scriptures and set out in the Anglican formularies. They failed to defend
these principles, much less to advance them
Their actions were a major setback for the cause of
confessional Anglicanism in North America. They showed that the GAFCON and
Global South Primates who met in Cairo are unreliable allies if they can be
considered allies at all.
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