Quite Possibly the Best Response I Have Seen

Father Chris Larimer at the Adiaphora blog has quoted Bishop Jeremy Taylor in response to the recent invitation by the Roman Church to Anglicans who find themselves deeply concerned about their future. You can read his post at this link.

I must admit that I strongly agree with Bishop Taylor's comments, in their temporal context, but today, I am not so sure. One cannot be sure what one is getting into these days when entering an Anglican/Episcopal Church. Sadly, while some contend truly for 'the faith once delivered', others have abandoned it for what I have come to describe most of mainline Christianity to be: Humanism with an object of affection.

Options for Anglicans committed to the truth and authority of the Scripture are avaliable, but they require of the potential adherant a strong sense of the place of tradition and reason in the life of the Church and her approach to Biblical understanding.

Ancient (i.e., patristic) tradition gives us a framework to understand the genesis of how we explain what the Bible teaches, since the patristic environment was the one into which the Gospels first began to circulate. This tradition is a strong guide to Biblical understanding, but it must be remembered that it is a guide to it, not a guarantor of it.

Reason, however, is a lousy expositor of Scripture. Certainly a regenerated reason has its place - it can be a strong help in seeing how various texts and traditions can be brought to bear (both for ourselves and for others), but unregenerated reason is automatically suspect when it comes to making heads, tails, or anything else out of the Word of God.

Anglicanism needs a fresh, clear-minded reformation, and Rome will not be its source. If you are considering a new spiritual home for yourself or your congregation, you might wish to check out (shameless plug!) the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America and speak with our Bishop.