CRISIS
IN THE CHURCH
After
an interval of some years since the publication of the last edition of ‘The
River’, recent events have driven me to start writing again. First I want to
record my sympathies with Wales for their losing Rowan Williams. Nevertheless I
rejoice that their loss will be to the gain of all of us. His passion for truth
at all costs is going to benefit the whole Anglican Communion, which needs it
badly.
The
next thing is the publication by the Daily Telegraph the other day of an article
headlined ‘One third of clergy do not believe in the Resurrection’. It said
‘A third of Church of England
clergy doubt or disbelieve in the physical Resurrection; and only half are
convinced of the truth of the Virgin Birth, according to a new survey’ . . . .
. The Rev. Robbie Low, a member of
Cost of Conscience, the traditionalist organisation which commissioned the
survey, said: “There are clearly two Churches operating in the Church of
England: the believing Church and the disbelieving Church, and that is a
scandal. Increasingly, positions of authority are being placed in the hands of
people who believe less and less. It is an intolerable situation where the
faithful are increasingly being led by the unfaithful.”
I
have known some of this for a good many years, but it was always somewhere else
that the headlines appeared (for I was then in Wales) - Bishop David Jenkins,
for instance, and Donald Cupitt. But now it is coming very close to us: no
longer a problem in America or one or two English dioceses, but one for all of
us. And it’s for real.
A
few months ago I heard a diocesan Bishop preaching at an induction. His theme
was the need for all Christians to have a message. So far so good, but he did
not seem in the least concerned what the message was. And when in the course of
the sermon he got round to mentioning his own message about Jesus, he talked
about a man who was born, brought up, worked, preached and died. Full stop . . .
. No Virgin Birth. No Resurrection. No Ascension. No Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
He may have believed all these things, but the absence of mention in his sermon
seemed significant to me. After all, I regard these things as of supreme
importance!
Since
then I have met a vicar who does not believe that Jesus is Lord, God of God,
Light of Light, True God of True God: who rates Jesus as no more than a man, a
prophet. A poor man, a good man, a teacher, a healer perhaps - but no more - who
got himself executed. End of story. This vicar has made efforts to convince his
people to abandon what he calls emotive nonsense about Jesus, and follow his own
beliefs.
Does
it matter?
It matters to me. Hence the essays in the following pages.
Brian
Favell