Christianity, without the Christ?
Father Geoffrey Kirk, one of the leaders of Forward in Faith, is among those who said he intends to convert to Catholicism.
He said: "The Church of England is, in the view of many of us, ceasing to be the church of Jesus Christ and becoming the church of political correctness, not only the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate - to which we object - but also in many attitudes to human sexuality from divorce and remarriage, to homosexuality."
www.bbc.co.uk (24/10/09) "Anglican group mulls Rome switch"
Traditionalists sometimes accuse liberals of diluting the Christian belief in Jesus as the only way to God, through an attempt to preserve neighbourly relations with the followers of other faiths.
Some conservative evangelicals even suspect progressive members of their church of seeing other faiths as a "valid" route to a relationship with a common creator.www.bbc.co.uk (23/09/09) "Faith Diary: Changing Loyalties"
There's been a lot of interesting stuff in the news recently regarding the Anglican church, especially concerning a large body thinking of moving to Catholicism. It concerns me, not because there may be a potential split in the church, but more because it shows that people feel the church has gone so far away from Jesus, that there is no longer any Christ in Anglican Christianity. Should the basis of the church be ever less on what he did, and instead on what feels right, what is politically correct...? I find it very hard to relate this to reflect an ultimate ruler, which the Bible says is above all and is stable like a rock. How can we each declare our own version of God based on our opinions - surely this can't then be the same God?!?! I agree strongly that the church should be able to relate to the society that it is in, however when I read the bible I find repeatedly that whilst many aspects of our society have indeed greatly changed, the way people live and think has not. People were looking for exactly the same things 2000 years ago as they are today. I sincerely pray, that if a split occurs, it will mean that more churches and congregations will humble themselves and return to teaching based on what Jesus' followers reported about his life.
The Bible says that man is sinful, he wants to serve himself first. He cannot save himself, and needs a saviour to rescue him. Jesus is that Saviour, and can bring us back to a relationship with God. Every person needs to turn from worshipping themselves, back to their loving heavenly Father. Doing so frees you for eternity. God is good :-)
I'd like to finish with Psalm 8 - it shows us so clearly the mindset we need to be in:
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honour.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Thank you grately for reading this far, it means a lot to me.
3 comments:
I definitely go along with you. I think that religions, including Christianity, should not be subject to political correctness. The Anglican church has definitely diverged its path further from the Bible, and started to write its own version of what is right or not - out of their own human conscience, which is flawed in every way. The term 'ordination' that they've been talking about does not refer to God's order, but rather from their superiors', to whom they've been paying attention. I however do not agree with your point that states 'whilst the society has indeed greatly changed, the way people live and think has not'. I think that people have accelerated in their way of thinking over the years, that they have recently moved onto the concept of 'modernity', and left old-fashioned beliefs and such. I note that for instance, the way western and non-western people's way of thinking only differs in idiomatic terms. This means that practically, people all have the same common sense in that they may employ either for example, magic or science to delve into theory, but however those things occur beyond basic logic. People then fall into category, and there are for instance, traditionalists who perceive things more conservatively and are bounded by divine principles (i.e: Christians who refer to the Bible to lead their lives) , and the liberalists who enjoy freedom and like to apply science to all the way they see things. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Amen brother! Interesting and helpful read.
Sunil
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