TOWARD A RESOLUTION
Part VIII
(First posted on Jan. 18, 2018).
This is the eighth part of our series "Toward a Resolution," that is, toward an understanding of the truth of the history of the schism in the old Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. In Part I, Jan. 5, I listed 12 questions to be addressed. Today we take up Number 7 on the list:
This is the eighth part of our series "Toward a Resolution," that is, toward an understanding of the truth of the history of the schism in the old Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. In Part I, Jan. 5, I listed 12 questions to be addressed. Today we take up Number 7 on the list:
DID THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA RESOLVE TO LEAVE THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH BECAUSE TEC HAD ABANDONED "THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED."
This was the after-the-fact fundamental rationale the DSC leaders gave in an attempt to justify the schism. It was the main issue expounded in both the FAQs posted (find here ) and the Rev. Jim Lewis's essay, "The Real Story Behind Our Split with the Episcopal Church (Charleston Mercury, Oct. 2, 2013). Many times around the schism, DSC leaders insisted the diocese had to leave TEC because it had abandoned "the faith once delivered." Lewis said that the Presiding Bishops Griswold and Jefferts Schori had declared truth to be "pluriform": "That denial of Jesus' essential role clearly displayed the differences between traditional and modernist or pluriform Anglicans/Episcopalians."
There are several aspects to consider about the theory that TEC abandoned the true faith:
1. That there is a faith once delivered.
---The concept of "the faith once delivered" presumes a permanent religious understanding that was established at the start of Christianity and has been handed down generation after generation without change.
This is a non-historical assumption. In fact, Christianity evolved, developed and grew over nearly two thousand years. The earliest Christians, those of the first generation after Jesus, would barely recognize the religion of today. They believed the Lord would return at any minute so saw no need to bother with institutional structures. The kernel of the Christian religion was there from the beginning. It was the Kerygma: the salvation of the world in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is still the very heart of the faith.
The rest of Christianity essentially developed over time. It was the second generation that defined Christianity as a separate universal religion free from the bounds of traditional Judaism. The gospels appeared 30 to 70 years after Jesus's life with the final compilation of the Bible coming only later. The ceremonies of the church evolved. The Eucharist in the modern sense was not documented until around the year 150. In the early centuries, Christianity absorbed aspects of Judaism, Greek philosophy, and the eastern mystery religions. The Doctrine of the Trinity was declared in 325 by the Council of Nicaea. The preeminence of the Bishop of Rome evolved slowly, boosted mostly by the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century. The veneration of Mary gradually developed as converts brought in the prehistoric and ancient commonly-held belief in a fertility goddess. Priests were allowed to marry until 1123. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation was adopted in 1215. It was Martin Luther who firmly established the idea of salvation by faith alone in 1517. Some key concepts of the Roman church were adopted only recently, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1854), The Infallibility of the Pope (1870), the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1950). Vatican II brought in a whole host of changes. Moreover, there has been talk for many years of a new doctrine, Mary as the Co-Redemptor of mankind. It was rumored that Pope John Paul II, who was devoted to Mary, considered this but declined on fear of alienating the Eastern Orthodox and Protestants. It is entirely possible that proponents of this concept will push it to success in the future. In time, the Roman church may proclaim the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Co-Redemptrix rather than just the Mediator.
The assertion that there is a faith once delivered does not hold up under even a cursory review of history. The Kerygma is the permanent heart of Christianity, but practically everything else has evolved.
2. That the Episcopal Church abandoned true religion.
---Our second problem is in defining comments of presiding bishops as doctrines of the church. The office of presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church is administrative only. He or she is not a pope, or even near it. When the presiding bishop speaks beyond the defined administrative role, he or she is giving only personal opinions. The same is true of other bishops, some of whom have become well-known for controversial views, as Bishop John Spong. A single bishop cannot define the theology of the church. All such power rests in the General Convention, the two-house legislature representing all of the dioceses of the church. All decisions of the religion of the Episcopal Church have to be made by votes of the GC. The fact is, the GC has not made any change in the doctrines of the church. The changes that have been made, as on women's ordination and homosexual equality are non-doctrinal issues. They are reforms in the structure and practices, not in the dogma and doctrines of the church. In short, GC has not changed the traditional doctrines of the religion. The Book of Common Prayer continues to be used day in and day out by the Episcopal Church (and by the breakaways in SC too). Episcopalians routinely recite the Nicene Creed today as they have done for centuries. It is outrageously untrue and offensive to say, or even imply, that the Episcopal Church has rejected the Kerygma for pluriform religion.
3. That theology was the cause of the schism.
---Our third problem with this assertion is with the causes of the schism. As we have already seen, the underlying cause of the schism was the difference between TEC's move to horizontal (social gospel) and DSC's oppositional move to vertical (fundamentalist) attitudes of religion. The direct cause of the schism was the issue of homosexuality. TEC resolved to give full inclusion in the church to non-celibate gays and to give de facto recognition to the moral neutrality of homosexual acts. DSC adamantly refused to accept either of these and self-declared independence at the earliest convenient moment, when TEC attempted to apply discipline to Bishop Lawrence for his flagrant disregard of the laws of the church.
Before the schism, the DSC leaders routinely repeated the theme of three problems: theology, polity, and morality. In fact, as we have seen, Bishop Lawrence gave more time to the third (homosexuality) than to the other two combined. It was only after the schism that the DSC leaders pivoted to declare the entire cause of the break as theology.
The assertion that the Episcopal Church no longer believed in the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ spread through the diocese before, during, and after the schism. Of all the charges the leaders of DSC made against TEC, this was the most serious, offensive and outrageous. It was not true but many people assumed it to be true because their leaders told them so.
Good communicants in the diocese of South Carolina, rest assured the Episcopal Church has not changed its beliefs about Jesus Christ.
Short answer:
The DSC leaders' charge that the Episcopal Church abandoned essential Christian beliefs was completely and utterly without merit.
There are several aspects to consider about the theory that TEC abandoned the true faith:
1. That there is a faith once delivered.
---The concept of "the faith once delivered" presumes a permanent religious understanding that was established at the start of Christianity and has been handed down generation after generation without change.
This is a non-historical assumption. In fact, Christianity evolved, developed and grew over nearly two thousand years. The earliest Christians, those of the first generation after Jesus, would barely recognize the religion of today. They believed the Lord would return at any minute so saw no need to bother with institutional structures. The kernel of the Christian religion was there from the beginning. It was the Kerygma: the salvation of the world in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is still the very heart of the faith.
The rest of Christianity essentially developed over time. It was the second generation that defined Christianity as a separate universal religion free from the bounds of traditional Judaism. The gospels appeared 30 to 70 years after Jesus's life with the final compilation of the Bible coming only later. The ceremonies of the church evolved. The Eucharist in the modern sense was not documented until around the year 150. In the early centuries, Christianity absorbed aspects of Judaism, Greek philosophy, and the eastern mystery religions. The Doctrine of the Trinity was declared in 325 by the Council of Nicaea. The preeminence of the Bishop of Rome evolved slowly, boosted mostly by the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century. The veneration of Mary gradually developed as converts brought in the prehistoric and ancient commonly-held belief in a fertility goddess. Priests were allowed to marry until 1123. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation was adopted in 1215. It was Martin Luther who firmly established the idea of salvation by faith alone in 1517. Some key concepts of the Roman church were adopted only recently, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1854), The Infallibility of the Pope (1870), the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1950). Vatican II brought in a whole host of changes. Moreover, there has been talk for many years of a new doctrine, Mary as the Co-Redemptor of mankind. It was rumored that Pope John Paul II, who was devoted to Mary, considered this but declined on fear of alienating the Eastern Orthodox and Protestants. It is entirely possible that proponents of this concept will push it to success in the future. In time, the Roman church may proclaim the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Co-Redemptrix rather than just the Mediator.
The assertion that there is a faith once delivered does not hold up under even a cursory review of history. The Kerygma is the permanent heart of Christianity, but practically everything else has evolved.
2. That the Episcopal Church abandoned true religion.
---Our second problem is in defining comments of presiding bishops as doctrines of the church. The office of presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church is administrative only. He or she is not a pope, or even near it. When the presiding bishop speaks beyond the defined administrative role, he or she is giving only personal opinions. The same is true of other bishops, some of whom have become well-known for controversial views, as Bishop John Spong. A single bishop cannot define the theology of the church. All such power rests in the General Convention, the two-house legislature representing all of the dioceses of the church. All decisions of the religion of the Episcopal Church have to be made by votes of the GC. The fact is, the GC has not made any change in the doctrines of the church. The changes that have been made, as on women's ordination and homosexual equality are non-doctrinal issues. They are reforms in the structure and practices, not in the dogma and doctrines of the church. In short, GC has not changed the traditional doctrines of the religion. The Book of Common Prayer continues to be used day in and day out by the Episcopal Church (and by the breakaways in SC too). Episcopalians routinely recite the Nicene Creed today as they have done for centuries. It is outrageously untrue and offensive to say, or even imply, that the Episcopal Church has rejected the Kerygma for pluriform religion.
3. That theology was the cause of the schism.
---Our third problem with this assertion is with the causes of the schism. As we have already seen, the underlying cause of the schism was the difference between TEC's move to horizontal (social gospel) and DSC's oppositional move to vertical (fundamentalist) attitudes of religion. The direct cause of the schism was the issue of homosexuality. TEC resolved to give full inclusion in the church to non-celibate gays and to give de facto recognition to the moral neutrality of homosexual acts. DSC adamantly refused to accept either of these and self-declared independence at the earliest convenient moment, when TEC attempted to apply discipline to Bishop Lawrence for his flagrant disregard of the laws of the church.
Before the schism, the DSC leaders routinely repeated the theme of three problems: theology, polity, and morality. In fact, as we have seen, Bishop Lawrence gave more time to the third (homosexuality) than to the other two combined. It was only after the schism that the DSC leaders pivoted to declare the entire cause of the break as theology.
The assertion that the Episcopal Church no longer believed in the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ spread through the diocese before, during, and after the schism. Of all the charges the leaders of DSC made against TEC, this was the most serious, offensive and outrageous. It was not true but many people assumed it to be true because their leaders told them so.
Good communicants in the diocese of South Carolina, rest assured the Episcopal Church has not changed its beliefs about Jesus Christ.
Short answer:
The DSC leaders' charge that the Episcopal Church abandoned essential Christian beliefs was completely and utterly without merit.
