False Gods and Idolatry

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We humans are fragile, fallible, faulty, finite, and fearful beings. We bruise, we break, we bleed, we die.  And so, we create idols because we long for protection and security. The God who is does not readily offer the kind of security we want. Rather, God offers the scandal and foolishness – the “weakness” – of the cross. We want power and safety. We desire ease. False gods offer us these. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ offers love. False Gods offer certainty. The true God offers not certainty, but clarity and confidence. Idols and false gods promise protection from the changes and chances of life and maybe even from death. God offers us life – abundant, eternal life – but only by way of the cross, self-surrender, dying to self. Jesus does promise victory over death and all the powers of death that would threaten or oppress us. And there is our freedom. And our hope. But we can only access that victory as he did – through dying with him and living in his Life.
 
It is possible to belong to the church and say the creeds while actually giving our hearts or some portion of them to a false idol/god. These are the main idols/gods that are competing for our loyalty or that have established “squatters’ rights” in our lives and in our minds. Are these the gods we really worship?
 
Mammon
The Market

      The pursuit of wealth
The celebration of wealth and the wealthy

      Stinginess
Putting profit above other concerns
Denial of the spiritual hazards of wealth accumulation
Denial of the social hazards of wealth accumulation
Denial of the ecological hazards of wealth accumulation
Blessing greed and economic self-interest
 
Mars
All celebration of violence
Will to power
Collateral damage
Bullying – physical and verbal
Domination
Exploitation
Coercion
Vengeance
Giving ourselves over to Anger
Militarism
Blessing anger that demeans or harms others by word and deed
 
Hedone
Pursuing pleasure (not just sexual) for its own sake, especially when it is at the expense of others 

      Self-indulgence
Comfort
Consumerism
Turning away from the suffering of others and the destruction of creation (sometimes caused by our very pursuit of our own cravings)
Blessing lust, gluttony, and sloth (the neglect of loving God and loving neighbor through business, distraction, inconvenience, etc.)
 
Narcissus
Individualism/Autonomy of the self
The myth of the self-made person
The notion that we are or can be “free agents,” belonging to nothing or no one, only accountable to and responsible for others by our own choice
Spirituality as an individual choice independent of tradition/community
Technological hubris
Consumerism
The denial of this basic truth: "God hath created nothing simply for itself, but each thing in all things, and every thing each part in other have such interest, that in the whole world nothing is found whereunto any thing that is created can say, 'I need thee not.'”
– Richard Hooker (1554-1600), 'Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity'
 
Volk Geist (The Spirit of the People)
Loyalty to nation, race, ethnicity, party, faction, etc. that shapes our love for some over others
All toxic solidarity
Othering
Racism
Ethnocentrism
Xenophobia
Nationalism
 
How to Wean Ourselves from False Gods?
 
False gods and idols can insinuate themselves into our imaginations such that it can be hard to see them as such and to uproot them. Maybe it is not simply either or. We might be unconscious polytheists who rely more on one or another god depending on the circumstances. Or maybe, in our heart of hearts, we invoke all the gods including the Christina God to cover our bases, like some ancient magic formulas did. 

      There are three related spiritual practices that might help. One is watchfulness. This goes back to the early Desert Fathers and Mothers. It involves constantly monitoring the inner thoughts and emotions and cravings that bubble up from our hearts. Along with watching for things like the Seven Deadly Sins, we can interrogate our allegiances and wean ourselves from loyalties things other than Jesus Christ. We can examine our attachments to possessions and status and cultivate detachment from all that is not of Christ. The related practice of examination or the daily review of the last 24 hours is another helpful practice. We can, as the fourth step of A. A. A. calls for, we can “make a searching and fearless moral inventory” of what or who we truly have given our hearts to. We can
 
·       Notice what makes us react in anger, fear, or despair when it is threatened or lost.
·       Ask ourselves what we rely on for peace, identity, or joy instead of God.
·       Analyze where our money, free time, and thoughts naturally flow.
 
Meditating on Scripture is also essential. We can pay particular attention to those things in the Bible that make us uncomfortable. We can ask, why does this make me squirm and want to find an interpretation that will enable me to avoid living it?
 
Regular attentive participation in worship can orient us toward the promises of God and away from the false promises of false gods.
 
Finally, prayer is fundamental. Sinking our hearts into the heart of God and asking God to shape our hearts in the shape of his will enable us to see better those places where false gods threaten to warp them into their image.
 
We can, with God’s help, wean ourselves from false idols and false gods and their counterfeit promises of certainty and security. We can find our hope and security in the clarity of God’s promise that there is nothing that separate us from the love of God in Christ. And we can “be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us[a] and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Evangelical Liberal Catholic Anglican

The Rt. Rev. Charles Grafton (1830-1912), the 2nd Bishop of Fond du Lac, described himself as “Evangelical at heart while in belief, liberal Catholics.” I like that and am happy to describe myself in those terms. Each of the historic dioceses of Wisconsin have roots in the catholic Anglican tradition going back to Bishop Jackson Kemper’s embrace of a “Reformed Catholic” church.

This is also more or less the position of other Anglican worthies of the 20^th century: Francis Hall, Charles Gore, Evelyn Underhill, William Temple, Vida Dutton Scudder, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, Austin Farrer, E. L. Mascall, Michael Ramsey, Desmond Tutu, and Kenneth Leech. We might add contemporary folk like John Milbank, Stanley Hauerwas, Sarah Coakley, and Rowan Williams. Though there are differences among them, each of these of these is fundamentally Catholic in orientation while also being informed by some Liberal and Evangelical approaches to faith.

What might it look like for us to be Catholic Anglicans in the 21^st century? Can we be “Evangelical at heart while in belief, liberal Catholics”?

Catholic

Church, the Body of Christ:

We understand the divine-human drama to be centered not on the individual but on the community of the Church. While not strictly a matter of either/or, it does matter where we put the emphasis. By the Holy Spirit, God calls us into community where we learn to love one another as God loves us and empowers us to bear that love in the world. We learn to see our solidarity with all people and the rest of creation. As the body of Christ the Church is, in a mystical sense, an extension of the Incarnation. In, with, and under that community, the Holy Spirit moves like an electric current empowering the Church to make our “life together a sign of Christ’s love to this sinful and broken world, that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair” (BCP, p. 429). We seek to live together in anticipation of the Kingdom of God and the restoration of all things. We embrace the mission of the Church “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (BCP, p. 855).

We will recognize the Church as central to the mission of God in the world, bearing witness to, and seeking to live in anticipation of, the Kingdom of God. It is the body of Christ and contrary to the rampant individualism of our age we will affirm that the fullness of our personal relationship with Jesus depends on our being members of that body. And that wherever people are on their spiritual journey that journey finds its clearest direction in baptism and as members of the Church. The Church is the community established by Jesus to bear witness to the reconciliation and healing of human brokenness. As such it is not insular but rather the place where we learn to see our solidarity with all people and the rest of creation.

Being Catholic Anglicans also means recognizing and celebrating that the church is not bound by time or place. For us that means that we are not just members of congregations, dioceses, or national churches, but members of the Anglican Communion.

The Church is essential. But we have no illusions of it being anything other than a treasure-bearing clay jar (2 Corinthians 4:7). We recognize that the Church has not always embodied well the love and peace of Christ. And we repent.

We acknowledge that the Church is not a closed circle but must remain open in humility to seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing elsewhere in the world. The Holy Spirit is not limited to the Church, of course. It blows where it will. But wherever else it blows, we can count on it blowing through the baptized community that is the Church.

Worship:

We place worship, particularly, the Eucharist, at the center of our lives. When we are baptized into Christ, we are made a member of his body, the Church. As the body of Christ, the Church is called to witness to and be a sign and foretaste of the kingdom of God. The central sign and practice of this body is the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, the body of Christ, the Church, is nourished by the body of Christ in the bread and wine. We remember what God has done in Christ and anticipate God’s restoration of all things in Christ. And we participate in Christ and are nourished by his body and blood. The Church is thus a Eucharistic community living in remembrance and anticipation, nourished by its participation in Christ along the way. But, partaking of the body of Christ in the Eucharist also entails judgment. Is the community – and its members – living eucharistically as the body of Christ?

Sacramental:

We embrace the centrality of the sacraments in the life of the Church and their transforming power. This is particularly true of the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Eucharist by which Christians are formed. We embrace the sacramental life of the Church. We believe in the potency of Baptism and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

We also understand that sacramentality is not only something about what happens to the consecrated Bread and Wine or the water of baptism, important as they are. We learn through our involvement with the Sacraments to see the whole of creation and one another sacramentally as potential means of God’s grace.

The Christian vision is that all creation and every human being is sacramental. The universe, including all humanity, is a vast interlocking web of glory, charged with the grandeur of God. All things participate in and manifest God. Not just grand vistas and glorious sunsets, but every tree, plant, and animal. And especially each human being along with the whole human community. Creation vibrates with God who is in, with, and under it all, sustaining and cherishing everything. The stuff of creation, like some bread and wine, can bear the Presence of God. Jesus came to heal the damage done to all of this by sin and to restore our ability to see all of creation, including every human being, with God’s delight.

Apostolic Tradition:

The Baptismal Covenant calls us to “continue in the apostles’ teaching.” We embrace a robust and unapologetic affirmation of the classic creedal faith of the Church. Anglican Christianity, trusting that the Holy Spirit continues to move in the Church, looks to the tradition of the Church for guidance, particularly the first five centuries. Tradition is not the dead weight of the past but rather the momentum of centuries of Spirit-led faithfulness giving us direction and propelling us forward.

We engage the tradition of the church not as a problem to be overcome, but a community across time to which we belong and with which it is possible to dialogue. We are not be bound to a simple repetition of the past in all things. Tradition is not static. The Church needs to engage in careful, prayerful, patient discernment to avoid and resist unfaithful deviation. The basic dogma of the Church is set. But there is adaptation and development in some matters of practice. Still, we will seek continuity with the Apostles in communion with the Saints who encourage us as we run the race in our time.

Though not universally the case, we have by and large come to embrace and celebrate women in ordained ministry and tend to be more affirming of those of the LGBTQ community.

Practices:

We seek to cultivate a catholic ethos that will open our hearts and lives to the movement of the Holy Spirit and enable us to resist the spiritually corrosive effects of secularism and consumerism. We seek to reclaim classic practices disciplines that open our lives to God’s mercy and delight? Practices such as: Daily Prayer and devotion, Spiritual Direction, Confession, Regular Fasts, Observance of Holy Days, Sabbath, Commemoration of the Saints, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, etc.

Comprehensive:

A truly catholic Anglican Christianity is characterized by what Rowan Williams calls a “passionate patience” that is reticent to declare too handily exactly how God is to be defined or to presume too easily to know what God desires in all instances. It is a tradition that does not avoid issues of sin, guilt, repentance, and judgement. And as we have seen in earlier posts, it takes seriously the beliefs of the Church and the call to discipleship and holiness. But Anglicans are more likely to start with grace rather than shame or fear. Ours is a tradition that rejoices in God’s grace revealed in Jesus Christ, and from that embraces spiritual disciplines that enable us to live more fully in that grace. As Charles Williams says of Christianity generally, the Anglican tradition embraces an understanding of the faith characterized by generosity and “largesse”.

Our tradition does not look back only to the early and medieval church for wisdom. We are also a church shaped by the insights of the Protestant Reformation We seek to be comprehensive and catholic enough to embrace the wisdom from various Christian traditions – and even wisdom from non-Christian traditions when it is compatible with the creeds.

Liberal

Generous:

We seek to be liberal in its purest sense – a spirit of generosity which makes space for the broadest diversity of views possible within the context of creedal Christian faith. As Chareles Williams wrote, “[Christian doctrine] is a largesse of spirit―courtesy, generosity, humility, charity” (The Figure of Beatrice).

Social Justice:

We seek to be generous toward the poor and oppressed. While not beholden to a particular political or economic ideology, program, or party, we are committed to being on the side of human rights and the uplift of all humanity – particularly the poor the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the forgotten. We might well disagree on the means to such ends and our liberality will include honoring such disagreement.

Receptive to Scientific Discovery and Wisdom Discerned from Creation:

We embrace the intended goodness of creation recognizing all of creation as the object of God’s delight showing forth God’s glory. Confident of the truth revealed in scripture, interpreted by the tradition. and summarized in the creeds, we also avail ourselves of whatever creation reveals about itself and thus about its Maker and about us as part of creation. We do not fear that new learning is a threat to Christian faith even if it might sometimes compel us to take a new look at aspects of the face. We accept the evidence that creation includes a process of evolution and that creation – including humanity – exhibits a surprising and extravagant diversity.

Humility:

Liberality was not based on an attempt to accommodate secularism or appease Christianity’s cultured despisers. Rather, it was rooted in deep humility. And humility is a fundamental Christian virtue. As Rowan Williams has written, “There is in the Anglican identity a strong element of awareness of the tragic, of the dark night and the frustration of theory and order by the strangeness of God's work . . . the result is a mixture of poetry, reticence, humility before mystery, local loyalties and painful self scrutinies” (Anglican Identities, p. 6).

Evangelical

Prima Scriptura:

We are committed to engaging with scripture together. We understand the scriptures to be “the word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible” (BCP, 853). “We understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church in the true interpretation of the Scriptures” (BCP, 853-854). We can recognize that the Bible is not the only means by which God reveals himself to us. We are more prima scriptura than sola scriptura. We look to the Bible first in order to know the mind and character of God, to understand the world and our place in it. We do not do so uncritically or by imposing theories of what kind of book it must be. We expect the Sprit to speak to us through the scriptures, but we do not think that mean it must be read in a wooden, literalistic way.

Joy in the Gospel:

We rejoice in the Christian gospel, the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ. We seek to embody a humble, generous, and hospitable spirit full of confidence in the hope of the gospel. We desire to fall in love again (and again) with the One who first loved us and demonstrated that love in the Incarnation and on the cross.

Sharing the Good News:

We are confidence that we have Good News to share. And that people outside (as well as inside) the Church need to hear that Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, continues to transform lives and will transform the world. Archbishop William Temple defined evangelism this way, “Evangelism is the presentation of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit in such ways that persons may be led to believe in Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord within the fellowship of His Church.”

Conclusion

An Anglican Catholic expression of Christianity that is Evangelical at heart while in belief, liberal Catholic is authentically and unapologetically Christian, while embracing humility, generosity, expansiveness, and adaptability. It is committed to worshiping the triune God in the beauty of holiness and in the pursuit of personal holiness, to holy community as the body of Christ, and to being a leavening presence of the peaceable kingdom of God in the world. I think it is a faithful expression of Christian faith.

See also: Anglicanism is . . .

That Way vs This Way

 

“We live in a world, in the real world that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

– Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor, CNN interview, January 5, 2026

 
Yesterday, the President of the United States of America stood before the world and declared, “To the victor belong the spoils”
 
Those proverb-like sayings represent one way to be in the world. But there is a better way.
 
Here are some proverbs spoken from the heart of God. Shape your life and politics around these. And measure the leaders and movements you support against them.
 
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
(Matthew 16:24)
 
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
(Matthew 5:7)
 
“If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.”
(Matthew 5:22)
 

"On the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter."

(Matthew 12:36"

“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
(Matthew 5:39)
 
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
(Matthew 5:44)
 
“If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
(Luke 6:14)
 
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
(Luke 6:36)
 
 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth”
(Matthew 6:24)

"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye."

(Matthewn 7:5)
 
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
(Matthew 19:24)
 
 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Matthew 6:19-21)
 
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
(Matthew 6:33)
 
 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
(Matthew 6:34)
 
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.”
(Matthew 7:1-2)
 
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
(Matthew 10:16)
 
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
(Matthew 20:16)
 
“What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.
(Matthew 15:18)
 
“All who draw the sword will die by the sword.”
(Matthew 26:52)
 
“If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
(Matthew 15:14)
 
“A tree is recognized by its fruit.”
(Matthew 12:33)

"Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,[g] you did it to me.”

(Matthew 25:40)
 
“And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”
(Matthew 7:26)

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

(Matthew 7:21)

What Does God Hate?

The Lt. Gov. of Indiana, Micah Beckwith, recently preached a sermon on “How to Hate Properly.” It is a theme he appears to be fond of. In an interview last May, he said Americans should be given “permission to hate again” and that “God hates certain things.”

That prompted me to do an old fashioned Bible word search for things God hates and things maybe we should and should not hate. Curiously, they do not seem to be the things that most agitates the Lt Governor.

I don't think I've missed any. I included related words in the search like detests. I’ve also included passages that suggest hate might not be the passion we most need to cultivate.

There are other ways than using the actual word by which the Bible indicates things of which God disapproves. But this seems a good place to start. And I would take people like Micah Beckwith more seriously if they seemed to take the following seriously.

Deuteronomy 12:31

You shall not do so to the Lord your God; for every abominable thing which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

Deuteronomy 16:22

And you shall not set up a pillar [idol], which the Lord your God hates.

Deuteronomy 29:17

and you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful may not stand before thy eyes;

thou hatest all evildoers.

Psalm 11:5

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence.

Psalm 22:23-24

You who fear the Lord, praise him!

all you sons of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!

For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted;

and he has not hid his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

Psalm 31:6

Thou hatest those who pay regard to vain idols; but I trust in the Lord.

Psalm 51:17

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psalm 69:32-33

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

Psalm 102:17

he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication.

Psalm 119:104

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:113

I hate double-minded men, but I love thy law.

Psalm 119:128

Therefore I direct my steps by all thy precepts; I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:163

I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Proverbs 6:16-19

There are six things which the Lord hates,

seven which are an abomination to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

a false witness who breathes out lies,

and a man who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 8:12-14

I, wisdom, dwell in prudence,

and I find knowledge and discretion.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate

[perverted speech = that which distorts reality to mislead, manipulate, or tear others down]

I have counsel and sound wisdom,

I have insight, I have strength.

Proverbs 13:5

A righteous man hates falsehood, but a wicked man acts shamefully and disgracefully.

Proverbs 14:21

He who despises his neighbor is a sinner, but happy is he who is kind to the poor.

Isaiah 1:14-17

Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me,

I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread forth your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

defend the fatherless,

plead for the widow.

Isaiah 61:8

For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrong

Jeremiah 33:4-5

Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness and burn no incense to other gods.

Ezekiel 20:7

And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

Amos 5:21-24

“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings,

I will not accept them,

and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts

I will not look upon.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Zechariah 8:16

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the Lord.

Malachi 2:16

“For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.”

Luke 14:26

“If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 16:13-15

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Those who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. But he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination [bdelyktos, sometimes translated as “detestable”] in the sight of God.

John 12:25

He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Revelation 2:6

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. [The Nicolaitans were a group apparently given to idolatry and sexual license]

Romans 12:9-10

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

[The whole of Romans 12 is a summary of what it means to “hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.”]

Whatever it might mean to “hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good” it must be practiced in light of the following:

Psalm 51:17

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psalm 69:32-33

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

Psalm 102:17

he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication.

Proverbs 14:21

He who despises his neighbor is a sinner, but happy is he who is kind to the poor.

Matthew 18:10

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Luke 18:9

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

Romans 14:3

Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him.

Romans 14:10

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;

1 John 2:9

He who says he is in the light and hates his brother or sister is in the darkness still.

1 John 2:11

But he who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 3:15

Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 4:20

If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 Thessalonians 5:13-22

Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

Ephesians 4:30-32

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

James 3:8-10

but no human being can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so.

1 Peter 3:15

but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence;

Philippians 4:5

Let all men know your forbearance.

Anglicanism is . . . 16. Passionate, but Balanced, Patient, Humble, Comprehensive

This post is something of a grab bag of quotes that did not all quite fit any of the earlier chapter, but which capture something of the Anglican spirit. Anglican Christianity is characterized by what Rowan Williams calls a “passionate patience” that is reticent to declare too handily exactly how God is to be defined or to presume too easily to know what God desires in all instances. It is a tradition that does not avoid issues of sin, guilt, repentance, and judgement. And as we have seen in earlier posts, it takes seriously the beliefs of the Church and the call to discipleship and holiness. But Anglicans are more likely to start with grace rather than shame or fear. Ours is a tradition that rejoices in God’s grace revealed in Jesus Christ, and from that embraces spiritual disciplines that enable us to live more fully in that grace. As Charles Williams says of Christianity generally, the Anglican tradition embraces an understanding of the faith characterized by generosity and “largesse”.

“O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

– Collect for the Feast of Richard Hooker (1554-1600), Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 

“What is Christianity but a doctrine of largesse? The doctrine of the Trinity is a doctrine of largesse; the doctrine of the Incarnation and the creation is a doctrine of largesse; the doctrine of the Redemption is a doctrine of largesse; the doctrine of heaven is every way a doctrine of largesse. Add that the doctrine of all true adoration―single or mutual―is a doctrine of largesse.”
 
“It is a largesse of spirit―courtesy, generosity, humility, charity.”
– Charles Williams (1886-1945), The Figure of Beatrice
 

“In the Anglican Church we find a harmonious combination of authority and reason. They are not found, as is sometimes supposed, to be contrary one to the other. Our Church teaches us with authority, but with maternal authority. She is our Mother. She does not come to us with a big stick, and say: ‘Youve got to believe this, because I say so, or you’ll be damned!’ but she shows to us the reasonableness of the truth she has been authorized to transmit. She teaches as our Blessed Lord taught. She tries to put her spiritual children in the right relation to the Faith. She enables them through grace to see the Truth for themselves, and so embracing it through their own reason and will, it becomes their own possession and a joy to their hearts.”

– Charles Grafton (1830-1912), Some Characteristics of the Episcopal Church

[Anglican Christianity avoids the extremes] “represented by a dogmatism that crushes instead of quickening the reason of the individual, making it purely passive and acquiescent, and on the other hand by an unrestrained development of the individual judgment which becomes eccentric and lawless just because it is unrestrained."”
– Charles Gore (1852-1932), Roman Catholic Claims
 
“Within the comprehensiveness laid down by the Elizabethan Settlement, the Church of England included those who learned their doctrine chiefly from the continental Reformers, those who gave greater value to the appeal to the ‘Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops’, and those whose outlook owed most to the learning of the Renaissance. It is commonly said that these three types of Anglican have their successors in the Evangelicals, the Anglo-Catholics and the Liberals. This comprehensiveness opens the way for the Church of England to be a school of synthesis over a wider field than any other Church in Christendom. Within it people of very diverse points of view use the same Prayer Book, and join in the same services. Hence there exists a way of approach, which is common to different types of Anglican, not by seeking to agree on cut-and-dried formulations, but by regarding the truth as a mystery whose full understanding is beyond us, but which can be elucidated by the interplay of different minds seeking it from different angles. It is a matter not merely of reaching right conclusions, but of seeking them in the right way.”
– Catholicity, A Study in the Conflict of Christian Traditions in the West Being a Report presented to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury (1947) by a group of scholars including Dom Gregory Dix, T. S. Eliot, Austin Farrer, and Michael Ramsey
 
“The English Church also recognizes the authority of the undisputed General Councils. It was in these Councils that all the great heresies were rejected, and the main truths of the Catholic faith asserted.
 
If this be our principle as to the truth, it may be asked, — How is it that there exists such diversity of teaching amongst us? There is no doubt a good deal of diversity on certain points, not so much touching the main doctrines of the Creed (e.g., the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, or the Divinity of the Holy Spirit), as on matters of practice, and the mode of carrying out our services, and the meaning given to some of our usages. This is to some extent unavoidable, seeing that in a great body of teachers there will be variety of thought and feeling. Judging by St. Paul's Epistles, we see that in the apostles' times, there was a good deal of disagreement, and this upon important points, which often greatly troubled the minds of the apostles. Much of the diversity of teaching in our midst is due to the fact, that men teach in the Church's name that which is not her doctrine. Amongst ourselves there is great unwillingness to carry authority too far, so as to crush the individual energies of earnest men. Often truth comes out the more clearly by allowing these differences to appear; and we are warned by our Lord against too great exercise of discipline, ‘lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them’ (Matt. xiii. 29).”
– Vernon Staley (1852-1933), The Catholic Religion: A Manual of Instruction for Members of the Anglican Communion
 
“The peculiar character of Anglicanism arises in part from the operation of history; the conflict within her own borders, both before and after her cultus took form, of Puritan and Catholic ideals. But it is also a true expression of certain paradoxical attributes of the English mind: its tendency to conservatism in respect of the past, and passion for freedom in respect of the present, its law-abiding faithfulness to established custom, but recoil from an expressed dominance; its reverence for the institutions which incorporate its life, and inveterate individualism in the living of that life; its moral and practical bent.”
– Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), Worship
 
“The Church of England is a superlative example of the strange English spirit of compromise, which contrives to make things apparently incompatible in theory work together somehow to produce a reasonably satisfactory result in practice. Of course, this sort of compromise has its disadvantages. The Church of England has rather the appearance, sometimes, of being a creature with a head at both ends. . .
– Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957), Worship in the Anglican Church
 
“We often speak of Anglican ‘comprehensiveness.’ If this is a way of making relativism palatable or a means of accommodating all shades of opinion with no regard for truth, then it needs to be rejected. If by comprehensive we mean the priority of a dialectic quest over precision and immediate closure, then we are speaking of the Anglican consciousness at its best.”
– Urban T. Holmes (1930-1981), What Is Anglicanism?
 
“Comprehensiveness demands agreement of fundamentals, while tolerating disagreement on matters in which Christians may differ without feeling the necessity of breaking communion. In the mind of an Anglican, comprehensiveness is not compromise. Nor is it to bargain one truth for another. It is not a sophisticated word for syncretism. Rather it implies that the apprehension of truth is a growing thing: we only gradually succeed in ‘knowing the truth.’ It has been the tradition of Anglicanism to contain within one body both Protestant and Catholic elements. It has been the tradition of Anglicanism to contain within one bod Protestant and Catholic elements. But there is a continuing search for the whole truth in which these elements will find complete reconciliation. Comprehensiveness implies a willingness to allow liberty of interpretation with a certain slowness in arresting or restraining exploratory thinking.”
– The Lambeth Conference, 1968, quoted in The Spirit of Anglicanism, William Wolf, ed.

“We are unhappy enough anyhow, and if Christianity is to mean a little more unhappiness, more discipline, more trials—the prospect not unnaturally drives men to that plea for annihilation which (the Church declares) is the only thing the Omnipotence will never grant, except indeed by the annihilation which is he. On the other hand, there is an offensive cheerfulness encouraged by some Christians which is very trying to any person of moderate sensibility. We are to be bright; we are to smile at strangers; we are (last horror of daily life!) to get into conversation with strangers. It is some comfort to reflect that Messias was against our being bright as he was against our being gloomy. He was against our being anything at all. He indicated continually that it was our wish to do or be something by ourselves, even to be saved by ourselves, that was the root of the trouble.”

– Charles Williams (1886-1945), ‘He Came Down From Heaven’

“There is in the Anglican identity a strong element of awareness of the tragic, of the dark night and the frustration of theory and order by the strangeness of God's work. . . The result is a mixture of poetry, reticence, humility before mystery, local loyalties and painful self-scrutinies.”

– Rowan Williams, (1950 -  ), Anglican Identities

“As a living Church with a mission to every generation of mankind, she [the Episcopal Church] must be alive to meet every developing need of humanity. She must enter into [humanity’s] growing intellectual, moral, social life – yea, into their literary, musical, artistic life. Her mission is to [humanity]; to lift [humanity] upward and Godward; to ameliorate the condition of servitude and labor; to undo the chains of the slave; to bless every investigation and effort for the advancement of humanity; to mitigate the evils of war; to quicken all philanthropic enterprises; to enlarge people’s hearts towards [other people]. And so in the domain of truth, while she is immovable in declaring the faith once and for all revealed, allowing of no alteration by addition or diminution . . . yet she possesses the power to meet by her definitions the newer aspects of human knowledge in science and philosophy, and show how conformable they are to revealed truth. She stands thus in no conflict with the discoveries and ascertained results of modern sciences. . . She does not fear any established results of the higher criticism. She, in calm security, possesses her deposit of truth, knowing that every difficulty in the future, as in the past, will only confirm the Catholic faith.”

– Charles Grafton (1830-1912), Church Principles and Church Parties

 
“Anglicanism offers a richly textured Christianity with ancient roots, expansive sources, a living commitment to justice and reconciliation, and space for people to explore, question, and grow along the way.”
– Dwight Zscheile (1973 - ), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity
 
“In an age that craves certainty and tribalism, Anglicanism offers something quieter and stronger shaped by prayer and lit from within by the glory of Christ. That is what gives me hope.”
– The Rt Rev Sarah Mullally (1962 - ) in her address upon being appointed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury

“Be of good comfort, we have to do with a merciful God, ready to make the best of that little which we hold well, and not with a captious sophister who gathereth the worst out of everything wherein we err.”

– Richard Hooker (1554-1600), A Learned Discourse of Justification

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15. Embraces an Ordered Ministry

Back to the beginning:

1. Biblically Focused, but not Literalistic