Not Even Variable Geometry Can Hold the Anglican Communion Together

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, should know that the Anglican Communion that he inherited is not going the same Anglican Communion that he hands over to his successor. Separation of the orthodox from Canterbury is inevitable barring a miracle such as seeing the Organization (that calls itself a Church) of England, the Episcopal Organization, and the Canadian Anglican Organization all repent and don sack cloth and ashes. Still, the Archbishop tries to hold things together. This time he looks to something called "variable geometry" which was not something you studied in High School math class. Maybe the creators of "Transformers" use it, but should religious organizations?

Anglican Futures gives a timeline of Justin Welby's prior attempts to put into words a way forward and this newest iteration,  

 Yesterday, he chose to look to the political sphere for a new solution, which he intends to put to those Primates of the Anglican Communion who are willing to meet with him in Rome in April.

“There”, he said, “we will look at what the communion could do to remain in a variable geometry of unity, but also an unvarying commitment of love in Christ. Those two expressions vary in geometry of unity and unvarying commitment of love in Christ offer us all a way forward in holy obedience to God".

I had to search for what this new term means over at "Feeling Europe",

"Variable geometry may not only refer to ways to alter the shape of an aircraft's wings in flight in order to alter their aerodynamic properties but also to a concept for multi-speed Europe, a proposed strategy for European integration, next the forms of multi-speed Europe and Europe a la carte."

"'Variable-geometry' Europe is the term used to describe the idea of a method of differentiated integration which acknowledges that there are irreconcilable differences within the integration structure and therefore allows for a permanent separation between a group of Member States and a number of less developed integration units. DI is considered to be a tool to achieve common aims and policies in politics, social fields, economy, legislation and institutional issues to strengthen sovereignty or to enhance effective capacity."

Back to Anglican Futures to sum it up,  

The Archbishop of Canterbury assumes that both the progressive and the orthodox understandings of sexuality and marriage can be described as showing “unvarying commitment of love in Christ” and “holy obedience to God”, despite being diametrically opposed to one another.  

And that is the problem.  His quest for unity has led the Archbishop to a position where the ultimate expression of holiness is a Church which holds together completely contradictory positions on fundamental issues, on which the bible speaks clearly.  

Variable geometry may work great in supersonic aircraft and in science fiction movies, but it won't hold the sinking ship that is the Anglican Communion together. 

 

Is the Revised Common Lectionary Antisemitic?

I have often commented on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and how the editors delete certain verses from the Sunday and daily Bible readings. This Sunday's reading from Genesis 17:1-7,15-16 has caught my eye before because the omitted sections talked about a subject that might be too touchy for sensitive Sunday pewsitters, and that would be "circumcision". This time I noticed the one other verse, verse 8, that got the ax, and left me wondering about the motives of the lectionary editors. I Genesis 17:1-16 and highlighted in red all of the omissions, but pay attention to verse 8 and see what you think.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty;* walk before me, and be blameless. 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ 3  Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,* but your name shall be Abraham;* for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring* after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

9 God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’

15 God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’

 We cannot let the pewsitters hear that God gave "all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding" to his chosen people especially during these times. Were the RCL editors being antisemitic when they cut out verse 8 from the Sunday reading?

God gave Abraham's offspring the land, but He never said it was going to be easy.

 

Should You Watch "The Chosen"?

 I have not watched "The Chosen", but I have heard from various people who liked it. I have the Bible, and I always said, "The book was better than the movie" whenever it came to comparing the two forms. 

The other day I came across a negative review by Catholic author Leila Miller titled, "Christology matters. Reject the false 'Jesus' of The Chosen." In it she posits that the on screen Jesus is created in our image instead of the other way around. I won't get into the details of her arguments or her anti-Protestant tenor, but her addendum at the bottom sums it up,  

"I finally realized why the false 'Jesus' in The Chosen repels me. He's the same guy from my 1970s and 1980s CCD classes. He was the catalyst for so many to flee Catholicism and empty the pews. Gosh, that gee-whiz Jesus loved us all so much! He just wanted us to be happy and “follow our hearts”. He was so inoffensive and groovy that I went on to live many years of mortal sin, just knowing that nice Jesus understood me."

I once attended an Episcopal church and the revisionist priest installed a picture of a laughing Jesus in the parish hall as one of his first moves to liberalize the congregation. I was probably the only person who objected, and my reasons are echoed in Leila Miller's addendum above. 

I don't think I'll be watching The Chosen unless I am called upon to do so by a fan of the show who presents me with a falsehood they learned from watching it and is in need of correction.

Bad News/Good News

This Sunday's reading from Mark 1:9-15 is a good example of the brevity of Mark's Gospel. He tells us so much with so few words. 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

 I was struck when reading this that Jesus calls for repentance first before belief, and I had to think that so many people miss the need for repentance these days and have changed the intent of the words, "just as I am" to mean that their life does not need transformation. 

I have some more bad news for them. If they come to believe in Jesus and his Gospel, they will discover that they need to repent, and they will be changed.

Just as I am - without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - though toss'd about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because Thy promise I believe,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - Thy love unknown

Has broken every barrier down;

Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,

-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am - of that free love

The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove

Here for a season, then above,

-O Lamb of God, I come 

Original Lyrics from Charlotte Elliot, 1835

 

Rome's Rules for Fasting

As we ring in a new Lenten season today, here is what I call "Rome's Rules for Fasting":

The Rules for the Roman Catholic Church:
The Code of Canon Law prescribes (Canons 1250-1252):

Can. 1250: The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
Can. 1251: Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Can. 1252: The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

Growing up, my mother claimed that fish was not meat, so we were permitted to eat fish on Friday. From reading the canons above, it appears that as long as we were under 15 we could have eaten a whole cow and gotten away with it.

In the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared that "the age of fasting is from the completion of the eighteenth year to the beginning of the sixtieth."

Not only do I get a pass from jury duty, I no longer have to fast if I don't want to.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. 

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are:
1) Obligatory from age 18 until age 59.
2) When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal.
3) The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards (also from USCCB).

Our ACNA priest is not into fasting, so I am on my own if I hope to lose those pounds I put on from Thanksgiving through Fat Tuesday.

 

A time to be silent and a time talk

 In this Sunday's reading from Mark 9:2-9, three of Jesus' followers witness the Transfiguration,

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

A remarkable story to be sure. What if Peter, James, or John had testified about the Transfiguration earlier? I suspect that they would have been crucified at Golgotha alongside Jesus. 

Then where would we be?

 

 

Got Religion

 This month we say goodbye to an old friend and resource, the GetReligion blog. I can't say enough good things about those pages that highlighted the religion ghosts in reported news. They helped open a lot of eyes, but probably did little to change the tone of journalism's current residents towards religion. 

For details please read the following two posts,

GetReligion will close on February 2, the 20th anniversary of this blog's birth

and

Farewell, after 20 years: Why we did what we did

I got religion news from the GetReligion blog. 

Where will we get it now?

Jesus at Simon Peter's House

 This Sunday's reading from Mark 1:29-39 brought back memories of our trip to "Capharnaum the town of Jesus" as they like to call it these days. 

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

We visited the presumed site of the synagogue as well as Simon Peter's house. A church had been built over the house, but it was destroyed in the seventh century by the Persians. Now the old house walls have been exposed for us.   

As for deserted places to which Jesus might have gone, there are plenty of those in the vicinity.