Stephen Noll speaking to the Mere Anglicanism Conference. The following is a taster. HIS WHOLE PIECE SHOULD BE READ!
"The Resolution stands but was not to be acted upon, and the Communion has paid a high price for this inaction. Archbishop Rowan Williams has repeatedly referred to the authority of Resolution 1.10 with the qualification that it is currently the mind of the Communion.[25] This misstates the case. The bishops at Lambeth 1998 did not think they were giving an interim report but giving a permanent No, based on what is at all times and in all places the Church’s doctrine concerning the “unchangeable standard” of marriage and sexuality.[26]
Doctrine without discipline is a dead letter; arguably it is worse than no doctrine at all. Let’s put it this way: once a clear statement is made and then spurned, the authority and truth of that statement is called into question.[27] I am convinced that Lambeth 1.10 is the standard to which a faithful member of the Anglican Communion must assent ex animo. Every other mediating statement, every other interim body that fails to go back to the norm enunciated in 1998 draws a veil, successive veils, between speaking the truth and obeying it. Some people take comfort from the fact that Lambeth 1.10 still stands. I am not so sure, for at the end of the day God will not be mocked."
I like Stephen's explanation of the doctrinal coherency and significance of Lambeth 1.10, exposition of GAFCON's Final Statement, and commitment to Anglican conciliarism (which I share).
(But I still have a question about whether GAFCON is a body of true discipline for there is no sign that I am aware of that Sydney's recent decisions re a declension from presbyteral presidency are registering on GAFCON's radar.)
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction reading this - it is an excellent overview,comprehensive yet succinct and incisive. I by and large think his analysis is spot on, including (unfortunately) the approach and track record of Cantaur and the ACO - and it has come at great cost to the confidence (or lack of it) in the Instruments of Communion. The forthcoming Primate's Mtg should be interesting, by all accounts. Much will depend on the views expressed by ++Gomez and ++Mouneer. Interesting that Noll draws attention to the proposals in 'To Mend the Net' - in hindsight, they would have made a significant difference.