Letters
from 30 January to 5 February 2006
Like
all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters are
the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online.
We publish letters that we think will be of interest
to our readers, whether we agree with them or not. If
you'd like to write a letter of your own, click here.
Incarnation and interactivity
Thank
you! for your brief
but profound and helpful essay on the diocese and incarnation in this week's cover
letter. It is a clear, thoughtful and suggestive argument
and one that I hope will stimulate response.
The
Reverend Donald Rogan
Harcourt Parish
Gambier, Ohio, USA
30 January 2006
'Schism
begets more schism'
"Let's
say a hotheaded priest finds he cannot abide his bishop
or the positions and perspectives of the majority of
the people in his diocese. He cannot bear any longer
to work within the existing canonical and juridical
systems for change. Should he not be willing to put
his life over the line, so to speak, and find another
patch in his national Anglican church where he can
move house, to live and work with more peace of mind
and heart?"
So
then, may I assume that we can look forward to the
day when the Church of England will be returning those
lovely mediaeval cathedrals and parish churches to
the Bishop of Rome? No? Well, why not?
The
lesson here, I would submit, is that schism just begets
more schism. We can say that the one in the sixteenth
century was justified, and these newer ones are not;
but that just erects Bishop Griswold as a latter day
Pope Paul IV.
(And
I say this as a member of a traditionalist Anglo-Catholic
parish, which has welcomed Bishop Bennsion and his
predecessors, and thus without a dog in this race.)
Paul
Goings
St. Clement's, Philadelphia
Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, USA
pgoings@mindspring.com
30 January 2006
'Keep
the stones underfoot and out of hands'
Re:
editorial
of 29 January 2006 I quite agree with the
opinion about not circumventing local dioceses with
cyber-bishops or other electronic oversight. However,
I would like to suggest to those who find their understandings
of Christianity and its Anglican expression in their
local dioceses out of step with their own, to live
with the disagreement and work through them.
Why
must one flee from disagreement or even impassioned
argument? Better is to argue, then pray, and continue
to love one another, keeping the stones underfoot and
out of hands. Please do all of that, and then stand
side by side, together, at the communion rail. We are
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, even in our disagreements.
W.J.
Arnold, PhD
St Mark's Church
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CANADA
31 January 2006
Cathedral
Chapter enquiry
Hello
friends, I edit an Anglican magazine in my Cathedral
Church and I have been asked to publish about the formation
and importance of a Cathedral Chapter. Am wondering
where I can get good relaible information on this subject.
Thanks very much for your assistance.
Jane
Gitau
All Saints Cathedral
Kampala, UGANDA
3 February 2006
Note:
If you'd like to assist, reply to the writer directly
at janegitau2000@yahoo.com.
Two
different worlds
For
anyone who has struggled with questions of faith and
theology, the following may be of some interest. If
one takes as a premise that faith and theology are
incommensurable (impossible to measure or compare)
with reason and science, then two things ensue. First,
it ends the long history of futile attempts to reconcile
faith and theology with reason and science. Second,
it opens new vistas for both theological and scientific
inquiry.
James
Blake Thomas
Trinity Church, Castine, Maine
Penobscot, Maine, USA
cymru8@gwi.net
4 February 2006
Earlier
letters
We launched
our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our
letters are in our
archives.
|
