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  • Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles – Article XVI (Part 1) — The North American Anglican, and Some Commentary of My Own

    Article XVI. Of Sin after Baptism. NOT every deadly sin willingly committed after baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after baptism. After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall…

    Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles – Article XVI (Part 1) — The North American Anglican


    Readers of this blog know that the whole business of Article XVI, the issue of perseverance and whether Anglicanism is truly a “Reformed” religion have occupied this web space for a long time. It is my opinion that this Article makes that impossible because, as the piece from the North American Anglican points out:

    The Calvinist divines, on the contrary, have generally believed that grace once given was indefectible; and this is in fact their doctrine of perseverance. Calvin himself held, that our Lord and St. Paul taught us to confide that we should always be safe, if we were once made Christ’s; and that those who fall away may have had the outward signs, but had not the inward truth of election.[63]

    The English reformers, as we have already seen, adopted in this Article the language, not of the Zuinglians and Calvinists, but of the Confession of Augsburg and the Lutherans. This is apparent from the wording of the Article itself, which evidently follows the wording of the Confession of Augsburg; and also from the Homilies, and other documents, both before and after the drawing up of the Articles. “The Necessary Doctrine” has been appropriately cited, which says, “It is no doubt, but although we be once justified, yet we may fall therefrom . . . . And although we be illuminated, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and be made partakers of the Holy Ghost, yet we may fall and displease God.”[64] 

    The reason why Anglicanism cannot be a truly “Reformed” religion is that the Calvinists have made themselves into the “reference standard” of what Reformed is, and with their unjustifiably exalted position there’s not much anyone can do about it. That being the case, the adoption of a Lutheran formulation (along with much else in Anglicanism) makes it sui generis. Realising that would go a long way to enhance the whole business of “Anglican identity.” Article XVI also spared me a lot of Baptistic rubbish on the subject of perseverance, as I discuss here.

  • The Contrast Between the Giving of the Law and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

    From Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries:

    To publish the Gospel law, he renewed these four things, but in a much more excellent way. The work began with a great noise: but it was neither the violence of thunder, nor the sound of trumpets, as we hear in a fight; the noise which God sent was like that of an impetuous wind, which represented the Holy Spirit; and who, without being terrible or threatening, filled the whole house, and called all of Jerusalem to the beautiful spectacle which God was going to give them. We saw a fire, but pure and smoke-free, which did not appear from afar to frighten the disciples, but whose innocent flame, without burning them or singeing their hair, rested on their heads. This fire penetrated inside, and by this means the law of the Gospel was gently imprinted, not in insensible stones, but in a heart composed of flesh, and softened by grace. There was a word, which multiplied admirably. In place on Mount Sinai God spoke one language, and one people; in the evangelical publication which was to bring together in one all the peoples of the universe in the faith of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of God, in a single speech we heard all languages, and each people heard their own. So Jesus established his law much differently than Moses. Let us believe, hope, love, and the law will be in our hearts. Let us prepare inner ears for him, simple attention, a gentle fear which ends in love.

    From above Mount Sinai God cried out: Do not come near me, either men nor animals; life is at stake; and everything that approaches will die of death. On the holy mountain of Zion, God does not only approach the figure with a luminous flame, but he enters inside the heart: this beautiful fire takes the form of a tongue; the Holy Spirit comes to speak to the hearts of the Apostles; and from their hearts must come out the word which will convert the whole universe.

    It’s worth noting that the feast of Pentecost, originally the Jewish feast of first fruits, was a celebration of the giving of the Law. I’m not sure whether Bossuet was aware of this (it wouldn’t surprise me if he was) but he certainly puts the two together.

  • The Main Line Calls, Why Don’t They Answer?

    There is no doubt that Evangelical Christianity in this country is in an uproar. Sex abuse scandals, Jesus and John Wayne, you name it: things are a mess. There are many, especially in the academy (the usual source of trouble) calling for change in Evangelical churches.

    As someone who started in what is IMHO the Main Line Church and ended up in a Pentecostal one, this whole hue and cry is a farce. Why is that? Because these newly famous critics of Evangelical Christianity are saying the same things that Main Line people have said for years. Wouldn’t it be easier on everyone if these people just ditched their credobaptising Evangelical church?

    Let’s start with the gripe list:

    • Evangelicals are judgmental and narrow minded. Main Liners have been saying this for as long as I have been on the earth and longer.
    • Evangelicals are money grubbers. Same for this one. The current critics of the Southern Baptist Convention say it’s all about power and money. If it is, why stick around?
    • Evangelicals are Bible thumpers. This is especially explosive when the matter of the LGBT+ community comes around.
    • Evangelicals are down the social scale. In my Book Review: Richard Niebuhr’s The Social Sources of Denominationalism that comes out loud and clear, at least in the origins. In the old days the Main Liners had better taste than to say this in public (most of the time) and the Evangelicals were too ashamed to admit it was true.
    • Evangelicals are racists. It’s true that the SBC was split due to slavery (so was the Methodist church as well.) The Main Line churches have not, however, figured out how to translate their “enlightened” racial attitudes into a more diverse membership, unlike the Roman Catholics, the Pentecostals, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and even the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
    • Evangelicals are pushy. That speaks to their name: evangelism has been in bad taste in many Main Line circles for a long time. Tim Keller’s “winsome” approach is an attempt to address this issue, but some think that is past its sell date.

    So, if Main Liners in the past and progressive Evangelicals now really believe even half this stuff is true, why don’t the latter join up with the former? There’s plenty of pew space in Main Line churches these days. Some have actually done this: say what you will about her, but Rachel Held Evans had the courage of her convictions to switch to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland. So why don’t more follow her example?

    I think there are two reasons for this.

    The first is that Americans in general and progressives in particular are obsessed with existing institutions, even when those institutions have the antecedents that they do. Why, for example, would a self-respecting progressive want to change the SBC, knowing where it started? Existing institutions have the advantage of an existing cash flow and systems of appointments, which makes you wonder what this is really about…

    The second is that progressives, for all of their talk, are seriously into “tradition.” They like to retain the form of the religion in which they started, but to change the belief structure to suit where they’re at now. I’ve repeated Elaine Pagels’ story of the drunken seminary professors as a good example of how this works, and honestly cannot top it.

    As someone who has had to abandon many of my “traditions” for more important objectives, I have little sympathy for those who insist on changing their existing institution, even though they know it is rooted in whatever they dislike. Become a Main Liner and stick your nose up as those you leave behind–at least for a while…

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  • Reflections on The Wetland Way, or What My Younger Self is Telling Me — Chet Aero Marine

    Well, it’s done; The Wetland Way is now blogged and out there. As was the case with The Ten Weeks, it’s time to make some reflections on the work. The first thing I would say is that I would avoid turning it into an allegory of what’s going on now. It was conceived a long […]

    Reflections on The Wetland Way, or What My Younger Self is Telling Me — Chet Aero Marine
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  • The Wetland Way, Week 4, Friday: Saying Goodbye to a World that is Gone — Chet Aero Marine

    Terry insisted that she go see her mother alone, over Darlene’s objections. They were able to get another of those infamous Ministry of the Environment Yugos, this one even in poorer running condition—and with less fuel—than the last one. It was all Terry could do to coax the car down to the port and for […]

    The Wetland Way, Week 4, Friday: Saying Goodbye to a World that is Gone — Chet Aero Marine

    From the marriage of Christ and his Church to a pagan funeral, this one covers the waterfront. Literally.

  • Looking at the “Whole Person”: Yesterday it was the Ivy League, Now It’s the State Department

    Our Foreign Service is changing the rules:

    The Foreign Service – the US Department of State’s on-ramp for career diplomats – is watering down its application process with a change that critics say could have troubling implications for national security.

    “I worry that we’ll be sending good community activists over to Baghdad and Beirut who don’t have the depth of knowledge they need to conduct American diplomacy,” said Brett Bruen, a former foreign service officer who served as President Barack Obama’s director of global engagement.

    “We could end up creating unnecessary crises,” he warned.

    A century ago the Ivy League got away from exam results to a more “holistic” approach in order to trim down the overachieving Jews from dominating the scene. They’re doing the same thing with Asians now, although that’s still tied up in litigation. They went to considering the “whole person” and their narrative, especially the essay. The State Department is doing the same thing with its applicants. Their rationale? To increase the diversity of the Service, what else?

    There are opponents within the system, chiefly the diplomats’ trade union, who fear that the process will “risk being seen as excessively subjective and subject to partisan influence.” They haven’t forgotten the exodus detonated by Donald Trump and fear that, should he or someone like him get into power, they’d be in trouble. The trade union remembers what most people forget, that processes can cut both ways, a fact to which the people now in power are oblivious.

    Tests are not the “end-all” of evaluating people, but you need to know some basic facts of the world around you to be an effective diplomat. Americans are product enough of a monoculture. Adding ethnic diversity hasn’t really made a dent into that monoculture. Including factual ignorance to that will make our Foreign Service even less effective than it already is.

    Personal note: I had a prep school classmate who managed to get into Georgetown. She ended up marrying a diplomat and never actually worked for the State Department. The idea of an “Mrs.” degree from an place like Georgetown certainly alters your view of our elite institutions!

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  • The Southern Baptists: A Reckoning Without a Way to Count

    Albert Mohler is in sackcloth these days:

    Fourth, the world will be watching how Southern Baptists handle this report and the moral burden of sexual abuse as they gather in Anaheim. If there are factual corrections to be made, let them be made. But the weight of truth calls for repentance, broken-hearted concern, and a concerted determination to make things right. We will not get—and will not deserve—a second chance at this.

    The central problem, however, is that Southern Baptist theology (such as it is) has no provision for repentance because of their insistence on unconditional perseverance, something I pointed out last year in The Baptists, Their Doctrine and Their Nasty Politics. It’s a trap that has finally been sprung in a big way. They simply have no way to deal with repentance because they have no way to deal with sin after salvation. “If thou, O Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? For with thee is forgiveness: for thy name’s sake.” (Psalms 130:3-4 Brenton) But how can we seek forgiveness if we’ve been taught we don’t have to count our sins to start with?

    For those of us who have suffered the blowback of that idea, that reckoning–if the Baptists can bring themselves to do it–is not a moment too soon, either.

  • Why They Should only Hate a Few Old White Men — Gavin Ashenden

    On Saturday mornings my youngest daughter (who was at Beaulieu as a teenager) and I have taken to having zoom calls with coffee, so we… … 13 more words

    Why They Should only Hate a Few Old White Men — Gavin Ashenden
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  • The Wetland Way, Week 4, Sunday: Making a Run for the Halls of the King — Chet Aero Marine

    They shoved off about midnight. They first made sure the coast was clear on the beach, which it was; Andy’s predictions about the Verecundans’ patterns were correct. They hauled the boat over the rise and down the beach towards the water. It took about seven people to do this. Once at the water’s edge, they […]

    The Wetland Way, Week 4, Sunday: Making a Run for the Halls of the King — Chet Aero Marine

  • The Smelliest Cigars of Them All — vulcanhammer.info

    In many ways, the world we live in is a different place from when Vulcan went offshore fifty to sixty years ago. Some of the issues remain, such as energy independence and security. But others, in the U.S. at least, have been banished from the public square. One of those issues is smoking. I duly […]

    The Smelliest Cigars of Them All — vulcanhammer.info
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