tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post3487849910903971413..comments2024-02-19T07:24:42.397-08:00Comments on Anglican Curmudgeon: The Curmudgeon's ManifestoA. S. Haleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-58619292185834540562010-07-30T06:33:28.708-07:002010-07-30T06:33:28.708-07:00The very first verse of Peter's first epistle,...The very first verse of Peter's first epistle, addressed to members of the infant church throughout what is now Turkey, calls the recipients 'strangers in the world'.<br />That's how they expected to be in the early church - not in society, but separated from it. Zeitgeist, however, is the complete opposite. Should our mission bend to suit it? Both Peter and Paul had a few strong words on that subject and the more the church goes down that road, the more irrelevant it is regarded as being. Why worry about the church, when it becomes indistinguishable from the rest of society?Richard Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14995833811532550388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-80237072412914794872010-07-29T10:10:07.745-07:002010-07-29T10:10:07.745-07:00Hi A.S.,
I empathise.
If you haven't read ...Hi A.S.,<br /><br />I empathise. <br /><br />If you haven't read the following, here's a very eloquent article written some time ago by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon titled "<a href="http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=02-04-016-f" rel="nofollow">The Beached Whale</a>.Truth Unites... and Divideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08891402278361538353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-50579128299749305052010-07-28T09:32:01.211-07:002010-07-28T09:32:01.211-07:00On measuring readership -- I read your posts on Go...On measuring readership -- I read your posts on Google Reader and only visit the actual website maybe 20% of the time to read comments or leave a comment. So, you have more readers of your posts than are showing up as visitors.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16632860530530786486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-38560243484070778482010-07-28T08:58:28.020-07:002010-07-28T08:58:28.020-07:00Although Fr. Matt Kennedy and others will shoot me...Although Fr. Matt Kennedy and others will shoot me for going all allegorical, this week's MP lessons from Joshua included the information that God left some pagan territory unconquered by Joshua to provide a test of subsequent generations' fidelity to the Covenant.<br /><br />Your summary of church history shows that God allows apostates, heretics and pagans to exist side by side with the church. Paul even acknowledges factions within as a means to show which are the sincere of faith.<br /><br />To resist, expose and hopefully restore is not easy. Add to that maintaining our own Christian character in environments that are, as Fr. David Baumann put it, "corrosive." <br /><br />How fitting that this week's Collect pleads for us to "pass through things temporal without losing the things eternal."TLF+https://www.blogger.com/profile/01650010433581488888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-29461423489393984332010-07-28T07:56:13.726-07:002010-07-28T07:56:13.726-07:00Well said, well said, well said.
And I hope you ha...Well said, well said, well said.<br />And I hope you have ten thousand THOUSAND comments who chant the chorus: well said.Valerie Freerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16601365501659084909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-70323351239336428112010-07-28T07:00:06.908-07:002010-07-28T07:00:06.908-07:00It is a cause of grief that we cannot reason with ...It is a cause of grief that we cannot reason with the Zeitgeist. I pray that we can find ways to promote how the "regenerate man" flourishes in his freedom from the Zeitgeist's siren song. Still, in the fight against it, there will always be the need for a curmudgeonly counselor for the defense.Undergroundpewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182191422663119484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-79074538618056307422010-07-28T02:02:20.568-07:002010-07-28T02:02:20.568-07:00Two or three days ago, during my devotional time, ...Two or three days ago, during my devotional time, I read the following verses from the book of Isaiah 3:8-12 (NIV). While directed against the apostasy and sinfulness of pre-exilic Judah, they also seem to me to resonate when applied to the present situation of ECUSA. I would be interested to hear what other people think.<br /><br /> 8 Jerusalem staggers, <br /> Judah is falling; <br /> their words and deeds are against the LORD, <br /> defying his glorious presence.<br /><br /> 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; <br /> they parade their sin like Sodom; <br /> they do not hide it. <br /> Woe to them! <br /> They have brought disaster upon themselves.<br /><br /> 10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, <br /> for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.<br /><br /> 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! <br /> They will be paid back for what their hands <br /> have done.<br /><br /> 12 Youths oppress my people, <br /> women rule over them. <br /> O my people, your guides lead you astray; <br /> they turn you from the path.Topperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14537239370392917165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-19598405061119256292010-07-28T00:46:57.428-07:002010-07-28T00:46:57.428-07:00Dear Curmudgeon,
Being from Australia, I have foun...Dear Curmudgeon,<br />Being from Australia, I have found your writings on the broader communion much more relevant and interesting than your forensic examination of the TEC legal macchinations, important as they are for your US based readers. I'm not sure if anyone else has examined the (lack of) credibility and transparency of the ACC with as much diligence as you. <br />On the ACC, while that particular instrument of communion is heading into irrelevance, the issue will be can the other instruments bring it back into line? The Primates are trying to increase their representation on it to do just that. The sad part is that the ACC is the only non-episcopal instrument, ie represents lay people and priests. It's a shame it needs more bishops to sort it out.<br />The other point to note is that this instrument is the one that recommends amendments to provinces of the AC, ie adds/removals. If ACNA wants to be formally part of the AC, it will need to get the ACC to recommend its inclusion to the Primates, of whom 2/3 must agree. So, it remains an important player in terms of formal recognition or removal of provinces. <br />I think you are right in that informal structures and recognition will probably overtake the formal procedures in the AC. The Global South, GAFCON and other similar groupings will recognise some provinces and not others. What will be interesting is whether over time these informal structures will win out and become recognised formally.<br />Andrew Reidspicksandspeckshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08926414811291442183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-54042603289154815692010-07-28T00:12:17.135-07:002010-07-28T00:12:17.135-07:00For all your well-founded curmudgeonliness, your p...For all your well-founded curmudgeonliness, your pointing out the larger arc of the story of Christianity through the centuries is reassuring to those of us, especially of the younger generation, who are increasingly frustrated and disheartened by "the state of the Church and the world".<br /><br />While I do have a responsibility to do what I can, I don't have responsibility for the final outcome, and God's will will eventually be done in the end.chrylishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417282205206760286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-78076526731771406282010-07-27T21:53:42.887-07:002010-07-27T21:53:42.887-07:00I suspect we'll live to witness TEC, Presbyter...I suspect we'll live to witness TEC, Presbyterians, and Lutherans clutching onto each other to avoid sinking into the quicksand of popular culture. <br /><br />I can't imagine a worse strategy.<br /><br />Like angst-ridden high school girls yearning to be accepted, they will have tossed away their collective morality in return for the attention of fickle and opportunistic rakes and libertines.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-64030035640005426462010-07-27T20:17:33.679-07:002010-07-27T20:17:33.679-07:00Mr. Haley,
Thanks for being a watchman on the tow...Mr. Haley,<br /><br />Thanks for being a watchman on the tower calling the warnings clearly. Thanks also for your work as a church lawyer. I would assume that it's extremely frustrating to watch those who ought to act with probity as servants of the living God instead be the ones with their thumbs pressed down hard on the scales of justice.<br /><br />Speaking of scales, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%205:25-28&version=NIV" rel="nofollow">Daniel 5:25-28</a> sums up God's response to the Indaba and Lawsuit Factory formerly known as the Anglican Communion nicely:<br /><br /><br />"This is the inscription that was written: <br /> Mene , Mene , Tekel , Parsin <br /><br />"This is what these words mean: <br />Mene : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. <br /><br />Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. <br /><br />Peres : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."<br /><br />Thanks for giving wise counsel to all of us in the manner of a Daniel. It has been edifying and encouraging to those of us who know right from wrong but are less schooled in the lawyer's art.Doug Steinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097383385758958840noreply@blogger.com