Sydney Anglicans Close Door to Episcopal Author for 'Gutting' Christian Faith
The Anglican bishop in Sydney has given an order to prohibit a liberal U.S. Episcopal priest from entering any of the churches in the diocese over a new book that one reviewer said “defaced the only portrait of Jesus that makes any real sense.”
by Joseph Keenan, Christian Today Correspondent
Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2007, 8:56 (BST)
SYDNEY, Australia – The Anglican bishop in Sydney has given an order to prohibit a liberal U.S. Episcopal priest from entering any of the churches in the diocese over a new book that one reviewer said “defaced the only portrait of Jesus that makes any real sense.”
Bishop John Shelby Spong, a retired priest and long-time supporter of female and gay priests, was reportedly being snubbed by Anglicans in Sydney who have accused him of ”gutting” the Christian faith in his latest book, entitled “Jesus for the Non-Religious.“
The bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, told the Australian newspaper it was a mistake for the Australian Anglican primate, or chief bishop, to invite Spong to promote his book.
"The judgment of the primate is, in our view, ill-advised," Forsyth said. "It is a mistake. It is the wrong thing to do."
In a review of Spong’s latest book, Mark Thompson, president of the conservative Anglican Church League in Sydney, wrote that despite all Spong’s ”grandiose” claims in the book, it “is really little more than the rehash of long-discarded critical theories and doubts which scholars resolved years ago.”
“Far from providing a program for the future, this book simply rehashes the unbelief of the past that has done nothing but diminish the impact of Christian witness in the West,” he wrote in Sydneyanglicans.net.
The local divisive episode, which is relatively small on the international scale, magnifies the unease and indignation among conservatives within the Anglican Communion who say their liberal U.S. counterparts are bringing the Church into disrepute.
The consecration of V. Gene Robinson as The Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop placed the U.S. arm of Anglicanism at odds with the majority of the worldwide Anglican Communion which now seeks an unequivocal pledge from The Episcopal Church not to consecrate another openly homosexual bishop or authorise official prayers for same-sex couples.
While the majority of the Anglican Communion is demanding "true repentance" from The Episcopal Church for its recent actions, Episcopal leaders, however, have so far expressed that they will not be moving "backward" from their previous decisions.
The Episcopal Church’s final response to the requests made earlier this year by Anglican leaders from the Global South is expected before a Sept. 30 deadline.
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Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Thursday, August 23, 2007, 19:15 (BST)
Why not read "Jesus" by Joseph Ratzinger? Its up to date and truly evangelical.
Frederick Jones, England
Added: Tuesday, August 21, 2007, 5:03 (BST)
Spong is a heretic. Many current American Bishops are as well. Many American priest follow their lead. Is it any wonder that one American priest has asserted that she is a practicing Moslem. Never mind that Islam denies the Trinity. Her position insults both the Christian and Moslem faiths . Besides that it is just plain loopy. It is almost believable that the U,S, Episcopal Church as an institution is organizationally mad as a hatter. Lewis Carroll could not pen anything crazier than a church that stilll tolerates Spong. Fotunately there are still segments of U.S. clergy serving the Living God, and his embodoment in the son, Jesus, and we pray with them that the Holy Spirit keeps them strong for the fight.
mike sims, Louisville, Kentucky U,S,A.
Added: Thursday, August 16, 2007, 11:59 (BST)
There is one book that has stood the test of time. It is called the Bible. It's the basis for judging any literature that covers the life of Christ. In fact, it is the basis for judging the fruit of any auther. A good tree will never ever produce bad,distateful and misleading fruit.
The Lord himself was most magnanimous in dealing with sexual offences. 'Go and sin no more,' were his words to the woman caught in adultery. It is not unusual for the world to display it's strange apetite. Yet as Christians we are called to love. Definitely we can't promote the sin of homosexuality/lesbianism. God hates those sins: The records in Genesis and the divine discourse in Romans make this clear. Never mind if the veracity of the Bible is subject to doubt.
I have not read the book. I know next to nothing about this man of the cloth. If indeed he is called of the Lord, his primary calling to be a fisher of men and to shepherd them til they cross the vale in eternal life.
Tee Jay, Abj, Niga
