Earlier this month, Episcopal priest Anne Holmes Reading was defrocked after being required to choose between her former Christian faith and her new-found Muslim faith.
It’s not the last time the issue will come up, I’m sure. During a Sunday-morning worship service in January, the Bishop-Elect of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan replaced the New Testament reading with a reading from the Koran. The Bishop-Elect has also strongly promoted elements of Buddhist worship in the church, and many consider him a practicing Buddhist.
In times past, when people were converted and changed their religious affiliations, they also changed churches as a way of standing in solidarity with their new faith. Luther’s followers became Lutheran, Calvin’s followers became Presbyterian and/or Reformed, etc. What (for example) ex-Catholics didn’t do was to go to the Presbyterian church and keep on vocally supporting the Mass! It just wouldn’t make sense after they’d given up all they had — often including family savings, homes and neighborhoods — for what they believe in.
How it makes sense to the folks in the Episcopal church is beyond me. Something about not wanting to give up buildings, maybe? The local Episcopal church is prettier (and better endowed) than the local Mosque? Maybe unlike their Reformation ancestors they’ve never faced the cost of true conversion.
Having said all that, Dan Lasich (pastor, formally local) writes a wonderful article about what it means to change allegiances over on Provocative Christian Living. Have a look: “It is Really All About Jesus”.
I would challenge anyone, episcopalian or other wise to acquaint them selves with the history of the church. The fact that the early church fell into apostasy due to external persecution and internal dissension cannot be disputed. Dr. James E. Talmage’s work The Great Apostasy is an excellent read. I quote “The Church of England makes official declaration of gegeneracy and loss of divine authority in these words: “Laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects, and degrees, have been drowned in abominable idolatry most detested by God and damnable to man for eight hundred years and more.” The “Book of Homilies,” in which occurs this declaration by the Church of England, dates from about the middle of the sixteenth century. According to this official statement, therefore, the religious world had been utterly apostate for eight centuries prior to the establishment of the Church of England. The fact of a universal apostasy was widely proclaimed, for the homilies from which the foregoing citation is taken were ” appointed to be read in churches” in lieu of sermons under specified conditions.” I was episcopalian for 12 years, my parents still belong. I have a degree in comparative religion from U.W. Eau Claire.
Hi Andy and welcome! Thanks for your post.
You wrote:
This sounds very much like Mormon teaching… I heard the same thing from a couple of young Mormon missionaries on my doorstep not long ago. I’ll say the same here as I did there: there is — and must be according to God’s word — a difference between organized religion and individual believers. In every age, according to the Old Testament prophets, God has preserved a faithful remnant. Even if one chooses to write off the entire Roman Catholic Church as apostate (which is further than I’m willing to go) there have still been individual believers in every generation, inspired by God, around whom the saints have gathered and carried on with the true faith.
When I was speaking to the missionaries I mentioned C.S. Lewis as an example and they heartily approved — said they studied his writings in temple. Lewis is a good example of one member of the Church of England presenting teaching that is soundly Scriptural.
On the quotation from the book of Homilies — I’m not sure how the writer can be talking about the Church of England when he says “detested by God and damnable to man for eight hundred years and more” — if the C of E isn’t yet anywhere near 800 years old?
That the modern-day Episcopal Church is in serious theological trouble goes without saying, this is true. Our local diocese is now aligned with the worldwide Anglican church because of it. Even so there are still lots of *individuals* in the Episcopal Church who are solid Christian believers and are working to bring God’s word into dark places.
I’m curious… do you teach comparative religion? And if not, how are you using your training? I’ll be having to answer those questions myself in a few years…!