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Grace and Truth in the Secular Age

19 essays concerning present-day Anglicanism

Grace and Truth in the Secular Age
Edited by Timothy Bradshaw
Eerdmans. 310 pages. £18.99

This important book contains 19 essays collected by Timothy Bradshaw, the Dean of Regents Park College, Oxford, as a contribution to the Lambeth Conference debates.
The 19 authors are 'loyal Anglicans in pastoral, missionary and theological posts'. Three are bishops, in Australia, Nigeria and the US. Several hold academic office, in the UK, US and Canada. All are well qualified to engage with scholarly debate in their own areas but the essays are accessible to the ordinary Christian reader. Each one ends with discussion questions.
Michael Green starts the book in typically robust fashion: 'Why is the Anglican church like a swimming pool?'. 'Because most of the noise and splashing takes place at the shallow end.' The shallow end means 'internal arguments over women priests, homosexuality, feminism, finance and the like'. The strength of the church is in the places where there is spiritual vigour and growth, and it is in those very places that there is an adherence to the teaching and ethics of the New Testament. The uniqueness of Christ and his headship over his church are truths taught by Scripture and cannot be abandoned.
Peter Brierley contributes a masterly statistical analysis of world Anglicanism. Although it only makes up 4% of world Christendom, it is significant in its world coverage and is of key importance in Africa, Oceania, and of course the UK. Here especially, nominalism is going to be one of the principal issues for the 21st century.
Jim Packer's thought-provoking contribution is entitled 'Unity and Truth - The Anglican Agony'. The first of his three preliminary observations is that world Anglicanism is accidental. 'We may agree,' he continues, 'that the accident was a happy and indeed providential one, and others besides myself may want to claim that the Anglican heritage as we have received it is the richest and wisest in all Christendom . . .' It is a delicate hybrid and therefore its survival is not inevitable. Current trends make Anglicanism's continuance less and less certain.
Secondly, he observes that liberalism has gained the upper hand in Anglo-Anglicanism; relativism dictates that no biblical or Christian utterance may be seen as a standard of orthodoxy, for there is no such thing as orthodoxy. This leads to syncretism in worship, creation-liturgy rather than salvation-liturgy, a unisex approach to ministry, and homosexual partnerships equated with marriage. (Is Jim being shallow, Michael?)
His third preliminary observation is that world Anglicanism is being torn apart emotionally and may be torn apart organisationally. He notes the hostility with which a recall to orthodoxy by the conference Essentials '94 was received in Canada - its Declaration is printed in an appendix to the book, along with the Kuala Lumpur statement.
He and the other writers have many more important things to say and their essays deserve to be widely read. I hope the price will not prevent that.

Stephen Bowen