ANGLICAN ANGST: Talk About Your Sex Changes?

David Virtue picks up this story ...

The archbishop of Canterbury has told homosexuals that they need to change their behaviour if they are to be welcomed into the church, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Rowan Williams has distanced himself from his one-time liberal support of gay relationships and stressed that the tradition and teaching of the Church has in no way been altered by the Anglican Communion's consecration of its first openly homosexual bishop.

When I hear otherwise intelligent people make stupid statements like this I assign it to aberrance, when I hear it from a leading politician or media celebrity I assign it to arrogance, but when I hear this kind of junk from a spiritual leader I must assign it to abject ignorance of evil.

The declaration by the archbishop - rebutting the idea that homosexuals should be included in the church unconditionally - marks a significant development in the church's crisis over homosexuals. According to liberal and homosexual campaigners, it confirmed their fears that the archbishop has become increasingly conservative - and sparked accusations that he has performed an "astonishing" U-turn over the homosexual issue.

I would hope that this high-ranking prodigal had just had his own pig pen epiphany ... but I doubt it!

Liberals who had previously hailed his appointment said they are dismayed that he appears to have turned his back on an agenda that he previously championed.

However, the archbishop's comments have received strong support from traditionalists. The Rev Rod Thomas, a spokesman for the evangelical pressure group Reform, said: "There is no doubt that he is distancing himself from the views that he has previously expressed. He's right to want to see people converted. The fact that he's saying this is a hugely welcome development."

Some evidence of significance can be seen in statements such as this ...

"Ethics is not a matter of a set of abstract rules, it is a matter of living the mind of Christ. That applies to sexual ethics."

But the real political animal eventually comes through ... you can't restrain what is in and of itself someone's real passion.

The archbishop said that he was determined to preserve the unity of the church from being destroyed by the warring factions in the gay crisis. He said he has backed a resolution which says that homosexual practice is incompatible with the Bible.

Has it ever occurred to this man that it is not him who preserves but the Lord?

Personally, I think Williams read the writing on the wall of church history and saw himself a footnote that read: "Williams, Rowan; Archbishop of Canterbury, titular head of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, whose leadership is believed to have been the engine behind the collapse of the Communion in 2008."

According to The Telegraph article ...

The Rev Giles Goddard, the chairman of Inclusive Church, a liberal group, said the archbishop's comments revealed an "astonishing" change in his position. He added: "The implication is that there is no justification in scripture for the welcome of lesbian and gay people. It appears that he has moved into the conservative camp."

Chris Bryant, a homosexual Labour MP, said that many people would feel betrayed by the archbishop's comments. "The Church of England wouldn't survive without gay clergy in inner cities."

Then perhaps it shouldn't?

The fallout from this news will reverberate through the Naves and Narthexes of the Anglican world for at least a year or more.

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HT: Virtue Online

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Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury, Christianity,
Church decay, ECUSA, Gays, Homosexuals, Inclusive,
Religion, Rowan Williams, Same-sex marriage