{"id":1263,"date":"2008-12-10T18:50:18","date_gmt":"2008-12-10T22:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anglicansamizdat.wordpress.com\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2008-12-10T18:50:18","modified_gmt":"2008-12-10T22:50:18","slug":"the-unbearable-uncertainty-in-the-diocese-of-niagara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/the-unbearable-uncertainty-in-the-diocese-of-niagara\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unbearable Uncertainty of the Diocese of Niagara."},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an article in the Niagara Anglican<\/a> by Michael Thompson, rector of St. Jude\u2019s Oakville.<\/p>\n

My baptism in 1956 has meant that I have sought truth first of all within the Christian faith, in \"Addits scriptures, communities, practices, and habits. And because I have not exhausted the depth of those scriptures, communities, practices and habits, I simply have not looked elsewhere. There is enough here for me.<\/p>\n

I do, however, wonder what might have happened had my parents initiated me into another way. Would I have sought truth there, and found enough to keep me lifelong searching? I do know that the deepest truth and truest depth disclosed to me in Jesus is the boundless costly compassion of the living God.<\/p>\n

Of the living God who has called me to follow Jesus. Who may for all I know call others to follow other paths.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To begin, I\u2019ll say something positive: at least Michael Thompson says he follows Jesus, something that should not be too surprising since he is a vicar in the Anglican church. But, then, it is the Anglican Church of Canada and specifically the Diocese of Niagara \u2013 one of the most liberal dioceses in Canada.<\/p>\n

The problem is, though, to say on the one hand that \u201cdeepest truth and truest depth disclosed to me in Jesus is the boundless costly compassion\u201d <\/em>and on the other \u201cthe living God [\u2026..] [w]ho may for all I know call others to follow other paths\u201d<\/em> are inconsistent statements.<\/p>\n

On the face of it, the first statement apparently shows that Michael believes that Jesus\u2019 sacrificial death on the cross was an expression of God\u2019s boundless love for us since it provided forgiveness of sin and a path to reconciliation with him – although he doesn\u2019t actually say that last part explicitly. To then say that God may call some people to follow a different path to salvation makes a mockery of Jesus’ sacrifice: it wasn\u2019t actually necessary \u2013 there are other paths. From Matt 26:38ff: \u201cThen he said to them, \u201cMy soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.\u201d And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, \u201cMy Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.\u201d<\/em> Would even a human father \u2013 let alone the Father \u2013 make his son go through such agony if there were an \u201cother path\u201d?<\/p>\n

Michael Thompson was at one of the discussion meetings St. Hilda\u2019s had when we were deciding whether to join ANiC. We have a number of enthusiastic evangelists in our congregation, so they asked him what he actually believes. The answer, essentially, was that he doesn\u2019t really have a firm grip on what he believes; and he rather envies our certainty.<\/p>\n

The fact is Christianity is a religion which, if true, makes all other religions and “paths” false. No-one is forcing Christianity on anyone; you are free to accept or reject the claims that Jesus made. But if you accept them, you are not free to talk about the possibility of “other paths”. Particularly if you are a leader in a Christian church, Michael.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an article in the Niagara Anglican by Michael Thompson, rector of St. Jude\u2019s Oakville. My baptism in 1956 has meant that I have sought truth first of all within the Christian faith, in its scriptures, communities, practices, and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,237],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diocese-of-niagara","category-nothing-in-particular"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}