The Achilles Heel of Anglicanism (In North America and the United Kingdom)

by Rev. Dr. Philip Turner

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Excerpt:
The problem is one of over adaptation to a regnant socio-logic. For Anglicans in these lands, the theological warrant for over adaptation is the sacred cow of pop Anglican culture. We are an “incarnational” religion chant the acolytes of cultural relevance.

It is certainly true that no Christian can remain a Christian and yet deny the doctrine of the Incarnation. However, among the Anglicans of whom I have been speaking, the doctrine of the incarnation as been replaced by an ideology best termed “Incarnationalism.” “Incarnationalism” is not a statement about the person and work of Christ. It is a principle cut loose from a doctrine and subsequently used to justify cultural adaptation by the churches and their individual members. The Gospel of “God with us,” the Gospel of “The Word became flesh” has had the cross expunged from its content. What remains is a principle of affirmation designed to proclaim the goodness of creation and to support moral betterment. Christmas has become a feast of affirmation. Good Friday does not mark an act of reconciliation and redemption but a moral tragedy. What incarnationalism misses is that, in taking human form to reconcile and redeem the world, the Word of God exposed, judged and conquered its darkness. In wrestling with his death Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of the world, now is the ruler of this world cast out” (John 12:31). When the Word is made flesh, all cultures are judged, and in all cultures a struggle with the “ruler of this world” takes place.

Such is not the case for “Incarnationalists.” The only war to be fought is with the people who oppose the views and practices of those who represent the progressive movements of culture. What Incarnationalists cannot fathom is that when Christ takes form in the world, the life of each person and the very foundations of social life are challenged at their core. Incarnationalists, therefore, miss the depths to which the judgment of Christ penetrates the life of any society and the life of each individual member of that society.

What they do not see is the terrible struggle involved in casting out the ruler of this world. They do not understand the extent to which the socio-logic of the age as now deployed is challenged. They do not see that the benefits brought by their account of moral agency have been compromised because that account has been hitched to determinations by each individual about what best suits their interests. What Incarnationalists miss is that, in this era, persons who are also both selves and individuals, are charting the course of their lives by taking sightings not off fixed navigational points but off the bows of the ships they are themselves sailing. In this world, the self determines what is best for it as an individual and then demands the rights of a person to pursue the direction it deems most profitable. The only limitation on this acquisitive form of life is the extent of possible harm personal pursuits may cause other selves who, on their own part, are also demanding a right to happiness. image

Full essay here