Christian Identity

Here’s my contribution to the carnival…

I. The Scriptures

Blessed Lord who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (Proper 28, BCP)

The canonical Scriptures of the Church–Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament–contain all things necessary for salvation because they point to the identity, teachings, and saving acts of Jesus Christ. They are the authorized record of God’s dealings with his people, written by limited and sinful humans yet in a real but mysterious way God’s own Word. Its comprehensive teachings were best summarized by Jesus himself: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. The second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt 22:37-39).

In this statement and by his actions in the gospels, however, Jesus overturned or dramatically reinterpreted some parts of the Scriptures. Furthermore, the Apostles and St Paul acting in the Spirit with the mind of Christ did the same. Thus Scripture itself reveals that it must be interpreted by the Church in accord with the mind of Christ (found foremost in his call to love; viz. Augustine). Furthermore, this interpretive process cannot help but be influenced by the community’s human reason, experience, cultural location and philosophical understandings.

II. The Creed

Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Chuch thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who livest and reignest, one God, now and forever. Amen (Of the Holy Trinity, BCP)

The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed are not summaries of the faith but outlines of the faith; they sketch the boundaries of what Christians must believe about the Scriptures to be considered Christians. That is, they clarify potentially contestable points in the Scriptural record particularly concerning the nature of the Godhead. They declare what problematic portions of the Scriptures are to be understood literally especially in light of the reading practices of Late Antiquity.

The Athanasian Creed (possibly written by St Vincent of Lerins) contains noble and, as far as we can know, correct statements about the inter-relations of the Godhead. However, it has never held the place of the others, probably because it arrogates to itself judgments and determinations that belong to God alone.

III. Apostolic Succession

O God, who didst lead thy holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: grant that thy Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of thy kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (For the Ministry II, BCP)

Apostolic sucession was especially important in the early days of the church when wandering preachers and holy men were the norm. It established continuity of doctrine and the clear handing on of sacramental efficacy. The Christian Church is neither a text nor a set of beliefs; it is a community sacramentally joined the Christ himself continually striving through to incarnate Christ to the world through word and deed. The sacraments and teachings entrusted to bishops and their representatives–priests and deacons–make this possible.

Bishops and their ministries of teaching and the laying on of hands are for the sake of order in the Church, and for the orderly spread of God’s kingdom. We must remember, however, that sacraments do not work because bishops perform them according to the rules of the Church. Instead these means of grace are effected by God’s grace and at God’s good pleasure. Hence, apostolic sucession gives clarity concerning how Jesus’ gift of the Spirit has been handed on through the ages. While God is pleased to use these channels, to suggest that he may not work outside them is institutional arrogance.

IV. catholicity

O God who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (All Saints’ Day, BCP)

In the Creed’s explication of the Spirit is a reference to “the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” After the close of the events recorded in Scripture in the Spirit did not desert the Church but continued in its midst instructing it in the mind of Christ. The holy catholic and apostolic church is not an institution but is gathering of the true members of the Body of Christ, the Church Militant, Expectant, and Triumphant. Though not constrained within a single institution, it has manifested itself through institutions during its history, most notably in the Orthodox Church in the East and the Roman Catholic Church in the West.

Through the ages the community of the saints has explicated and clarified the Christian faith beyond what Scripture and the primitive apostolic teaching reveal. Where these explications and clarifications lead the community into the mind of Christ and holiness of life they are to be embraced and encouraged. Anglicans are inheritors of the Western spiritual traditions embodied in the historic life of the Roman Catholic Church; thus those teachings and practices of the Roman Church that advance the Gospel and the mind of Christ are commend for our practice.

V. reformation

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 25, BCP)

While the Spirit is active and at work in the Church, the Church is also an institution comprised of humans and as such is liable to the two human sources of error, limitation and sin. Because of these, the Church collectively and its individual members constantly fall short of who and what God created it to be. Through the movement of the Spirit and human effort it must be continually redirected to the source of its life and power, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Throughout the Scriptures the twin goals of holiness and love are constantly held up before the people of God. In the complicated and sometimes contradictory demands of both we often err too far in one direction or the other, falling into a rule-based casuistry or a overly-permissive libertinism. We are constantly called back to obedience. As we struggle to discern our way in a world and culture that is constantly presenting new challenges to faithful living, it is good to seek the wisdom already contained within our historic tradition. While many reform movements have made an idol of apostolic primitivism, the full history of Christian experience should be careful examined for those things that aid us in our proclamation and embodying of Christ here and now.

(…and it slides in at 1,298 words!)

The Truth Needs To Be Heard

I had wondered about this yesterday and it seems that the rumor mill is doing nothing to allay my fears.

It is very important for the cause of clarity to see a breakdown of which bishops voted for which candidates. Did Network bishops deliberately vote for +(+)Schori in order to “push things along”?

Update! This from the Bishop of Texas (perhaps a more reputable source than David Virtue…): “As for the vote, Bishop Jefferts Schori was consented to by our deputation in the House of Deputies with two non-consenting votes, one lay and one clergy. The House of Bishop’s vote is not public. However, I will say to you that I understand she received votes from supporters and a solid number of more conservative bishops who supposedly hope to move the split of our communion forward. Politics can make strange bedfellows. Further, this same undercurrent is attempting to undermine the good work of the Special Committee on Windsor.”

I will note that Bishop Don Wimberley is not someone that I know much about. He himself is not a member of the Network. He says this is his understanding so this is still in the realm of hearsay as far as I am concerned. His full text is here.

Further Update Again…hearsay but pointing in the same direction. In the biblical studies field we might start calling this multiple attestation…:

“I have sources in purple shirts who verify David
Virtue’s allegation that the PB election was heavily,
even unduly, influenced by Bp. Bruno of LA. Check out
VirtueOnline for details. [Here is the link.]{{I refuse to link to VOL…}}The same sources tell me that the Network bishops and
those bishop who wish to be windsor-compliant are
meeting secretly every morning, often in the
afternoons, and occasionally in the evenings.”

Hat tip to Whitehall for the full thing…

And just to note, power politics has been part of church life at least since the writing of First Corinthians so this really is nothing new. The divisions and strategies are the same; only the names change.

NIN/Bauhaus Show

It was awesome. It was so cool to see Bauhaus live. For those unfamiliar, they are widely regarded as the fathers of the goth rock movement. Think the Psychedelic Furs, but louder and darker. The only problem with their set was that the lead was using moves that were–with good reason–banned a decade or so ago. Bela Lugosi may be dead but cheesy camp clearly isn’t. He spent much of his time prancing around with a stick. Bad. People older than their mid-forties just shouldn’t prance around a stage… Embrace your gravitas, man!

NIN was just amazing. Trent has cut his hair off which bummed us out a bit but the music was tremendous. Lots of old favorites. No encore, but they finished with ‘Head like a Hole’; no encore could possibly top that. My personal favorite moment was when they did ‘Dead Souls’–an old Joy Division tune. M reminded me that it was off The Crow soundtrack; I’d totally forgotten about that…

Sarum Anglicans?

In thinking about the various Anglo-Catholic tribes, one way to order them is to consider how they define Catholicism and particularly what set of documents, texts and liturgies they appeal to as final authorities. Is it Whole-Church-ness and thus an infusion of Orthodoxy? Or is it Roman-ness and if so, what council or councils are the best arbiter of this? So–you’ve got the Tridentine Anglo-Catholics who adhere to Trent and Counter-Reforation practice on one hand then the so-call Papalist Ango-Catholics who are willing to go along with Vatican II and current Roman use. M and I were having a discussion about this the other day. What we came down to is this: The Anglican heritage encompasses neither Trent nor Vatican II. In fact, being Anglican is pretty much a repudiation of Trent. That is, the sole decent argument for a Church of England apart from Rome that didn’t bring it all down to divorce is that the English use was different from the Roman use. Trent did introduce a novelty in trying to papally enforce one standardized liturgy.

If this is so, then why do we not look more to the uses of Sarum, Hereford, and York than to Trent? The obvious issue is continuous practice; these uses stopped being part of the lived liturgy of the people and now remain only as books. That’s fine for texts, but ceremonial is not captured as well even by descriptions. *Sigh* What’s a High Anglican to do…?

Online Liturgy Roundup

Here are some things that have been brought to my attention recently for one reason or another. bls is the source of a couple of them so thanks to her for those… The presence of an item here doesn’t mean I endorse it, it means I think it’s a good thing to know about. In no particular order, here are some liturgical resources online to be aware of:

Chad Wohler’s Books of Common Prayer. This one’s a no-brainer and I heartily endorse it. If you don’t know about this site, you should–I don’t care what denomination you are. Speaking of, I’d love to see other denominations do something like this with their worship books as well. [server problems today…GC related?]

Anglican Gradual and Sacramentary. This is a pretty massive project. I’m still trying to figure out what I think of this. Essentially, it’s an attempt by Affirming Catholicism folks to construct something like the Anglican Missal based on the American 1979 BCP and related uses (Lesser Feasts & Fasts/Occasional Services/etc.) In my opinion it falls short. Yes, it has extensive propers for a whole lot of days including lections, collects, secrets, postcommunions, etc. but it feels like a tack-on to the ’79 BCP rather than an organic whole. The propers are only a part of an Anglo-Catholic celebration. A larger part is the ceremonial and the prayers prayed privately by the priest. This is lacking that component as the Eucharistic liturgies are essentially from the BCP with only a few of the more standard Roman additions at innocuous points. Another thing that concerns me a bit is that so much of the additional material is from the 1974 Roman material. What’s the rationale for wanting to adopt modern Roman pratice? Anyway, there’s a lot here–some of it may be helpful.

Gregorian Liturgy. This is from a Tridentine Mass group in Bonn. Not for the faint of heart; you’ve got to know your psalm tones if you intend to try any of the Office material because they just give the traditional pattern–the incipit then the last few notes keyed to E U O U A E (from the last phrase of the Gloria Patria: …seculorum. Amen. If your totally hardcore you’ll be able to read their versions in traditional German notation (I can’t…). All in all, the main site is worth checking out even if your German is as rusty as mine. Many of the links go to the traditionalist English language Confraternity of Ss. Peter & Paul like this Breviary link which has parallel Latin and English.

The Anglican Breviary. Speaking of both Breviaries and people who want to be more Roman than the Romans, here’s the Anglican Breviary. The Breviary itself isn’t online, but the instructions for use are worth looking at.

Pointed Gospels. Here are Gospels pointed for singing. They are NRSV and (I believe) follow the BCP’s lectionary. Take the time to read the note; their tone varies a bit from that which is strictly traditional. They wanted theirs to have more musical interest which, frankly, isn’t the point of singing the Gospel. It should be sung to be better heard and understood, not so it can be performed. Annunciation and clarity ought to be paramount above all else. Actually, thy’ve got quite a lot of good links off this page but it has sound–so mute before you go there if you’re in a place where a chanting computer would be odd…

That’s all for now…

Carnival Announcement!

I’m announcing a blog carnival. Those who don’t know/aren’t sure what that is, it’s simply a collection of links to writings on a unified topic. And you have to eat cotton candy while you read them. This means anyone reading this may participate. If you choose to do so, just leave a comment to that effect here or email me at haligweorc hotmail with all appropriate punctuation.

Here’s the rationale…
In the build-up to General Convention, a view has been widely circulated beginning, I believe, with internet rhetoric and things like Kendall Harmon’s “Choose this day” video that there are really two religions in the Episcopal Church: one orthodox Christianity, the other anything goes Unitarian-Paganism that likes to take over Episcopal buildings. I’m always suspicious of simple dichotomies and this one is no exception. Now I see myself as being middle-of-the-road and my readership is fairly broad theologically-speaking. Some readers are more conservative, some more liberal, and others vary in ways that the conservative/liberal dichotomy doesn’t capture. My goal is to get a sense of where we are as individuals who take our faith seriously. What comes out in the end? Two religions or something else?

Here’s the topic…
The Carnival topic is Christian Identity. I’m inviting posts that wrestle with five topics–you can address anywhere from all to only one. My preference, of course, is to see you engage all five to get a holistic sense of how you construct Christian identity. Here are the five:

  • Canon

  • Creed

  • Apostolic Succession

  • catholicity

  • reformation

And yes, the last two are intentionally lower-case. Great tomes can and have been written on each of these topics; that’s not what we’re after. Indeed, I think that clarity can come with brevity–so I’m asking that you hold your response to around 1500 words (approximately 3 single spaced pages) allotting therefore about 300 words per topic if you’re going for even distribution. Entries can be reflective, occasional, systematic, apologetic, polemical, whatever–even a catena of quotes from revered authorities past or present (properly notated, of course). Anyone is welcome to play along. The Carnival itself will occur on (I’m being arbitary here…) June 28th. So, if you’re interested in participating, write something up according to these guidelines, post it on your blog, and let me know about it any time before then.

Word to the Republicans

I’m an official, registered, voting Republican. And yes, that makes me a serious minority among Episcopalians (and academics). (M and I typically just cancel out the other’s vote…)

My party’s been wasting a lot of time on the whole failed “Defense of Marriage” thing. Yes, it’s a shallow political move. I just wish it weren’t. Marriage is an important American institution and it should be preserved. Instead of scapegoating–how about a defense of marriage suggestion that might actually help marriages? Here’s my proposal…

Every couple receiving a valid civil marriage will receive a voucher for three free marital counseling sessions from a properly accredited provider good for two years from the date of the marriage.

IMO–this would be defending marriage. My logic goes something like this: It’s got to be tied to marriage, not divorce. Offering counseling for people in a divorce process is shutting the barn door after the cows have aready split. Relationships fall into their patterns in the first few years and if a couple learns to fight and disagree in appropriate and health ways then, I think it’d be far more effective. The other problem with tying a requirement to divorce is spousal abuse. If there is an abuse situation going on, delaying a divorce won’t help anything.

My other thought would be to ease the treasury a bit. Couples who do divorce would have to pay a “divorce tax”–in an amount equal to 1.5 counseling sessions. But again, I’m not sure that would be helpful or fair.

So, for what it’s worth, party, if you say you want to defend marriage, start thinking about how to go about it beyond pointing fingers…

Pet Peeve Correction

One of my pet peeves is popping up all over the place with General Convention right around the corner: experience as a criterion for theology. Let’s be real clear on what this is and what this isn’t.

Some Anglicans talk about Hooker’s stool, suggesting that theological reflection is equal parts Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. This is a modern construct. Hooker placed Scripture first as read through Tradition as aided by Reason.

Others talk about Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. This was labelled the Wesleyan Quadralateral at the Methodist seminary where I did my MDiv. To the best of my understanding–and I skipped all the Theology of Wesley classes–this too is a modern construct approximating something vaguely Wesleyan. My sense of what Wesley meant when he said “experience” is not individual experience but the Church’s collective experience of the Holy Spirit. Again, I’m not enough of a Wesleyan to know what scope of “Church” he meant–local, denominational body, global-in-this-age or the Church as the collected Body of Christ throughout all ages.

Why the distinction? Because if we’re gonna split hairs about stuff, let’s be precise in how we go about it. You cannot invoke Reason–or, actually, Scripture or Tradition–without personal experience being an aspect of it. How we think, perceive, and comprehend is all conditioned by our experience. Whatever we know of Scripture and Tradition is filtered through our experience of it, of the world, and of what we have experienced others teaching us. Furthermore, our knowledge and understanding of Scripture and Tradition is conditioned by Reason.

So let’s just lose the claim that Experience and Reason are being used by one side in this dispute and not the other, shall we? What it is perfectly fair to argue about is the place of Reason and its admixture of personal experience and of Experience especially on the local church and denominational levels.

That clarification having been made, you may return to your regularly scheduled feuds.

Churches and Non-Profits

I’ve got a few thoughts on the relationship between churches and non-profits sparked muchly by lp’s current predicament. I’ll get to them later, though…

Let me just lead in with this…who’s the greatest non-profit organizer of early Christianity? Paul. Just look at Acts or–far more telling–look at the long list of people in his organizattion that he lists at the ends of his various letters. He had quite a missionary organization going. It wasn’t just a solitary tentmaker wandering around, that’s for sure…

Now, with this in mind, re-read Philippians as a gift acknowledgment letter that triggers another ask.

Even more surprising–re-read Philemon. Throw out everything you think you know about it. I’ve become entirely convinced that the slavery reading we’ve been stuck in for the past couple hundred years completely obscures what it really is.

It’s a major gift ask…

Plainchant Thoughts: Medieval and Modern

M and I spent some time yesterday pointing Gospel texts for the Feast of the Ascension. Doing so brought some things to mind I thought I’d mention.

On Gospel Tones
First, plainchant in general and Gospel/Lection tones in particular are often less about music and more about punctuation. Do you remember Victor Borge’s famous “Phonetic Punctuation” skit? In a way, that’s precisely what the Gospel and Lection tones are for. The moevements let you know when a pause in the sense happens, where the end of a sentence occurs, where questions are, and when the reading as a whole is about to end. Very helpful for listeners. I don’t know how many public readings of St Paul make no sense because of readers who don’t correctly articulate the pauses or tone changes necessary in order to comprehend Paul’s clause-laden style; singing them would be quite a help in these cases…

Now, one of the problems that I’ve encountered in pointing texts is that the instructions that I’ve seen say very unhelpful things like: “apply the metrum at a natural sense break…” Hmm. Natural to whom? I’ve tried pointing texts on the fly and let me tell you, deciding when an upcoming comma should be honored with a flex or metrum on the spur of the moment is not always an easy decision… In thinking about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is one of the great benefits of Jerome’s direction to write out the Scriptures per cola et commata. Essentially, this system doesn’t use punctuation but rather line divisions break the sense. (Think this sounds hard? Hah! Try this… [oops–the publically available user and pwd are any and any] No punctuation, no line divisions–no spaces between words…)More on this can be found here. This system uses a lot of space and so–if I recall correctly–tends to be found only in a few deluxe Gospel Books as well as Codex Amiatinus. Anyway…I think it’d be *much* easier to point these on the fly than not; you’d just need to figure out what’s a pause and what’s a full stop and with appropriate colored initials even that wouldn’t be a problem.

On Psalm tones
It’s never a bad idea to know your psalm tones. Memorizing them is easiest with a good strategy. One handed down from my chant teacher is this–memorize each tone by point the following text: Tone [number] begins thus, and here it flexes, and thus it comes to the middle; and this is how it finishes. When you mention each part of the tone, you put the appropriate cadence. I’d say more…but I’m still hoping that my musical betters, bls or Charlotte, will post promised chant intro…