This was written as (essentially) an anonymous rant in a England-wide clergy directory. The author was a disaffected Anglo-Catholic who committed suicide when his authorship of the piece was discovered. I need to study it more but it is very thought-provoking; its statements in the first part on English patristic and biblical studies are absolutely true. There is an “English” way of doing biblical studies which is quite different from the German and subsequent American schools of wissenschaft divorced from the concerns of the churches. So–read it. Parts are a rant, especially against WO, but I think it’s worth knowing and engaging meaningfully.
Thanks for sharing this Derek. Much to chew on…especially as Anglicanism comes to a crossroads in terms of identity and mission.
Too bad that this is linked to such a sad story.
Grace and Peace,
Joe
It’s so sad that he felt driven to suicide, having been discovered. As much as I disagree with his stance on WO, his anatomy of the Church of England and ECUSA is usually dead-on especially in terms of theological education.
Joe, it’s particularly the identity and mission issues that must be dealt with. And yes–they are linked to theological education. Note when this was written–almost 20 years ago now. But change the names and things basically haven’t changed–other than the acceptance of WO and a few other things…