Finished is right.
129 bishops voted in favor, 26 against, and 5 abstained. Those against included most of the Church’s Province 9 bishops, from Central America, and the few remaining traditionalist bishops in the Church’s domestic dioceses, such as the bishops of Springfield, Albany and Central Florida.
But what are these people thinking?
The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little II, Bishop of Northern Indiana rose and addressed the house stating that as a “matter of conscience and Christian conviction” he could not vote in favor of the resolution. The Episcopal Church “did not have the authority to change the sacrament of marriage,” he stated.
However, he thanked Bishops Thom and Whalon for the “wonderful generosity of spirit” in “allowing clergy and dioceses” to say no to same-sex marriage and retain their place within the church.
He hoped that that in “three, six, nine or eighteen years time” the House would not forget this "generosity” and continue to allow “those who hold a traditional view to have a place in this church.”
Thanks? Really? How about "shove it" instead?
Rationalization? Fudge? It's still alive and well.
One of my ecclesiological taproots is that one is obligated to remain in communion with a church that engages in false teaching as long as it continues to be a church. When such a church progresses from mere false teaching into formal heresy--not just de facto heresy, but heresy enshrined in its liturgies and canons--and then persists in that heresy over more than one generation--and I would suggest forty years as a benchmark for "more than one generation"--then it ceases to be a church, and a faithful Christian is obligated to not be in communion with it. We've certainly been winding the forty-year clock. Is it now ticking?
We don't have to worry until de facto heresy becomes de jure? And then we have forty more years?
Not me. I'm done. These people are worse than a joke.
It is finished.
No comments:
Post a Comment