The Church (General)

by dhw, Wednesday, July 09, 2008, 10:43 (5779 days ago)

Sadly, two productive threads ("How do agnostics live?" and "Why is there anything at all?") seem to have fizzled out, leaving a lot of unanswered questions, so it's probably pointless to open a new topic. However, I'd be interested to know what others make of the current schism in the Church of England. - By way of a starting point, here are three quotations: - 1) The Vatican Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on the vote to ordain women bishops: "Such a decision signifies a breaking away from the apostolic tradition maintained by all of the churches since the first millennium, and is a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England." - 2) A letter in the Guardian from Rev Cortland Fransella, on the proposal to make special arrangements for people who feel they cannot receive the ministry of women bishops or priests: "One has only to substitute the word black for women to see why the very suggestion is offensive." - 3) I've been consulting a local rector over a family matter, explaining from the outset that as an agnostic I felt guilty at taking up his time. His reply, given with a twinkle, was: "We are all God's children."