Megan Basham: How the Left Stole Evangelicalism

Including much of Anglican Evangelicalism.  For starters, I give you the Anglican Church in North America's Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others.

Comments

[Stephen]

It's true, although in fairness, the left stole most of Anglo-Catholicism as well. (Exhibit one: The TEC.) And rather earlier.

[Gerry T. Neal]

With regard to Stephen's comment about the left having stole most of Anglo-Catholicism earlier I think that one reason why Anglo-Catholicism seems so leftist and liberal in the Church of England, Anglican Church of Canada, and Episcopal Church is because most of the orthodox Anglo-Catholics left these bodies over the ordination of women decades ago and formed the churches of the Continuum. In other words, it is not that Anglo-Catholicism was more vulnerable to liberalism than evangelicalism but rather less willing to tolerate it. To the same point, about a generation prior to the women's ordination controversy and the Affirmation of St. Louis, the Anglican Communion became the first of the historic Christian bodies to defect from the up-to-that point universal Christian consensus against contraception in the Lambeth Conference of 1930. In the fight over this, it was the Anglo-Catholics who held solid to the orthodox position and the Sangerites were able to win only with the help of defecting evangelicals. It was this, interestingly enough, that paved the way for the later controversy over women's ordination, which in turn opened the door to the revisionist sexual ethics over which the evangelicals began saying that's a step too far in the last couple of decades. The loosening of the strictures against contraception led, counter-intuitively but undeniably historically, to the demand for abortion and the second wave of feminism, which pushed for women's ordination which, once granted, removed the ground on which traditional sexual ethics with regards to homosexuality and even the trans issues of today stood. I will grant, however, that the willingness of many second generation, Oxford type Anglo-Catholics to embrace higher criticism, Darwinism, and reject Scriptural inerrancy and infallibility is the reason there was a type of Anglo-Catholic to be found in the C of E, ACC and TEC after St. Louis. "Liberal Anglo-Catholicism", so contrary to the hard opposition to liberalism on the part of Newman, Pusey, and Keble, grew out of the idea that a high view of the Church made a high view of Scriptures unnecessary. This is nonsense for many reasons. The abandonment of a high view of the Church in most of Protestantism is what led to the development of the low view of the Scriptures. While Scriptural inerrancy is associated with "fundamentalism" in most Protestant circles today it remains the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and can be found in the most recent edition of their Catechism.

[Embryo Parson]

Excellent analysis, Mr. Neal, Thanks.

[Stephen]

I certainly agree that evangelicals' hands are not clean; although TEC was a very Anglo-Catholic denomination, and its capitulation to liberalism in the indicated years cannot really fairly be laid entirely at evangelicals' feet. The REC, which had left with many of the evangelicals, did not go liberal to the same extent, and has now ironically become something of an ark for even conservative anglo-Catholics. (The continuing church deserves praise too, but a look at its relatively small numbers shows that most anglo-Catholics did *not* come out of the failing church. Nor did most evangelicals.)

My point is not and was not that evangelicalism is the magical armor against liberalism or apostasy. My point is just that neither is anglo-Catholicism, or any other ism either. The temptation is always strong to say, "This bad thing happened because everybody didn't agree with my party." But in fact, the bad thing happened to all the parties, and nobody distinguished themselves along the way (except praiseworthy individuals throughout all the traditions). As long as we primarily keep fighting the wars of 100-200 years ago, we will not be confronting the real enemies.