THE LION IN WINTER: Portrait of a Faithful Anglican Bishop

Bishop C. (stands for Christopher) FitzSimons Allison is an evangelical theological bishop with a distinctive and remarkable history. He is a rare breed of scholar, leader, pastor, author, and southern gentleman. As a thoroughly orthodox bishop in faith and morals he has held the line on faithfulness to scripture, to the creeds, the 39 Articles of Religion and the historic episcopacy; standing against the steady encroachment of revisionism in his beloved church.

He is one of the most educated Episcopal bishops in North American Anglicanism, holding a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University. He studied at Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1953 by Bishop John J. Gravatt. He then taught church history at the School of Theology at the University of the South and at Virginia Theological Seminary.

A life-long Episcopalian, in 2022 he renounced his orders in The Episcopal Church and joined the Anglican Church in North America no longer able to go along with the theological revisionism that was slowly but surely eroding his beloved church.

It was a defining moment; the then 95-year-old bishop officially resigned his position; his status as an Episcopal bishop, making his departure official. He wrote U.S. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to clarify that he had been received into the Anglican Church in North America — a body recognized as valid by many Anglican bishops in Africa, Asia, and the Global South, but not by the Archbishop of Canterbury or The Episcopal Church.

A humbling moment for sure, but necessitated by truth. The acceptance of heresy was no longer sustainable to his scripturally-faithful educated mind.

He is a living legend. He is a theological scion standing on the shoulders of great orthodox Anglican bishops who determined the course of Anglican history in their own times. He has lived through all the changes from Prayer Book revisions to the ordination of women and the consecration of a practicing homosexual to the episcopacy in the person of V. Gene Robinson; an act that broke his heart. He has authored five books.

They are; The Rise of Moralism: The Proclamation of the Gospel from Hooker to Baxter, New York, The Seabury Press, 1966;
Guilt, Anger, and God: The Patterns of Our Discontents, New York, The Seabury Press, 1972;
The Cruelty of Heresy: An Affirmation of Christian Orthodoxy, Harrisburg, Morehouse, 1994;
Fear, Love, and Worship, Regent College Publishing, 2003;
Trust in an Age of Arrogance, The Lutterworth Press, 2009.

His favorite and best is; Trust in an Age of Arrogance, he says.

His mind is still sharp, though names can be difficult to recall. He is wistful, contemplative, thoughtful and still hopeful for the future of Anglicanism despite the devastating apostasy that has torn the Episcopal Church apart. The love between his beloved Martha is still strong and palpable. I watch as they move about their home, hand in hand. He holds her chair at the table, as he has always done. They smile at each other across the table. They talk about their souls and they sing their favorite hymns together.

VOL: Bishop, what do regard as the biggest single achievement of your ministry?

ALLISON: My ministry at Grace Church, New York City. The promotion of the Classical doctrine of reform Episcopalians through men like Paul Zahl and Jim Munroe.

VOL: What are your favorite hymns?

ALLISON: My song is love unknown; my Savior’s love to me. Amazing Grace, and of course Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine.

VOL: What scriptures have you most enjoyed preaching from over the years?

ALLISON: The Book of Romans.

VOL: Why?

ALLISON: It has the gospel so clearly proclaimed, especially Rom 4. It has imputation in it 11 times.

VOL: The Doctrine of Justification by Faith has been central to your teaching ministry. Explain.

ALLISON: It is the grand question that lyeth between us and the Church of Rome. IMPUTATION. It is opposed both to the traditional Catholic teaching, according to which the merits of Christ are not imputed but imparted to man and produce a real change from the state of sin to the state of grace, and to the doctrine of Liberal theologians to the effect that our highest vocation consists in the following of Christ who is our supreme Example.

VOL: What particular pastoral situations stand out that you look back on with warmth and affection?

ALLISON: My friendship with extraordinary evangelical figures like John Stott, Jim Packer, Michael Green, and Archbishop George Carey.

VOL: What particular scholars have most endeared themselves to you over the course of your life time?

ALLISON: C.K. Barrett on John’s Gospel is one; Paul’s letter to the Philippians: lessons in faith and love by Charles Handley Moule and Kittel’s 4 volumes Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

VOL: Who is your favorite biblical hero?

ALLISON: St. Paul.

VOL: If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?

ALLISON: I wish I had seen the treasure of true freedom earlier.

VOL: Of the 5 books you wrote which is your favorite?

ALLISON: Trust in an Age of Arrogance.

VOL: You talk a lot about moralism and Pelagianism. Why?

ALLISON: Moralism is a belief that by the law we can be righteous. People who don’t understand freedom. People who claim to be free, fail to see bondage in all of us, they still name savior as redeemer. We come into the world in heavy bondage. The gospel comes before the law, otherwise we are yet in our bondage.

VOL: You once said, “my theology has been disdained by the church?” Please elaborate.

ALLISON: The great Christian witnesses Cranmer and Hooker enable us to shed our bondage and become increasingly free. Freedom…we have been saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved, similarly we have been made free, we are being free and we shall be free.

VOL: Who would you say is the greatest influence on Anglicanism?

ALLISON: Thomas Cranmer; his theology and doctrine.

VOL: What have you felt you have missed the boat on; some significant event perhaps.

ALLISON: Overwhelmingly I have not exemplified a sufficient dependence on Scripture.

VOL: What would you like written on your tombstone?

ALLISON: Gratitude from a forgiven sinner.

VOL: Thank you, Bishop Allison.

THE LION IN WINTER: Portrait of a Faithful Anglican Bishop

At 97, Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison is the oldest living Anglican bishop in North America. He resides with his wife Martha, to whom he has been married for 74 years, on their 900-acre residue of a rice plantation in Georgetown, SC. His son and daughter-in-law live nearby and keep an eye on them both. They are surrounded by a lifetime of family, relatives, friends, and clergy.

By David. W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
July 3, 2024

GEORGETOWN SC: Sitting in the living room of this distinguished, scholarly former Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina, I realize I have come to the home of one of the greatest Episcopal bishops of the twentieth century.