L'Affair Smyth has Shredded the CofE * The CofE: Whither Bound * UK Votes for Assisted Suicide * Canadian Anglicans & TEC Seek Structural Change * Gay Bishop Supports Trannie Politician * Campolo and Lindsay Define 20th Century Evangelicalism

Men fall in private long before they fall in public. — J. C. Ryle

For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God [Gen. 3:1-7], while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man [2 Cor. 5:21]. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. — John Stott

The Church of England is beset by financial troubles, heresy, and, worst of all, no particular sense of what the Church is for or why it exists at all — The Guardian

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
December 6, 2024

The great unraveling has begun.

L’AFFAIR SMYTH, the sadistic behavior of a smooth-talking barrister is causing Vesuvius like eruptions in the Church England. John Smyth abused up to 130 boys across three countries and two continents.

There has not been anything like it in memory. Many are now saying it is the worst abuse case in the history of the church which to date, has seen not only the Archbishop of Canterbury resigning but the first serving bishop step back over the child abuse case.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s former chaplain has become the first serving bishop to step back from her role after a report into the Church’s handling of a child sexual abuse scandal. She was found by review to have failed to act sufficiently on concerns about Smyth. Wells is the eighth church official to step away from ministry.

The national safeguarding team is reviewing a list of clergy named in the report to decide whether they pose an ongoing risk and if they ought to be disciplined.

The retired Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, has been asked to step back while the Church investigates what he knew about Smyth’s abuses in 2015.

As the Archbishop’s personal chaplain at Lambeth Palace in 2013, the review found that Bishop Dr Bailey Wells failed to act sufficiently on concerns about Smyth. Wells currently also serves as Deputy Secretary General at the Anglican Communion Office in London.

The Anglican Communion confirmed Bishop Bailey Wells will not be travelling in relation to her role while the risk assessment is completed.

A further four priests have had their permission to officiate suspended over their handling of concerns about Smyth, including the Rev. Sue Colman, Rev. Hugh Palmer, Rev. Rico Tice and Rev. Nick Stott, while Rev John Woolmer has been asked to step back temporarily.

The most demoralizing aspect is the loss of confidence in the Mother Church by Global South primates a dozen of whom have already declared themselves divorced from Archbishop Welby and the Church of England over his embrace of the LLF report and his embrace of same-sex civil unions.

It is profoundly ironic that a layman brought down the whole ecclesiastical house of cards.

One knowledgeable UK blogger noted that a petition, which reached almost 15,000 signatures blew up in Welby’s face before he quit. It was set up by three very prominent C of E priests, who have almost nothing in common except a mutual loathing of Welby. Robert Thompson is a liberal, gay vicar in North London, who is probably the most outspoken maverick pro-LGBT voice on the General Synod. He called for Welby to resign pretty much every week via his prolific Twitter account. Marcus Walker is the vicar of an ancient City of London parish, a leading High Tory Anglo-Catholic and most famous as the figurehead of the Save The Parish movement. And, lastly, Ian Paul is a vocal evangelical, widely-read blogger and prominent conservative synod member. All three already had deep-seated reasons to want Welby gone.

There you have it. It was not an evangelical conspiracy to see Welby gone, there were a lot of fingers in the pie.

There was no smoking gun. The Makin Report did not find evidence Welby had known about Smyth’s abuse prior to entering Lambeth Palace, and nor did it find he had tried to cover it up after receiving the first reports in 2013. The criticisms were over a lack of curiosity, failing to check up on assurances given him by his staff, not looking over the shoulder of church officials to make sure they had actually done what he thought they had.

But the ferocity of the attacks was enough. Welby fell on his sword. Smyth was never brought to justice. He died in South Africa, which is busy now investigating his time there.

You can read several stories here: https://virtueonline.org/smyths-sadistic-behavior-could-claim-30-percent-cofes-evangelicals

https://virtueonline.org/rico-tices-statement-removal-his-pto-following-makin-review

https://virtueonline.org/devastating-toll-abuse-john-smyths-own-son

What now for the Anglican Communion? https://virtueonline.org/what-now-anglican-communion

IN YET ANOTHER BLOW to Welby ere he exits Lambeth Palace, the archbishop let a convicted sex offender work at Liverpool Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury allowed Canon John Roberts to continue officiating even after he was accused of further crimes. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/justin-welby-let-convicted-sex-offender-work-cathedral

THE CofE WHITHER BOUND? There is little doubt that the progressive mindset will win the day. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell is a temporary stand in and he is totally progressive. He is president of Affirming Catholicism which is all you need to know. The Church of England is irrelevant to the majority of the English population and to the broader orthodox Anglican Communion. Whoever leads it will not get the approval of the Global South, which pretty well guarantees that a kiss and make-up will never be achieved. There is little hope that a new Archbishop of Canterbury will turn things around for the Church of England.

***
ENGLAND has bigger problems than the departure of Justin Welby, however. Britain is sliding into spiritual darkness.

As a nation, the UK seems to have been on a downward trajectory of moral decline for at least the last half century but we have, without any shadow of doubt, hit a new low with MPs’ decision to support assisted suicide. A Rubicon has been crossed, in fact, because up to now the primary duty of the state has been to protect the lives of its citizens, reports Christian Today.

A vote this week, will give the state power to determine when and how its citizens will die. It will give the state authority to kill.

Does this matter? Advocates of assisted suicide would say no, because personal autonomy means that we all have the right to decide when and how we shall die, and that, in the avoidance of suffering, a ‘caring’ society must not just support, but help, that decision. It’s the compassionate thing to do, they argue — and the word ‘compassion’ has been bandied around a lot here, along with the implication that those who disagree are heartless and uncaring bigots.

Despite what advocates of Kim Leadbeater’s bill say about iron-clad safeguards, the reality is that if this bill becomes law there is every danger that state-sanctioned death — including euthanasia — will become the default position for treatment of all those deemed to have a low quality of life – a life judged by doctors to be ‘not worth living’, which will include not just the elderly, but the vulnerable of all ages, as well as the disabled and — on the evidence of other jurisdictions where assisted dying is already legal — all those regarded as ‘incurable’, including those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, mental illness, and depression.

They are wrong. No one wishes to deny or downplay the reality of suffering, and there is nothing more heart-breaking than watching someone you love when they are in pain, but there is a world of difference between doing all you can to alleviate that pain, and designedly giving ‘treatment’ to bring about death. If we shift from an attitude of care to deliberate killing, we are inviting a chaos monster, hostile to God, to take up residence in our land. A monster that, given half a chance, will swallow up everything in its bloodied path. We will be proclaiming our allegiance to a spirit of death.

What is being put forward in this dangerous bill not just denies, but rejects, that understanding. It makes of life, in fact, a commodity; something to be valued only while it remains wanted and of use. Which is fine perhaps — even sensible — if there really is no God. But the trouble is, there is … and for all the glib denials of secularists, God remains intimately involved with His creation, and He cares. He cares about every man, woman or child that does, ever has, or ever will exist, and He cares about the Earth. In the battle for control with Satan which started in Eden and is still being fought, He will not allow evil to triumph.

So how does this square with Christian belief? Well, the Bible teaches that life is the gift of God, which begins at conception, and that we are made in His image — because of which all, alike and equally, deserve respect and care.

You can read more stories here with fine critiques of the decision to end life. https://virtueonline.org/uk-dark-day-mps-vote-favour-assisted-suicide-bill

***

The Anglican Church of Canada, like the Episcopal Church believes that if it markets “structural change” then all will be well and all manner of things will be well. But structural change is a secular notion. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a corporation that you can tweak with higher sales, fewer executives hoping for better outcomes.

Jesus himself said the way was narrow and few there be that would find it. The Church has never been about numbers. It is the solid discipleship of the few not the many that is called for. Of course, the problem with both churches is that neither knows, understands or is capable of communicating a faith it does not have. That is why those who split off from these failed branches know what the gospel is and can communicate it. Bandying around a lot of woke issues saves no one and nothing.

The Apostle Paul lying in prison never agonized over his failed pension plan or who would inherit his Jerusalem country club golf subscription, presuming of course that he had one. He named names of those who would carry on the faith once for all delivered after he had gone. “To Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Have you ever heard an Episcopal bishop or Canadian Anglican bishop charge his priests and say this?

You can read more here: https://livingchurch.org/covenant/structural-change-in-the-anglican-church-of-canada/

Safeguarding in the Canadian body also seems to be an issue. Anglican Watch reports a case of corruption in the Church of Canada: A “Dear Acting Primate” letter has yet to be responded too. It’s about sexual abuse by a priest of another priest and how the priest was moved on to another diocese, an all too familiar story. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/corruption-church-canada-anglican-dear-acting-primate

***

Two notable deaths took place last week that marked much of what Twentieth Century evangelicalism looked like. The first was the passing of Tony Campolo, 89, an evangelical social activist responsible for making the social dimension of the gospel front and center of his public ministry. He attributed his vision to John Wesley.

Campolo deplored the identification of the gospel with right-wing politics and the excesses of capitalism and believed God is more concerned for the poor and downtrodden. From his crusades and rallies, Campolo expected new converts to hook up with church ministries that reached out into the community and to the “least of these.”

Campolo, was a champion of ‘Red Letter’ Christianity, highlighting the words of Jesus in the gospels. The Baptist pastor and sociologist argued that caring for the poor was an integral part of proclaiming the gospel.

The second was Hal Lindsey an end-of-the world apologist who sought to scare people with the imminent return of Christ that could leave them behind if they were unsaved. He was 95. Despite his prognostications, Jesus has not returned and is apparently not immediately doing so even though so called American apocalyptic “prophets” still predict his return based on the theologically ill-informed exegesis of texts that have nothing to do with history, the Book of Daniel or America. His school of thought became known as Dispensationalism.

God might just be interested in making sure his gospel is heard in emerging Islamic nations like Iran, with millions in North Korea, China, Mongolia, and Tibet who have yet to hear the Good News.

Lindsey rose to fame peddling end times theories, writing a popular book The Late Great Planet Earth, that compared end-time prophecies in the Bible with then-current events in an attempt to predict future scenarios resulting in the rapture of believers before the Great Tribulation and Second Coming of Jesus to establish his thousand-year (i.e. millennial) kingdom on Earth. Emphasizing various passages in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, Lindsey originally suggested the possibility that these climactic events might occur during the 1980s, which he interpreted as one generation from the foundation of modern Israel during 1948, a major event according to some conservative evangelical schools of eschatological thought. It never happened.

In his Requiem for a False Prophet, the Rev. James Gibson writes; “Hal Lindsey never failed to make failed prognostications. I am happy if you did not have to endure the repeated prognostications about the “rapture” and “the end of the world” that he propagated ad nauseum for nearly half a century. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/two-notable-deaths-touched-20th-century-evangelicalism

***

Homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson loves being heard. He can’t stay away from a pulpit proclaiming his sexual preferences and just how homophobic everyone is who doesn’t fall in line with his thinking,

The retired IX Bishop of New Hampshire took to the National Cathedral’s bully pulpit to rail against Congress’s desire to protect women’s restroom facilities. This came up because Delaware’s newly-elected Democratic Congressman Sarah McBride as a transgendered woman (biological male — Tim McBride) is expecting to use women’s restroom facilities in the Capitol.

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-1) stood up and basically said: Not so fast. Women’s spaces need to be protected from male intrusion. “Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces. Period. Full stop. End of story.”

Robinson came to the defense of McBride, wholeheartedly disagreeing. Robinson railed on that God’s primary concern for you and for me is how we treat the most vulnerable in our midst.

Not true. God’s primary concern is for our salvation, something that has yet to dawn on Robinson. You can read Mary Ann Mueller’s devastating critique here: https://virtueonline.org/i-am-woman-vicky-gene-not

***

The Transgender movement has overplayed its hand and the world is finally getting wise to it. Gender-confused males competing against females in athletics has made the average person realize that there are biological differences that can’t be ignored, writes Jonathon Van Maren for LifeSiteNews. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/transgender-movement-has-overplayed-its-hand-and-world-finally-getting-wise-it

***

On a brighter note, here is a story about the ever-present Dr. J. I. Packer though dead, his light shines more brightly now than ever.

You can read this fine story about the Puritan author, preacher, and faithful servant of Jesus Christ here: https://virtueonline.org/six-beautiful-truths-about-dr-ji-packer

***

Dear VOL reader,

CHAOS AND TUMULT. The Anglican communion never fails to surprise. Just when you think that all is well or at least calming down, lightning strikes.

It is Advent and the leader of the Church of England resigns over his failure to report the psychological, spiritual, and sexual abuse of more than 100 young boys by a barrister who used his position to entice and exercise his power over them. In the twinkling of an eye, Archbishop Justin Welby is implicated and is gone.

Just a few weeks earlier, the Church of England’s restless evangelicals, fed up with the push for full inclusion of same sex marriage, started a revolt with the call for a “parallel province,” that undoubtedly infuriated the archbishop.

The situation is no better in The Episcopal Church. Incoming PB Sean Rowe, like Welby, is a manager. Managers might be good in the secular world but the Church of Jesus Christ is not ordained to be managed. It is a spiritual body which teaches, inspires, and feels pain. It is hurt right now.

For nearly 40 years VOL has documented the ups and downs of the Anglican Communion. From the decline of Western Anglicanism to the rise of the Global South and the emergence of GAFCON and the GSFA it has been a long journey. It is not over.

Events are playing out that will see massive changes in the coming months. Archbishop Welby’s replacement will undoubtedly see more of the same, possibly worse. Will the Global South Primates further distance themselves from the Mother Church? We await the outcome. VOL will document it all.

VOL NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE JOURNEY. Please consider a tax-deductible donation. A PayPal donation link can be found here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support.html

If you are more inclined with old fashioned checks, (as I am), you can send your donation to:

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Warmly in Christ,

David

President,
VIRTUEONLINE

L’Affair Smyth has Shredded the CofE * The CofE: Whither Bound * UK Votes for Assisted Suicide * Canadian Anglicans & TEC Seek Structural Change * Gay Bishop Supports Trannie Politician * Campolo and Lindsay Define 20th Century Evangelicalism

The man-molders of the new age will be armed with the powers of an omnicompetent state and an irresistible scientific technique: we shall get at last a race of conditioners who really can cut out all posterity in what shape they please. — C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man

If you read The Abolition of Man, then you’ll know that Lewis identified the poisonous seeds of a contemporary truism: that truth and meaning come from within us rather than from an objective “given” that precedes and transcends us. This “expressive individualism” now dominates our culture, from educational theory to gender ideology to popular therapeutic approaches that place self-expression and “authenticity” above all other values. — Rev. Dr. Bryan C. Hollon

Through John Owen, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, J.C. Ryle, and other Puritans, Dr. Packer found that sanctification is a life-long process. He found comfort that our hope for salvation is by God’s grace alone. Sanctification is grounded in worship. In his own words, “The life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.” — Daniel Gilman