tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post5476976098588364688..comments2023-11-02T07:47:10.433-04:00Comments on Vindicated: The Unity of the Church, part IKylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14641068117855718120noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-8841369496244151412008-04-09T17:37:00.000-04:002008-04-09T17:37:00.000-04:00Hi Kyle, you should really join the conversation o...Hi Kyle, you should really join the conversation over at http://anglimergent.ning.com if you haven't already (it's kind of like Facebook for those who self-identify as Anglican. Extremely Angli-nerdy.) 400 of us are having some interesting conversation there around church unity issues such as those which you discuss in this post, etc., and I'm always intrigued by your mildly academic, pseudo-traditionalist perspective...<BR/><BR/>TimTim Mathishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165425704343342951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-69956356040184344182008-04-08T21:39:00.000-04:002008-04-08T21:39:00.000-04:00ok...now your in. my friend and i made fun of tha...ok...now your in. my friend and i made fun of that comment for hours. we had no idea if you were serious.benreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14183150513519302252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-59957293600567393022008-04-08T21:30:00.000-04:002008-04-08T21:30:00.000-04:00Seriously. A "U2charist" is the kind of bawdy humo...Seriously. A "U2charist" is the kind of bawdy humor Father Matthews would use to make sherry spew from my nose. Harrumph!Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14641068117855718120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-39271920414222981952008-04-08T21:28:00.000-04:002008-04-08T21:28:00.000-04:00No, Ben. I was not serious. The "U2charist" comes ...No, Ben. I was not serious. The "U2charist" comes straight out of a pit in hell. The very idea is horrible.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14641068117855718120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-6089084356524417012008-04-08T21:24:00.000-04:002008-04-08T21:24:00.000-04:00good word and thanks for the shout out. as for th...good word and thanks for the shout out. as for the u2charist...if your serious it could provide a good post because I am not a fan. but matters of inculturation are key to continuing a missional church. but we will see....benreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14183150513519302252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-43998480608496768322008-04-08T16:06:00.000-04:002008-04-08T16:06:00.000-04:00I think Bishop Ken would like what you typed:"I di...I think Bishop Ken would like what you typed:<BR/><BR/>"I die in the holy catholic and apostolic faith, professed by the whole church before the division of East and West." Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 17th Century.<BR/><BR/>Your Reverend Father in ChristPeterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02295156469257261349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4009348.post-87803962676485299692008-04-08T12:54:00.000-04:002008-04-08T12:54:00.000-04:00These are definitely things to concern ourselves w...These are definitely things to concern ourselves with in thinking about the Church. I think what I was saying, in part, in my post last week was that although the Catholic Church does hold a great deal of the ancient Faith in it's boundaries - they do not exclusively belong to the Church of Rome. Rome may well have acted as a pretty decent steward of much Truth and Order over the years, but it is not perfect (I am saying this) and owing to the broken nature of mankind who makes up the Church, we have seen degradation as well as proper maintenance going on through the Church's history.<BR/><BR/>So, we have an interesting thing going on at this point in history. The brokenness of man has lead to the brokenness of the Church Herself. All these broken parts are still, nonetheless, parts of that broken Body of Christ. Are some expressions of the Church more broken than others? Perhaps. Some have forgotten more. Maybe the DNA strands are a bit more fragmented in some arenas than in others. Sure, and...<BR/><BR/>Well, and I'm not sure. I'm not sure that we can look at the Church, It's Order, doctrine, etc. as scientists look at genes. Not that we don't try, mind you. Are these things important? Yes, I think they are, but I think we have to realize how far we are able to go in trying to reconfigure the Church's "proper" DNA structure. I don't believe it's a very tight proposition.<BR/><BR/>To begin with, the Church itself is a stop-gap measure. It has been constructed of twisted, sin-riddled, broken people (us), and even though It is protected in certain ways the the Holy Spirit, we still screw things up to one degree or another, just not totally. The Church in all Her glory is not, as I said a little while back, the entire point of God's big Plan. It's a means to get there. Even if we get a bunch of things "right," I don't think we can hope to it all down to a sort of <I>scientific</I> certainty.<BR/><BR/>So (again), while there may be an idealistic longing for everything to be all wrapped up tightly, for us all to be under one roof, one Bishop, all recognize the same Sacraments in the same way, etc. - I'm not sure we should expend tons of energy trying to weave all that back together. Not that we should just leave well enough alone, but I'm just not sure what exactly we can do. It's never been quite ideal from the get-go.<BR/><BR/>Some may be, in the mean time, called to one expression or another (understanding, of course, that said expression is not terribly crippling in some inherent way). God certainly knows what we each can handle - how much tension we can live with and in - what we will each be able to do - in a certain ecclesiastical place. And if His Holy Spirit is working in and through ALL of us, in all these <I>places</I>, then He IS. He's working to transform us and the world around us, not just to get us into another <I>place</I>.<BR/><BR/>It's all a bit complicated and, as I said, unscientific. That's about the best I can do with it today. Peace.+ Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02284165373991543203noreply@blogger.com