Rachael Tearney writes: The departure of Archbishop Justin Welby presents the Church of England with a pivotal moment — one that could either restore its Christian values or plunge it further into the abyss of social justice activism. With potential replacements focused on everything from climate change to diversity, the real question remains: will the next Archbishop have the courage to truly uphold the teachings of the Bible?
There is a vacancy in Canterbury. It has been a contentious position over the centuries, with its holders often being as famous as they are infamous.
We’ve had Thomas Becket, murdered in the cathedral by knights in 1170, embroiled in a bitter quarrel with King Henry II over the rights and jurisdiction of the Church, particularly in criminal cases involving clergy.
Lanfranc, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman invasion of 1066 by William the Conqueror, drove through organisational reforms.
Then there was Thomas Cranmer, who orchestrated the Protestant Reformation in England under the vigilant eye of the monarchy.
More recently, we saw Michael Ramsay, who engaged with Vatican II, drawing Anglicanism into closer alignment with the Catholic Church, ultimately ending the possibility of a union with the Nonconformist Methodists.
And who could forget Robert Runcie, an extraordinarily brave combatant of World War II, who rescued his friend from a compromised tank, then took his own tank into enemy fire to destroy anti-tank guns?
The position carries immense weight, both earthly and spiritual. The Archbishop of Canterbury presides over coronations, royal weddings, and great state ceremonies, while also serving as a Lord Spiritual and the theological father of the nation.
Problematic clergy and theological disputes are nothing new. We are not suddenly faced with a dilemma the likes of which we’ve never seen before. This resignation by the Primate of the Church of England is simply the latest chapter in a thousand-year drama. As potential candidates now vie for the position, we are presented with a selection of righteous social justice warriors draped in episcopal vestments. What we truly need, of course, is a Christian.
In the past few decades, nearly every boundary of the Anglican Church has been breached, every ecumenical matter debated, voted on, culminating recently with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York declaring that they no longer believe in the core doctrines of Christianity. They tried to redefine it and finally decided to simply disbelieve it. But what is the Church if it no longer believes in its own principles? In any other organisation in the world, if a member no longer agrees with its foundational beliefs, they would simply leave, resign their membership. Not so with the Anglican Church — here, the doubters and doctrine disbelievers refuse to depart, insisting instead that the Church must bend to accommodate them.
We are left wondering: how much more can the Church bend before it breaks?
This could well be the point at which that break occurs. If we are saddled with a Socialist Archbishop, the remaining bastions of the Anglican Church will crumble swiftly. Socialism is fundamentally incompatible with Christianity. The two cannot coexist indefinitely; one must concede to the other. If the Church bows to the Socialist state, it will be no more.
There has been a lack of national days of prayer in Great Britain in recent decades. Perhaps now is the time to revive this tradition. As we pray, we might remember the words of Matthew 16:18, where Jesus describes the Church as undefeatable, built on Peter the Rock, with the assurance that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’
As a nation, we must pray that a truly Christian bishop — someone like the Bishop of Guildford, perhaps — ascends to the position and, through the grace, love, and power of the Lord God Almighty, brings the Church back from the brink, thus saving our nation from the soulless, godless fate of Socialism.
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” and the theological father of the nation.”
So you do not consider non-conformist protestants and those who belong to the Church of Rome or other beliefs as being part of the nation?
And here the term nation can and must only refer to the nation of England, not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland.