The Augustine Blog Conference just got kick started to life with Scott William’s fast forward to the middle ages: “Henry of Ghent and Duns Scotus on Divine Memory: Pillagers of Augustine’s De Trinitate”. There’s more good posts to follow, so definitely stay tuned. My response to Mary Moorman’s essay on Augustine and Balthasar on Nuptial Theology will come at the tail end of the conference.
Monthly Archive for July, 2008
This cleared up something that had been bothering me and seemed to bother others. From the Church Times, via Thinking Anglicans
Bishop Mwamba described the situation as it had been in Uganda, “where a special Synod is organised and provision passed which would penalise any bishop coming to the Lambeth Conference. That denied freedom of expression in terms of any individual bishop. The invitation to Lambeth is in the gift of the archbishop and it is up to a particular bishop, not a particular province, to say I will come or I won’t come.
“What are we saying about our leadership styles? It was the same in Nigeria- many would have been glad to come. So when they say 200 of our brothers have boycotted the conference – definitely no. Maybe given the freedom, one or two would have stayed behind. It must be clearly understood: the reason why they didn’t come is that they were forced not to come.” He finds it therefore a paradox that while they stay at home, some of the American allies who have been working with them – for example, Bishop Robert Duncan and others - are here…
The Anglican Scotist directs our attention to Optimus Prime’s piercing critique of the GAFCON document and its attack on the Anglican Covenant, found at the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon’s excellent blog. OP makes the especially perceptive point that the Covenant is not in itself a “fix” for current problems, but rather an something like an prolegomena or architecture for how churches in the communion relate to one another. It’s subtle but extremely important re: our expectations.
ADDITIONALLY: a link offered by 3rd Mill. Catholic analyzing the GAFCON.
Head on over to haligweorc, a blog I discovered thanks to 3rd Mill. Catholic, who i discovered thanks to Per Caritatem. I was especially delighted to read the quite funny post “Faux Catholic.” Those of you that are still not quite sure what being Anglo-Catholic entails, as is the case with most Anglo-Catholics I know, will definitely get a kick out of it. One of the coolest things about this strange blogging culture is learning that there are other people out there going through situations quite similar to your own. A rather virtual support group.
I was on a ferry a few weeks ago, from Drvenic, Croatia to the island of Hvar. It was late in the afternoon, with a phosphorescent Mediterranean haze hanging over the rugged dry mountains and over the stellar blue Adriatic. Dalmatia. On the boat there was this little girl, maybe 9 or 10 years old, leaning over the railing and singing her heart out to the sea. I couldn’t hear her over the motor, but I could see her arms spread out, spread something like a mother’s arms for a son lost at sea, or maybe a lover’s arms for the one that got away, or maybe both once. Something like Aphrodite and the BVM combined. Continue reading ‘Aphrodite and the BVM’
“Self, self, self”–says Dicken’s Chuzzlewit. But oh what slipperiness there is in such a reiterated self! Ethically we come to know belatedly that others have been participant in our selving all along. We thought we were at home with ourselves, just through ourselves, but dwelling with this, we are surprised by the other–a second time. We remember others already enabling us to be so, and we see through this odd illusion of being through oneself alone. Odd, since it is one granted by the gift of the other, one that the generous other seems willing to let be. We become more mature as ourselves, and we realize that this being for self is an immaturity. There are debts deeper than ever one could say or pay. And then an other giving may be known and loved differently, an other giving that enables one’s release to be oneself. Continue reading ‘Being in the Midst - A little metaxu for your afternoon’
Fr. Dan Dunlap has responded to Fr. Al Kimmel’s critique (see original post at Per Caritatem for the back story). He ultimately argues for a sense of catholicism in the Anglican Communion that is similar to things I’ve said in the past, that Anglican orthodoxy stems in a big way from the common prayer practices by the anglican faithful everyday and throughout the centuries. He also argues that Kimmel’s picture of a homogenous unity in the RC, as purported by many Anglican converts to Rome, is a less than accurate. Here’s a snippet of his post:
Anglicanism has never made a claim of ecclesial ultimacy, and so defines itself not as the Catholic Church, but rather as a catholic church, and thus recognizes the other two communions as legitimate branches of “the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Unlike Fr. Kimel, I see this as Anglicanism’s greatest strength, not its weakness. And if it survives the present struggles, then it will only be that much stronger. You see, believe it or not, I still believe in “common prayer catholicity,” Continue reading ‘Still More on Anglican Orthodoxy’
“…The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29b-30). So responds John the Baptist when questioned by the religious leaders seeking to lodge a wedge between Jesus and John. His inquisitors appeal to a temptation similar to the one offered to Adam and Eve, the temptation to throw off their identity as the IMAGE of God in order to BE God. The tragedy of this sin is that seeking to be “more” than the Image of God does not lead to greater life. Continue reading ‘He Must Increase…a meditation’
In the latest installment of the Batman series, the Joker has been wonderfully distilled to the essence of the Satanic. He is radically evil for this reason only: He does not care about money (like mere criminals), but he only cares to corrupt those around him, to show that they are just as vile as he is, and that goodness is always a ruse. Kant said that only a good will is truly good. The Joker aims to prove that this good will exists nowhere. The movie in large part proves that he is right, but for those of us who are still trying to be good, this is strangely inconsequential. As dark as the movie is, and Heath Ledger’s perfomance as the Joker is riveting, his character more often elicits laughs than gasps (of which there are a few, but not all supplied by the bad guys). The Joker is a great character because he reminds us of Satan’s basic predicament. He has refused to bend his knee to a “good” God, and has dedicated his life to distorting those who are stupid and weak enough to spend half their lives kneeling and praising. Basically, then, he is lonely and wants company. Continue reading ‘A Devil of a Joker (slight spoiler alert)’
continuing a theme started by Cynthia’s post and subsequent discussion here….
Giles Fraser has an interesting reflection in the most recent church times on the recent vote for women in the episcopate. For me, it confirms that one of the most significant yet unexplored issues at play here is a fundamental miscommunication over what orthodoxy is and is not. And not merely in terms of the issues - ie. women or no women in the episcopate. Instead, the question should be “how do we conceptually (dare I say, metaphysically?) go about the business of articulating orthodoxy.” Continue reading ‘Anglican orthodoxy: “too much” of a good thing’
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