The Land of Unlikeness

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,” which, contrary to Al Kimel’s reductionism above, is more than just the formal retention of ancient creeds and apostolic orders. Neither is my position merely a “strategy,” failed or otherwise, for the orthodox to stay put in TEC/Anglican Communion. I don’t need a reason or a strategy to stay in TEC. Indeed, the burden of proof is STILL on those who insist that I should leave! Rather Anglicanism is a way of being catholic, or living into catholicity, that has proven itself very effective and extremely resilient over the last nearly 500 years of this independent Anglican experiment. I still believe that Anglicanism is a movement of God. I may be wrong. But why should I give up on it now?

Read more here.