Liberal Anglicans are the true church, new book claims

A new book just published leads the fight against the ‘conservative’ attempt to take over the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

Liberal Faith in a Divided Church by Jonathan Clatworthy, General Secretary of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, argues that the Church has traditionally been tolerant and inclusive, willing to embrace differences of opinion and allow them to be debated without threats of schism.

At this time of increasing controversy between liberals and conservatives in the western churches, and especially in view of the July 2008 Lambeth Conference, this book is a highly topical contribution to the case for Christian liberalism and is certain to stir controversy.

While observing the current disputes, especially over women and homosexuality, it is a work of scholarship which examines why Christians understand their faith in such radically different ways, and proposes a way forward which would enable them to worship together and respect diversity of opinion.

The catalyst is the row over the consecration of a gay bishop in America, but Clatworthy argues that it goes deeper than that, to the very roots of Anglicanism itself. Different theories developed at different stages to produce the mix of ideas we have today. The Reformation, the Enlightenment, the nineteenth century revivals and fundamentalism all produced their own ideas about the authority of the Bible, reason, the Church and individual experience. Clatworthy believes that classical Anglican theology is by definition liberal. It affirms tradition but is open to new insights and humble enough to accept that our knowledge can never be complete or certain. The Church should be inclusive, welcoming, and open to debate, allowing differences of opinion to continue until consensus is reached. Conservative Christians see it differently; this book explains why the two views may well be irreconcilable.

This book offers a strong defence of the liberal tradition within Christianity. In particular it highlights the importance that classic Anglicanism has always given to balancing the claims of Scripture, Tradition and Reason and hence to accepting the inevitability of diversity within a single Church. Clatworthy shows very clearly what is at stake in today’s debate within the Anglican communion and how tragic it would be if a fundamentalist uniformity were to triumph over a reasoned diversity Professor Paul Badham, Department of Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter

For a long time, liberals in the Church of England have been exposed to jibes that they offer a watered-down version of Christianity and have trimmed their sails according to the prevailing winds of secularism. This kind of name-calling leaves many naturally liberal Churchpeople feeling bruised, defensive, and uncertain as to whether they are really representing historic Christian teaching. Now there are signs of a fight-back. Jonathan Clatworthy’s book is one manifestation of this. Clearly written, with a firm grounding in the historical and intellectual background of contemporary debates, and plenty of common sense, he argues for the properly theological truth of liberalism. This work will encourage many to move from the defensive to speak out all the more strongly for the rightness as well as the humaneness of a liberal approach. George Pattison, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford

The Modern Churchpeople’s Union promotes liberal theology within the church. The MCU’s annual conference is to be held next week from 8th to 11th July and among its speakers are Gene Robinson, the gay American bishop, Frank Griswold, formerly Presiding Bishop of the church in the USA, and Trevor Mwamba, Bishop of Botswana and a leading voice in the African church.

For further information: The Modern Churchpeople’s Union, www.modchurchunion.org