A comment about being prophetic.

Below is a comment about being prophetic, by Giles Fraser writing in the Church Times.

‘A prophet is meant to be a nuisance, asking such questions precisely when we think we have so ordered our Church, community, society or relationships as not to exclude.’ So wrote Rowan Williams, eight years ago. In contrast, the Archbishop of Canterbury has just revealed his master plan for the unity of the Anglican Communion, which—on a worst-case scenario read—looks to be designed to exclude nuisances from the Church.
The fear that many have goes something like this: sick and tired of the conflict generated by those who recognise gay relationships as having the potential to reflect the glory of God, he is proposing a Church where all controversial theology would have to be cleared with everybody else… a Church where prophecy was impossible. It wouldn’t be a biblical Church: it would be a stagnant pond.
As Dr Williams once said, biblical prophecy focuses on the prophet’s ability to see things that others don’t. The prophet points to an injustice that the community doesn’t recognise, or won’t admit to itself. And, as the prophet speaks of a community’s blindness, it sees him or her as a heretic and a troublemaker.
As the early Dr Williams put it: ‘The prophet is encountering an alien God. [He or she] speaks in the name of a strange God to people who have become used to God, familiar with God.’ That’s why some will argue till they’re blue in the face that the prophet is pointing to a different God, and a separate religion.
The Archbishop’s new plan looks to involve a covenant between Churches, which would bind us together in such a way that no unilateral decisions were possible. It would be an international Anglican whip—to use a parliamentary image. Those who refuse to take the whip would forfeit voting rights, and be relegated to being a second-class Church with associate status.
The worry is that this would become a sanctioned mechanism for dismissing the unpopular prophetic voice. If so, it would silence the sort of radical speech that, again and again, the Bible uses to describe the new and shocking reality of God. On this model, Isaiah could have associate status. Perhaps all new truth has to originate on the fringes, as from one crying in the wilderness. But the danger is that the associate Churches would become a theological laboratory, and the covenanted Churches a risk-free environment for contented Christians who have found a way to silence the troublemakers. That doesn’t sound much like Anglicanism to me.

The Revd Dr Giles Fraser is Team Rector of Putney, and lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford.

ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS V

Within any cultural group most people turn out to be very much alike. There are differences, usually of emphasis or choices and others of genetic origin. Nevertheless if we scratch a number of people we find that hopes, fears, temptations, expectations and such like are very much the same for all. Perceptions will differ, as will the ability to relate to others and understand issues. Underneath, though we are all created equal in the eye of God. We may well ask as do some, who is superior to whom? That is a human question and has validity only within the context in which it is asked and answered.



There are those, however, who suffer a need to be better than their peers and to be seen as such. They will find any number of reasons to show that this is so and expect others to acknowledge their superior nature, achievements or learning. Some of these things will be genuine and we would be churlish not to act accordingly. There are those who clutch at anything to prove their worthiness. Many of those have a psychological problem. Recently we received a letter in which the writer boasted of his large number of theological books and his knowledge of their contents. It was clear from the evidence of his pen that he had confused the written word with reality.



God and life do not reside in books. Books may record or mirror reality but to be real God must be experienced in life and life must be lived, for life comes from God. To despise that life is to denigrate God. We need to glory in creation knowing that we are all God’s creatures and valuable for that reason. Accordingly if we boast, we boast in our weakness which God, through Christ, turns into strength. To own a few thousand books is not a strength but a measure of our interests and possibly our avoidance of involvement in life, particularly that of others.



PISCATOR