[Magdalen] Anglican Evangelicals.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

The definition of the term evangelical might serve some useful purpose.

Evangelical simply refers to the Good News, so all of us are arguably
evangelical.  Since the obvious meaning cannot be the actual meaning, we
may need to be a bit more specific.  I notice that nobody uses the term
evangelistic, which would imply taking on some vague sense of the role of
an evangelist.  So that isn't it either.

When the term is used, what does it mean?  Perhaps the sense  is that the
evangelical folks think they follow the Good News in some better way. I
have never read anyone say such a thing, however, so I suppose that also is
not it.

In conversations outside of TEC the term has come to be associated with the
literalist and inerrantist view of scripture.  The inerrantist would
observe that scripture commands that a man shall not lie with a man, and
that settles it. But this clearly cannot be the view of an Anglican
Evangelical, since Anglicans affirm the three-legged stool, and one obvious
consequence of the Anglican view is that scripture does not trump reason.
If one says, "Well, actually it does," then that individual has departed
from the Anglican Way.

Why?  Because we have a very strong track record of blending reason with
reading of scripture, and in at least one enormous case (observance of the
Sabbath), scripture is very, very clear, and we essentially set it aside
because it is extremely unreasonable, and even though scripture multiple
times affirms that this command is to followed in all instances, we do not
follow it. We have been non-observant of the Sabbath for so long that when
a discussion is attempted, we cannot ever agree upon the day on which the
Sabbath falls.

So what clearly defines the Evangelical Anglican?

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 5:22 AM, Zephonites--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

> David
>
> Sorry can you ask the Diocese of Sydney question again - though I  doubt  I
> can answer it as it is not in the UK
>
> Many of the large churches such as HTB, STAG, All Souls Langham Place,  St
> Aldates, Oxford, ST Ebbes Oxford and St Andrews Oxford to name a few  are
> large churches. St Aldates is about 500 which is large by UK standards
>
> They are also big contributors to the Diocesan purse.
>
> It was rumoured that the Bishop of Oxford at the time said he could deliver
>  the Evangelical vote for Jeffery John as Bishop of Reading in 2003 and it
> again  is rumoured that the three big Evangelical churches in oXford said
> that if he  was appointed they would cease funding he Diocese and so Rowan
> Williams  persuaded Jeffrey John to withdraw his acceptance of the post.
>
> It was hearsay but even if it were not true, the rumour reflects the power
> of the Evangelical churches fiscally
>
> Blessings
> Martin
>
>
> In a message dated 16/06/2015 20:02:19 GMT Daylight Time,
> magdalen at herberthouse.org writes:
>
>
>
> In a message dated 6/16/2015 2:32:36 P.M. Eastern Daylight  Time,
> magdalen at herberthouse.org writes:
>
> They are  quite  strong in the C of E - perhaps reflected that there are
> ​
> six
> ​
> Evangelical C of E training colleges>>>>
>
> Very  interesting statistics.
> ​
> What would and average and what would be the  extreme Evangelical
> worship style?
> ​
> You've forgotten to answer the  question about the Anglican Diocese
> ​
> of Sydney.
>