Zeal For Truth

The following is what I see happening, it does not mean I agree with what I see.

There were news reports this weekend (see HERE, and HERE) that some conservative Anglican bishops opposed to female bishops in particular, and the general liberal direction of the church as a whole, are considering joining the Roman Catholic Church.  If these bishops convert to Roman Catholicism they would not be the first Anglicans (think of John Henry Newman and Thomas Howard), and surely will not be the last.  But why would any Protestant want to convert to Roman Catholicism?

The answer I think is quite simple;  the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) on many, many, doctrines is more orthodox then Protestant churches.

Women in the ministry, the homosexual question, the Trinity, and the importance of the church, are all topics (and there are more) that many Protestants have moved away from their historic teaching on, yet the RCC has remained steadfast on them. If a Protestant is leaving a church or denomination because it is too liberal, the RCC should at least have some appeal to them.  The appeal for some Anglicans is even more however, as besides being conservative, they also have similar liturgy, structure (somewhat but not identical, as there are huge differences between the position of Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury), and history. This has lead to the Anglo-Catholicism movement within Anglicism, and converts to Rome seeing it as not a big shift.

The Anglican church however is a big tent church, and not every conservative Anglican could jump into the RCC.  Evangelical Anglicans, although quite conservative, place so much importance on the doctrine of “Justification By Faith Alone” that no matter how many other orthodox teachings the RCC has, they don’t see themselves as ever being able to be part of it because of it’s view on justification.  Others see the supremacy of the Pope as a huge stumbling block, or other doctrines such as prayers for the saints.

But still, even with the disagreement over justification evangelical conversions are not unheard of. Last year Francis J. Beckwith, an evangelical although not an Anglican evangelical, made headlines when he joined the RCC (althouh not to escape the liberal creep, he’s still a good example of the possibility to evangelical conversions).  I’m not sure how much Beckwith’s understanding of justification had changed to allow for conversion, but in an interview after his conversion he pointed to the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document as being helpful in his conversion so I would assume he would hold to something along the lines of what it says:

We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ. Living faith is active in love that is nothing less than the love of Christ, for we together say with Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2)

So maybe there is even room in the RCC for some evangelicals who can agree with this?

In the future I can only see more conversions to Catholicism out of liberal protestantism. Within Christianity there is a division happening, between the conservative and liberal faction.  Within the Anglican Communion it’s coming to a head now, and if some see no other option conversion to Catholicism may increase.  Of course no one wants to leave the Anglican Church.  Plans are being devised for everything from compromise to dual power structures for conservatives and liberals.  These may work, they may not, but the idea of jumping to one of the most conservative Christian traditions can’t be far from mind for many conservatives with mainline liberal churches.