Removing the Church of Ireland's lisp, speaking the language of Canaan

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right - Judges 12:6.

From Jeremy Taylor's sermon at the funeral of Bramhall, recounting the late Archbishop's work in securing the adoption of the Thirty-Nine Articles by the Convocation of the Church of Ireland in 1634, in place of the Irish Articles of 1614:

He was careful ... to cause the Articles of the Church of England to be accepted as the Rule of publick confessions and persuasions here, that they and we might be Populus unius labii, of one heart and one lip, building up our hopes of heaven on a most holy Faith; and taking away that Shibboleth, which made this Church lisp too undecently, or rather in some little degree to speak the speech of Ashdod, and not the language of Canaan; and the excellent and wise pains he took in this particular no man can dehonestate [i.e. disparage] or reproach, but he that is not willing to confess that the Church of England is the best Reformed Church in the world.

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Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

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Pride, progressive sectarianism, and TEC on Facebook

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