FW: Lutheran Anglicans

Veith…

 

Feed: Cranach: The Blog of Veith
Posted on: Friday, April 27, 2012 4:01 AM
Author: Gene Veith
Subject: Lutheran Anglicans

 

I met an Anglican priest the other day who, it turns out, was a big fan of Spirituality of the Cross and my other "Lutheran" books.  As I talked with him, I was astonished at how much he was into Lutheranism.  He explained that there is currently a strain in Anglicanism that is seeking to recover its Lutheran roots. He said Anglicanism generally has had four theological strains:  (1) The mainline Protestantism of the Episcopal Church in America; (2) Anglo-Catholicism; (3) low church evangelicalism, which is often distinctly Reformed; (4) the charismatic movement. But now, he says, a number of  Anglicans, especially young theologians, are rediscovering Luther, who was a major influence on the founders of Anglicanism, especially Thomas Cranmer.   They are finding that it is possible to be both sacramental and evangelical, liturgical and Biblical.  Above all, they are discovering that the Gospel as Luther understood it–radical, liberating–speaks powerfully to our own times and to the specific struggles of both Christians and non-Christians today. The main force in this movement of Lutheran Anglicans or Anglican Lutherans is the Mockingbird Ministry, run by David Zahl and friends, whose main presence is the blog known as Mockingbird.  (Read the FAQ for why it's called that.)  I have been reading and linking to it without realizing its role in a movement.  It's a brilliant website, in both design and content.  Much of it is taken up with commentary on music, film, literature, and the culture as a whole.  But it's also full of discussions of the distinction between Law & Gospel and the Theology of the Cross vs. the Theology of Glory. It draws on ELCA theologians who are still Lutheran, such as Stephen Paulson and Gerhard Forde (who inspires a regular feature called "Forde Friday"), but also Missouri Synod stalwarts such as C. F. W. Walther and Rod Rosenbladt (who is called "our hero" and a formative influence). And the design and tone are very cool and cutting-edged, not stodgy but young, sophisticated, even avant garde. I'm not saying it's all completely on target or could in every instance pass Missouri Synod doctrinal review–a recent post quotes Rudolph Bultmann, though one in which the liberal theologian sounds Lutheran–but it's a good site to visit. And it's a challenge to us Lutheran Lutherans to remind us that, even as some of our own churches play it down, outsiders are finding our theology compelling.

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