Longing for God: Anglicans Talk About Revelation, Nature, Culture, and Authority

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Since the Primate’s Theological Commission of the Anglican Church of
Canada was set up after the 1995 General Synod, most Anglicans have been
surprised or concerned by its long silence. In this self-described
“workbook” the silence has been broken, and as the reader progresses
through Longing for God the reason for the long silence becomes clear.
This group of 10 Anglican pastors and scholars, chosen to represent the
diversity of theological opinion in the church, cannot agree to do more
than agree to disagree. In fact, one member writes that the
Commission’s task is “to clarify the differences in the church.”

Longing for God explores the three contentious areas of theological
understanding that are at the root of the current debates and struggles
(and worse) within Canadian Anglicanism: “Revelation,” “Nature and
Culture,” and “Authority.” For each topic a series of mini-papers
are provided in which members offer their views on the topic and
occasionally break into a brief dialogue with each other. It is
Christopher Lind (a “liberal” representative) who puts his finger on
a key question that divides Anglicans concerning Revelation: is what is
revealed “propositional truth” or is it “metaphor”? On this
matter, as on the three large issues and many subissues considered in
this book, no resolution is achieved.

That great distance from agreement is the reason Longing for God is
published as a workbook. The format shifts the debate from the
Commission members to the readers. In “Ways to Use This Book,” a
variety of suggestions are offered to encourage a single reader or group
of readers to begin “doing theology and thinking deeply about your own
Christian faith and life.” While this approach may provide hours of
interesting discussion, it will leave unanswered the question most
Anglicans will be thinking: what does the church believe?