February 17, 2005
Clergy who deny doctrine may face trial for heresy
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Clergy who deny the existence of God and other key doctrines could soon face heresy trials in the Church of England.
Proposals to set up tribunals to try doctrinal cases were rejected by the Synod last year but the House of Laity overwhelmingly voted yesterday to reintroduce them.
Members of the House, who were meeting before the full Synod began, criticised liberal clergy for diluting traditional teaching, though one said that they did not propose burning heretics at the stake.
The House of Bishops has independently agreed to reintroduce the proposals, which were defeated by a narrow margin last July after clergy expressed fears that they would be victims of a witchhunt.
Margaret Brown, a lay member from the Chichester diocese, said yesterday that the original proposals had been thrown out partly because they had tried to deal with broad issues such as clergy wearing the incorrect vestments.
"It is far, far worse if we have a clergyman or clergywoman in the pulpit and they are preaching heresy and do not believe in the tenets of the faith, the Virgin Birth, the bodily resurrection of Christ and all the other tenets of the faith," she said.
"What is faith if we do not preach Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ glorified? We will not get very far in winning souls for Christ, which is what we should be doing all the time.
"Let us make sure the liberals really do preach the word of God."
Peter LeRoy, of the diocese of Bath and Wells, reminded the laity of the usual definition of an Anglican as someone "who can believe anything they want as long as it is not too strongly".
He said heresy trials were essential to persuade clergy to endorse "sound teaching".
Quoting from a survey carried out in 2002 of what the Church of England believed in, he said just 76 per cent of clergy believed Jesus Christ died to take away the sins of the world, 68 per cent believed Jesus rose physically from the dead and 53 per cent believed faith in Jesus was the only way they could be saved. Among women clergy, the figures came in at about 10 per cent lower in each category.
"These figures are nothing less than astonishing and underlie the need for this measure," said Mr LeRoy.
He blamed Britain's "post-Enlightenment, pluralist, relativist Western culture to which we have succumbed".
Prudence Dailey, of the Oxford diocese, said: "You do not have to be a fundamentalist to admit that it is unlikely that the Holy Spirit supports guiding the Church into denying His existence."
She said that she was not suggesting that modern heretics should be "burned at the stake". But she added that such people should not be allowed to draw a stipend or receive official sanction to lead their flock astray.
Brigadier Ian Dobbie, of the Rochester diocese, said: "We need to raise the profile of doctrine in the Church. Sadly, our image is one of doctrinal indifferentism.
"We need to be reminded that belief is reflected in behaviour. Those who are weak in doctrine are most vulnerable to temptation. These proposals are not a thinly-disguised means for a disgruntled layman to be vindictive."
Tom Sutcliffe, of the diocese of Southwark, one of the few liberals to speak, said: "We need to take account of the fact that even liberals are performing a missionary function.
"When people say we have to draw the line somewhere it makes me very worried because we are going to draw a line where many people could be outside."
The proposals are set to be voted on at next year's Synod. If members approve the measure, it will then go before Parliament, where it will require primary legislation. Assuming it passes at Westminster, heresy trials could begin within five years.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/15/nclerg15.xml
This article, in itself fascinating, caused me to think on the following question. Is it our weakness in doctrine that caused us to stray from the faith (or never to embrace the Christian faith in the first place) or is it the weakness of the doctrines themselves that helped to bring us to where we are today?
And now, back to the witchhunts and burnings at the stake?
Yeah, I noticed that.