In the 20th century, a famous Lutheran theologian quoted many-times-over stated, “the Anglican heresy is the Incarnation.” Whether the statement was intended to be an insult or an objective declaration it points out that Anglicanism is trying very hard to bring Heaven to earth. "Thy kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven."
When we consider “heresy” in the ancient church it usually involves elevating a certain teaching of the church at the expense of other teachings. “…at the expense” is the key. Heresy was often an imbalance of teaching in the church. The critique here is that Anglicans are prone to elevate the Incarnation over perhaps the Atonement that is Christ’s sacrificial work, redemption on the cross. In contrast other denominations elevate the Atonement at the expense of the Incarnation. For example, the imbalance looks like this: Missionaries go to convert individuals to the Christian Faith but are not concerned with whether the people have running water, food, or medicine. The criticism of Anglicanism is that we focus on temporal justice and needs at the expense of personal conversion to faith.
But what is the Incarnation? Most Christians turn
specifically to Christmas and the Birth of Jesus. In Anglicanism the Doctrine of Incarnation is
a broad image of God’s purpose for Life. Rather than that singular moment in history
the Incarnation is about the process that brings diverse life to God’s creation.
The Creation story itself is the initial act of Incarnation
in which God speaks into the dark void and from that comes Life. (Genesis 1) The Christmas event is the second most
significant moment in which God speaks into the darkness and from it Life
emerges and the Life is the Light of man. (John 1) Anglicanism support the Christian
doctrine that God’s Created Order is good (as God states in Genesis), and according
to Genesis there was a fall from that goodness.
Believing that Creation was good and brought forth life,
then acting in opposition to that reality is what we call sin. Sin takes on individual as well as societal
forms. We can commit some act against
God’s design as a person but also endorse actions that harm others. Sin is rebellion against God and God’s purpose
of Life.
The Incarnation recognizes sin as evil in the world. In fact, the world itself has been corrupted
by evil and yet God steps into the darkness and shines light with the intention
of restoring the world.
For Anglicans speaking into darkness and acting as Light in
the world reflects our work to bring about Life. This is important because the modern world
functions in an opposite way. The modern world takes life and uses it for
work. This is backwards. Our work should bring the sense of
fulfillment, joy, satisfaction all the positive attributes of life. The purpose of our life is not meant to uphold
work and the systems of this world that exploit work. Modern people today are enslaved by the
unhappiness of life because their actions do not work toward life, rather
theirs actions are geared toward going through motions of life and not
receiving the benefits of it. God created us to enjoy him and his creation, not to be enslaved by
the expectations of this world.
Finally, as Anglican followers of Jesus our role is to turn
that way of living around. Jesus himself is
the model for life. The work he
accomplished during his life on Earth from conception to the cross was for the
purpose of life (the resurrection). From Christmas to
Easter the Logos (Word) of God embraced life in this world. The Supreme Being walked amongst creatures as
one of them, participating in the humblest ways from bodily functions and
smells to hunger, anger, love, betrayal, joy.
Jesus (the Word of God) experienced every aspect of what it means to be
a human and it culminated in unjust punishment and death. Anglicanism
acknowledges and dare I say embraces the fullness of humanity to accept the Incarnation
(the good of Creation) and the Cross (the pain of Creation) as the models for
how humans live between joy and sorrow, happiness, and toil until that Day when
God fully restore the Creation described in the Book of Revelation.
Our work then is to live a life that enjoys and reflects God's glory and beauty while still living in this broken world with all of its flaws.
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