Defending the divinity of Jesus

It is not often that Mennonite Brethren pastors listen intently to theological arguments from Anglican churchmen, but that is what happened on March 13. That was the date for the spring meeting of the B.C. MB Conference Council of Church Leaders, when the pastors and moderators from all the churches meet in the evening to discuss Conference business. A meeting for pastors and spouses is usually held in the afternoon. On this occasion, the first speaker for the afternoon was Neil Mancor, an associate pastor with St. John’s Shaughnessy Anglican Church in Vancouver, one of eight Anglican churches threatening to leave the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster after Bishop Michael Ingham gained approval for church blessing of homosexual couples.

Mancor stated that the erroneous views on homosexuality in the Anglican Church are ultimately due to an erroneous view of Christology – if Jesus is not seen as divine, then He is not Lord, and the church is free to choose whatever theology it wishes. He noted that a 1% deviation on an airplane flight from Los Angeles to London will bring the plane to Moscow instead, and then described slight deviations on Christology in the Anglican Church that led it to see Jesus as human rather than as both God and man as maintained by the creeds of the early church. He noted that having a good theological foundation is not a sufficient guarantee of orthodoxy because significant deviations have occurred even though the original Anglican credal statements are still in place.

Mancor then outlined three stages of deviation over the past 25 years which have pulled the Anglican Church far off course. The first stage occurred during the 1970s, when the Anglican Church decided to ordain women. Mancor explained the problem was not with opening more ministry to women (the Church might have gone in that direction anyway; his own local church has men and women working together in a biblical teaching ministry, quite dissimilar to the Anglican hierarchy). Rather, the problem was that the decision was not based on prayer and study of Scripture but on listening to the voices of the world demanding women’s equality. In effect, the Church decided to accept society rather than Scripture as its authority.

The second stage occurred in the 1980s, when the Anglican Church moved to “inclusive language” for God. Because some women found it hard to relate to God as Father, the Church changed from talking about “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” to “Creator, Word and Sanctifier”, and from “He” to impersonal pronouns. The new language changed the image of God from a personal God to an impersonal force. Moreover, it removed the connection between the persons of the Trinity and separated the historical Jesus from God. “We now talk about God rather than to God,” he said. Moreover, choosing language according to what people were comfortable with made people rather than God the authority in theological matters.

This led to the third stage, in which Bishop Ingham and some other Anglican leaders see Jesus as just one of many paths to God. If Jesus is only a human being “with a unique presence of God”, He is no different than Mohammad or Buddha, other humans with “a unique presence of God”. This means that the Anglican Church now talks of “our Lord” but not of “the Lord” who is Lord of all people. The crucifixion of Jesus is regarded as showing the love of God but not as offering the only way to salvation. What is at stake here, Mancor suggested, is the salvation of souls, because “I may experience the presence of God in my grandmother, but she can’t save me.” He concluded, “If the Anglican Church had placed itself under the authority of Christ, it would not have taken” the position it has on homosexuality, which leaves gays and lesbians in their sin; “instead of evangelizing them, it takes lost people and dispatches them to hell as fast as possible.”

The underlying problem is that the Anglican Church has some leaders who have never learned Christian theology and who are not in love with Jesus. Mancor suggested, “Many of us stayed too long in (local) churches that no longer preached the truth.” They would sometimes get fed in congregations other than their own but became “spiritual refugees”. He suggested that it would have been healthier for them to leave and join a local church that taught orthodox Christianity. Nevertheless, Mancor said he is not discouraged. The controversy has caused many to recommit to basic principles, Mancor feels called to work in the Anglican Church, and he is convinced that God will not tolerate error but will reform the Church.

Mancor’s message seemed to resonate with the 50 or so Mennonite Brethren pastors present, some of whom see similar dangers in the Mennonite Brethren Church. The session closed with prayer for Mancor and the Anglican Church.

Mission should not be a one-way conversation

In the second half of the afternoon, Columbia Bible College president Paul Wartman outlined three serious problems:

1. The world is gripped by religious fundamentalism (both Christian and non-Christian) that is convinced it has the right answers and culture is fundamentally wrong; fundamentalists therefore become intolerant, judgmental and violent.
2. Christianity has been shaken by uncertainty about who Jesus is.
3. There is frightening biblical illiteracy in the church.

Wartman’s conclusion was that Christians “must call each other to love Jesus again” and that they must take a “Christocentric inclusive” approach to culture. That is, Jesus Christ provides the only salvation; however, Christians should not fight against the world but engage it in true dialogue because Christians don’t have all the answers and God is active even in non-Christians and other religions.

A wide-ranging discussion took place after Wartman’s presentation. There was widespread agreement that the church is troubled with uncertainty about Jesus, biblical illiteracy and a lack of love for Jesus – all of which Mancor had stated. However, there was some hesitation that Wartman’s call to dialogue with culture might risk deviation from the truth, which Mancor had warned against. The discussion helped clarify issues. Tim Unruh, senior pastor of Whistler Community Church, summed up the afternoon’s message: “Jesus is true for all. We should love all.”

All of the day’s meetings were held at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. In the evening session, pastors and moderators heard reports from B.C. MB Conference boards, in preparation for the B.C. Conference convention in May.

—jc