The second item of Wednesday afternoon was a private member’s motion on the uniqueness of Christ in multi-faith Britain.
Mr Paul Eddy (Winchester) moved:
That this Synod request the House of Bishops to report to the Synod on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.
The Revd Christopher Strain (Salisbury) moved as an amendment:
After “That this Synod” insert:
“warmly welcome Dr Martin Davie’s background paper ‘The witness of Scripture, the Fathers and the historic formularies to the uniqueness of Christ’ attached to GS Misc 905B and”.
This amendment was carried on a show of hands.
This made the substantive motion:
That this Synod warmly welcome Dr Martin Davie’s background paper ‘The witness of Scripture, the Fathers and the historic formularies to the uniqueness of Christ’ attached to GS Misc 905B and request the House of Bishops to report to the Synod on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.
The motion was carried by 283 votes to 8 with 10 recorded abstentions.
Background papers
background note from the Secretary General (GS Misc 905B) to which is attached a paper from Dr Martin Davie
A Church of England Approach to the Unique Significance of Jesus Christ A paper prepared by Dr Martin Davie for the Theological Group of the House of Bishops
During the debate the following two amendments were defeated.
The Revd Canon Simon Bessant (Sheffield) moved as an amendment:
Leave out all the words after “That this Synod” and insert:
“remembering its resolution of 6 July 2002, affirm:
(a) the process started by Presence & Engagement (GS 1577); and
(b) that all Christians should seek to witness faithfully to Christ and His Gospel to all, whilst also building strong friendships and partnerships with other faith communities in seeking peace, justice and the common good throughout society;
and ask that Ministry Division and the Mission & Public Affairs Division report on progress on this matter.”.
The 2002 resolution is copied below the fold. This amendment was lost on a show of hands.
The Revd Canon Andrew Dow (Gloucester) moved as an amendment:
Leave out all the words after “That this Synod” and insert:
“, recognising the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour as a foundational tenet of the Apostolic Christian Faith, request the House of Bishops to commission a report for Synod giving details of current Church of England based evangelistic ministry among those of other faiths, providing guidelines for this particular outreach, and highlighting examples of good practice.”.
This amendment was lost on a show of hands.
Synod resolution of 6 July 2002
That this Synod, whilst valuing and affirming the importance of cultural and religious diversity, is convinced that the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ is for all and must be shared with all including people from other faiths or of no faith and that to do anything else would be to institutionalize discrimination; and that to this end, this Synod should:
(a) recommend parishes to approach the Partners for World Mission agencies to help make links with the World Church, especially with those people and places which might stimulate witness within a multifaith environment;
(b) encourage the Board of Mission and the Ministry Division through the theological colleges and courses to educate the Church concerning these issues; and
(c) urge all Christians to encourage sensitive and positive sharing of faith with people of all faiths and none whilst being willing to learn from and be enriched by people of other faiths.
I’d have voted against.
Debates (much less assertions) of “the uniqueness of Christ” are SUCH a *waste of time*.
Like fingerprints and DNA, we’re ALL “unique”: that’s not the issue.
What “UofC” assertions are really shorthand for, is proclaiming the SUPERIORITY of the Christian religion, and/or the salvific inefficacy of other faiths.
If that’s what you’re about, then SAY SO!
I, for one, want no part of that (and FWIW, neither would Jesus Christ—IMO).
This is a tactic that U.S. fundamentalists have favored for some time: demand that GC vote on some proposition that is a matter of settled church doctrine, like the Nicene Creed, in hopes that the motion will be defeated so that they can scream about how the church leadership is no longer “orthodox.”
Pure politics.
They seem to be under the impression that ‘the uniqueness of Christ’ is a simple, transparent term and a passport to — what ?
They have neglected their theological reading for decades it would seem, and have lost sight of its opacity.
Also, it isnt very orthodox to raise his ‘uniqueness’ with out invoking its balencing opposite.
Any one for a dash of Docetism ?
I’d have voted against.
Posted by: Pluralist on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 at 7:35pm GMT
Most ministers will be voting with their feet too. Pluralist is in good company.
“pure politics” – yes and no. If Paul Eddy had been after a defeated motion, he’d have worded it much more strongly than this. However I don’t see much wrong with the 2002 resolution, so it’s not really clear what he was trying to achieve with this one. Rev L Roberts – they’ve probably been saying their Apostles Creed week in week out too, and reading John chapter 1. It would have been immensely dispiriting for those ministers in multi-faith communities, who have committed themselves to Christian witness in those places, to get a statement from the national CofE that… Read more »
Whether or not Christ is unique – and of course there are many ways to be unique and he seems to be unique in quite a few separate ways – how on earth does the existence of a multi-faith Britain 2000 years later bear on the question? How can the very time-specific, transient, culture-specific norms of just one society at a period of history vastly removed from his own alter his identity? These norms would not alter his identity even if they were infallible – but since it is not the case that they are infallible then they can do… Read more »
“Paul Eddy tells Synod that his motion has nothing to do with aggresively converting others or trying to evoke notions of western culture equaling christianity. He reports how as he was exploring ordination there were no resources available to support such mission. He discovered that ordinands spend only one day during their training exploring this issue, and there were no guidelines or assistance available to clergy in this area. His motion therefore asks for the House of Bishops to develop best practices to evangelise non-Christians. Eddy argues that we can’t allow notions of social cohesion to get in the way… Read more »
“they’ve probably been saying their Apostles Creed week in week out too, and reading John chapter 1. It would have been immensely dispiriting for those ministers in multi-faith communities, who have committed themselves to Christian witness in those places, to get a statement from the national CofE that said Jesus had nothing to offer.” Blatant false-dichotomy *straw man*, David Keen. For those of us who say the Creed every week (or more often) and read the Bible every day, we don’t NEED a “Uniqueness of Christ” measure, to continue our Christian witness “in multi-faith communities” [Note: that’s the whole wide… Read more »
No, Christopher, we just have a bad history of being pompous,narrow-minded and coercive to get over.
“His motion therefore asks for the House of Bishops to develop best practices to evangelise non-Christians.”
They will know we are Christians by our love. What else is necessary?