The Vicar’s View
In my journey to the
Anglican Orthodox Church I was, at various times, an Episcopalian,
Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist.
In each of these denominations I have known wonderful, Christian
people whose lives are shining examples of godliness.
Of course, I have also met many whom, well, let’s just say I am
concerned about. While I am sure both kinds of people are also in the
Anglican Orthodox Church, what sets it apart is its conscious decision to
follow what J. C. Ryle called the “Old Paths.”
Not all new is good. Not
all innovation is progress. We
live in a time of constant and rapid change, when new technologies replace
the old daily. Cell phones
and computers are obsolete long before they wear out, and people have a
tendency to believe newer is better.
While
new is sometimes better in technology, I seriously question its value in
theology and religion. I
believe truth is timeless, and values are eternal.
Other churches may embrace the new.
I pray for them and wish them all good things.
I, with the Anglican Orthodox Church, follow the old paths.
I believe they are the faith and practice revealed by Christ, given
through the Apostles, recorded in the Holy Bible, preserved in the Creeds,
recovered in the English Reformation, and expressed in the Articles of
Religion and the Book of Common Prayer.
As Bishop Ryle wrote, calling them, “evangelical teaching”:
I
see no reason for giving them up. No
doubt other schools of thought produce great outward effects on mankind,
gather large congregations, attain great popularity, and … make a great
show of religion. I see it
all, and I am not surprised. It
is exactly what a study of human nature by the light of the Bible would
lead me to expect. But for real inward effects on hearts, and outward effects on
lives, I see no teaching so powerful as thorough, genuine, Evangelical
teaching.
It is not merely true and good up to a certain point, and then defective and needing additions, as some tell us; it is true and good all round, and needs no addition at all, (John Charles Ryle, Old Paths, pp.viii-ix).
Your servant in Christ,
Dennis Campbell
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
About Holy Trinity King James Bible Book of Prayer The Hymnal
Vicar's_View Sermons 2006 Sermons 2007 Sermons 2008
Copyright © 2006 Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church. All rights reserved
For website information contact: E-mail Webmaster