The Anglican Mainstream

KARL MARX had a good line about Episcopalians. In a preface to Volume 1 of "Das Kapital," he wrote that the "English Established Church"--of which the Episcopal Church is an American offshoot--would "more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles than on 1/39 of its income." Marx was referring to the Church of England's "Articles of Religion," a basic summary of its doctrine. His cynicism seems vindicated in the Episcopal Church's recent abandonment of biblical teaching on homosexuality.

In early August, the triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church, attended by bishops and diocesan representatives, confirmed the election of a homosexual priest as bishop of New Hampshire. The priest, the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, was once married and fathered two daughters. He and his wife divorced, and Robinson now lives openly with another man. The same General Convention also legitimated local churches' blessing of same-sex unions.

Both actions have provoked opposition--not only from traditionalists inside the Episcopal Church, but also from conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Some resistance is hardly surprising, as the American church's actions contravene the overwhelming witness of the church, past and present, that sexual intimacy is to be reserved for husband and wife. This revision of doctrine comes at a time when the demographic center of Christendom has shifted from Europe and North America to the growing, predominantly conservative churches of Asia, Africa, and South America. The months ahead will test those churches' ability to resist American cultural imperialism. Indeed, the controversy has inflamed the fears of Muslims as well, who resent the globalization of a popular culture they consider demeaning to human dignity.