“The Vicar of Bray”

This satirical 18th century folk song tells the story of a clergyman who eagerly changes his theology to accommodate the shifting political and religious winds of his day. Theological accommodation puts bread on the family table, to be sure. And theological conviction comes with absolutely no guarantees, and sometimes is rewarded with beheading. The church that stands for nothing, or promotes the picking-n-choosing of theological aberrations from a smorgasbord of options, will eventually fall for anything.

I eavesdropped on a conversation once in which a very nice lady said, “I love being Episcopalian; you can believe anything and still be one!” She would agree with William James who said, “Anglicanism remains obese and round and comfortable and decent with this world’s decencies, without one acute note in its whole life or history.” Is this true? No!! This is why Reformation Anglicanism that is grounded in the authority of Holy Scripture and the historic Anglican formularies lives large to see another day!