The Problems with Private Revelation
By Sharon Dewey Hetke
I drifted into the Anglican world when my husband, then a Lutheran pastor, was welcomed into the Diocese of Saskatchewan by Bp. Tony Burton.
But I soon found my own appreciation for this spiritual way, and I discovered that among its riches were its comprehensiveness and catholicity. It was a big tent, with a lot of diversity, but it all seemed to hold together because of a common understanding that we are tethered to Scripture and its interpretation by the Church everywhere and throughout the ages. There was a sense of being bound together in bonds of affection, and common discipline expressed in the Canons of the Church. I saw a humility and practicality that seemed uniquely Anglican. And there was a strong sense of the givenness of our common faith.
If I may point to one thing that threatens this equilibrium, it is the tendency to accept “private revelation,” untethered from Scripture or the tradition, as a source of authority.
In the brewing story around Via Apostolica and Bp Todd Atkinson, there are allegations of misconduct, including the abuse of ecclesiastical power. But what should also ring in our ears are the 2018 warnings from prominent ANiC clerics, who wrote to the leadership of ANiC stating, “Some of us are troubled by the apparent claim to extra-biblical revelation from the pulpit by Bishop Todd.”
The fallout from the Via situation will hopefully be limited, and it is good to see the ACNA taking a transparent and vigorous approach to the investigation. Nonetheless, a situation like this tears at the fabric of the church.
Giving sway to private revelation, at the expense of the teaching of the Church, can be driven by ego, a desire to have a unique message, spiritual isolation, or the desire for cultural acceptability. But its effects are disunity and a door left wide open to serious error and even abuse.
The problem with “private revelation” can be seen much more broadly within the Anglican Church of Canada. For decades much of the leadership of the ACoC sidelined Scripture and the tradition of the Church on matters of sexuality and marriage, and dismissed the demands for accountability from the worldwide Anglican Communion. Since 2016, same-sex marriages have been permitted in many ACoC dioceses, despite the Marriage Canon remaining unchanged. Then in January of 2021 came the release of a legal opinion by top international experts who sharply criticized this mistreatment of Canon law.
Nearly one year later, the Opinion has not been seriously engaged by the top leadership of the Church. Instead, it has been dismissed with statements along the lines of “We are doing our own thing here in Canada” and “We really can’t be bound by Canons; rather, each bishop will make his or her own discernment on this issue.” We are in serious trouble as a Church when private revelation on a key matter such as the doctrine of Marriage supersedes accountability, the Canons, the clear teaching of Scripture, the tradition of the Church and, to put it plainly, the crystal-clear logic of the aforementioned Legal Opinion.
This desire to go our own way can also be seen in some of what is being put forward by CoGS for the Church’s consideration (see our news story on p. 2) – particularly the gender transition liturgy. We also await with interest the precise wording of Motions related to governance changes — which may be aimed at making it easier to change the doctrines of the Church. Similar to the episodes of “private revelation,” developments like these can lessen the demands of accountability that have helped the Church to hold together through five centuries.
In a recent letter to the Bishop of Toronto, Fr. Dean Mercer wrote: “For many the step toward the Anglican Church of Canada was a step away from sectarianism and its dangers and temptations and a step toward the catholic faith and life of the church, into a church in Canada that was comprehensive and robust.”
As one of many who has found a home in the Anglican world, I hope and pray that we will not trade away its riches in order to “go our own way.” And as we journey through Advent to Christmas, let us give thanks for God’s divine and universal revelation, his self-disclosure through Christ, the Word made flesh, revealed in Scripture. May all of our discernment, devotion, unity and faith be rooted in this.
MOST gracious God, we humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth; in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where any thing is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; where it is in want, furnish it; where it is divided and rent asunder, make it whole again; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Church Universal, BCP p. 39) TAP
