toward a both/and church

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 03, 2005

The Anglican Dean of Southwark, the Very Reverend Colin Slee, is high on the theological acumen of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The archbishop is capable of thinking in polarities. He can understand the extreme end of an argument (he can understand an African archbishop's abhorrence of any idea of accommodation towards homosexual people), and at the same time he can understand the other side of the argument (the cry for justice, the faithfulness of longstanding same-sex relationships, the fact that there have been gay priests and bishops throughout the church's history); and he can hold them in tension, respect their "integrity". That's why he is so brilliant a theologian. There is a lot in theology about holding apparently irreconcilable polarities in a creative tension -- "God is three and God is one".

The photo above -- from last December's Church Times -- shows Dean Slee holding (reconciliable?) polarities in creative tension. Lot of theology there. The image provoked a sardonic observation from David Williams: "The Dean appeared pleased with his subordinate Clauses." Archbishop Akinola was unavailable for comment.