Go Rowan Go
Vicky and myself have said this before, but I'll say it again. For the top man in the Church of England, the current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is surprisingly moderate, progressive and possibly even cool (via The Guardian):
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has stepped into the controversy between religious fundamentalists and scientists by saying that he does not believe that creationism - the Bible-based account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.
…
Dr Williams spoke of his determination to hold the third-largest Christian denomination together in its row over the place of gay clergy. He was also highly critical of parts of the church in Africa and said he did not wish to be seen as "comic vicar to the nation", speaking out on issues where he can make no difference.
He's right that creationist belief is an absolute one, and that it's certainly incompatible with scientific method. I worry, though, that his type of "intellectual christianity" is unlikely to be compelling to many important parts of the church, or society at large.
In particular, the creationist movement is to my mind just a facet of a larger movement to accept the infalliability of the bible; whereas the Anglican website merely contains platitudes about it being the ultimate standard of faith.
The Church will continue to be out of step with the views of modern society on many issues, and even more out of step with the views of their counterparts in other areas, particularly the US and Africa. The likelihood of the communion continuing united is rather small, I think, and the likelihood of a schism within and without the church extremely large.
