Does the Church of England need evangelicals?

The early Christians were.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44-45)​

 

I doubt that Marx wrote Das Kapital based on that Scripture. Or Communist Manifesto either.

 

No one is saying he did. Anyone who’s taken the time to read and study Marx knows that. The point is not that early Christianity was proto-Marxian (it’s not), but that Christianity is not compatible with the unfettered self-interest upon which capitalism is based.

 

I am neither a 'Capitalist' nor a 'Communist'. THEY are both political ideologies. I am a follower of Jesus Christ who said THIS: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
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So, a Christian can't be rich? Only poor are Godly? You want to paint with that broad a brush! Do you despise rich churchs? I'm not rich, I'm a retired electrician, My dad was a cab driver. So açcording to you, every rich person is a capitalist. Can a poor man be a capitalist?

 

Did I, anywhere in my post above, say anything about the “rich” or “rich people?” I said unfettered self-interest is incompatible with Christianity. Do you wish to dispute that?

 

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run into it and are safe.
The wealth of the rich is their strong city,
and like a high wall in their imagination.

It is possible even for a poor person to trust what little wealth they may have, and covet even more for security and the opposite is also true.

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

There are plenty of rich people in rich churches who cannot read the above Biblical quote without considerable discomfort. They are every bit as much an abomination under the law as LGBTQ's might be, but the church is supposed not to be living 'under the law' but living by God's Grace, in the Spirit of Christ.

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
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False equivalence. You are correct that greed is a sin. However, where are the Anglican churches that justify greedy behavior? Where are the churches that have chosen openly unrepentant avaricious people to be priests or bishops? Have you ever seen a TEC (or CoE) building lit up with golden dollar (or pound) signs?

We see the priests and bishops that openly proclaim (with pride) their homosexual lifestyle, though. Gene Robinson married another man (while it was illegal in his state to do so); even if they only played tiddlywinks every night before bed (which is doubtful), the example he and others like him set for Christians and non-Christians alike was deplorable. The TEC church lit up in rainbow colors was sending the wrong message.

A godly church will teach people not only that they are loved, but also that God expects them to strive to amend their lives. People who take pride in their gayness, their greed, or in any other sin are far away from God's will for their lives, and it is the church's duty to help them draw nearer to God and to become more (not less) Christlike.

 

I agree with you but unfettered self interest is rampant in our churchs and only a miracle of God will change it

 

If you really measure Marxist Philosophy with the Christianity of Jesus, you begin to think that Marx didn't go far enough. All systems get a little abused, and I don't see anyone here mentioning wealthy (extremely wealthy) Marxists.

 

I’m not so sure about the second part.

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt. 25:44-46 NRSV)​

 

Absolutely. Those who have attempted to implement novel systems in Marx’s name have in the process often turned his critique of capitalism directly on its head. Self-declared ‘Marxist’ states are often hopelessly corrupt, there’s no question about that. Whether that criticism should extent to Marx himself, who did not lay out any specific programme of what a post-capitalist society should look like, remains the subject of much debate.

 

I prefer the message of the other Marx brothers. Groucho, Harpo...

 

I would like to eat Duck Soup with the Marx brothers

 

I’d rephrase “LGBTQ-affirming churches are simply doing what the anti-slavery evangelicals of the nineteenth century did: giving voice to the true Gospel of Christ in opposition to the mainstream positions of Christians and many conservative clergy.”

 

Are you saying that you believe it's okay for churches to affirm LGB behavior (same-sex intimate physical relations)?

When a church "affirms" LGB (I'm purposely leaving off Trans because it's different, and Queer because it's a catch-all that can include Trans), it is tacitly saying that Christianity and our God (because the church is the body of Christ's representatives on earth) unreservedly accept same-sex attraction. That Christianity and God accept, not just the feelings, but also acting upon those feelings. It is saying by implication that it's normal within the sphere of godly living and of serving our Lord for people of the same sex to share their bodies with each other in intimacy. Oh, some might argue that the church isn't really coming out and saying that in so many words. But ask the LGB people who attend those churches, and I'm confident they will agree that the implication is there. In fact, I'm sure they are emboldened to act upon their same-sex attractions by the notion that it's really all right to do so because God and the church understand how hard it is for them to not act out their desires and fantasies.

Are you okay with that?

 

Capitalism, the condition of possessing capital or wealth : the economic system which is driven by the profit-motive and depends on the investment of private capital to provide the means of production. (if there ain't no profit in it for me, then it don't get done).
Capitalist, a person owning capital, especially when invested for profit in business, (a person) advocating capitalism as an economic system.
Religious Bigots, a person blindly uncritical of and obstinately devoted to a particular set of ideas, creed or political party, and dismissive toward others.

Now let's discuss whether ALL religious people by definition, are bigots.
Whether ALL Homosxuals are by definition, profligate and act predominantly on that interest and attraction. Whether ALL Capitalists by definition, are greedy and expoitative.
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I would answer no to all 3 questions, an emphatic NO

 

What 'Questions'? Did someone ask a question?