New Archbishop of Canterbury
Dr. George Carey, Bishop of Bath and Wells has been designated as next Archbishop of Canterbury. It is said of him that he will be very much in favour of the ordination of women to the priesthood and that he will encourage a closer relationship with the Church of Rome. How he will be able to accomplish these two objectives it is not easy to see as one seems to preclude the other. No doubt time will tell. Dr. Carey said he was anxious not to be labelled as the evangelical archbishop. Over the years he said he had gained a lot from Catholic spirituality, from liberal studies of the Bible and from the charismatic renewal movement. He said that he disagreed with the Bishop of Durham’s views on the virgin birth and the physical resurrection of Christ, and wanted to stay with the tradition of the Christian Church, with the Bible and the tradition of the Scripture. Generally high office in the Church of England has a detrimental effect on those who occupy it. It is unlikely that Dr. Carey will be an exception to the general rule.
Continued Attack on the Sabbath
The attempt to destroy the Lord’s Day in the nation continues unabated. The trading laws which in England and Wales attempt to curb Sabbath trading are opposed by the multinational companies and pressure is brought to bear on the Government to have these laws removed. Also, according to a Press report the public houses will soon be able to open all day on the Sabbath. In the Post Office letters are to be collected on the Sabbath throughout the country. These inroads on the sanctity of the Sabbath will not go unnoticed by the One who has commanded, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and will bring ultimately condign punishment on a nation that says in effect, “Who is God that we should obey Him.”
Since the above was written a further attempt is in process by Caledonian MacBrayne to introduce Sabbath sailings to Harris next year. Strong opposition is being mounted to this proposal, as was the case when Lewis was first included for Sabbath sailings. Lewis has now been left out for the present. It is to be hoped that the proposal will be defeated in the kindness of the Lord. The people controlling affairs in Caledonian MacBrayne appear to have an inveterate hatred to the Sabbath and have scant respect even for the wishes of the Islanders. They have still to learn that “ye cannot serve God and Mammon”.
The Middle East Conflict
The situation that has arisen in the Middle East through the forcible annexation of Kuwait by Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein has brought the nations of the world to the brink of war, if not to war again, at the very time when it appeared they were beginning to beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks through the removal of the Russian threat. The Apostle James under divine inspiration posed the question of the origin of wars and also answered it “From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” The Middle East is rich in oil and so the eyes of the covetous are on it. President Saddam, though having much oil of his own, must also possess that of oil-rich Kuwait and the wealth that she has amassed. The nations of the world, led by the U.S.A., rather than by U.N.O. have allied to force President Saddam to return his ill-gotten gain to its rightful owners. Time will tell whether this can be achieved without bloodshed. If war breaks out it is likely to be terrible, and perhaps also very swift. But one thing is certain, and that is that God sits King upon the floods.
“The floods, O Lord, have lifted up,
they lifted up their voice;
The floods have lifted up their waves,
and made a mighty noise.
“But yet the Lord, that is on High,
is more of might by far
Than noise of many waters is,
or great sea-billows are.”
Ps. 93: 3,4