St Silas’ church in the West End of Glasgow has recently become the fourth congregation since 2016 to break its ties with the Scottish Episcopal Church. Its Rector, Rev Martin Ayers, said in a statement, “Recent decisions of the Scottish Episcopal Church have made clear to us that the denomination does not regard the Bible as the authoritative word of God”, and, “We believe that the Scottish Episcopal Church has moved away from the message of the Bible, and that we cannot follow them”. Mr Ayers also cited the decision of the Church in the 1980s to move away from the 39 Articles as a key reason for the departure of St Silas’ congregation. In a congregation of over 200, 86% agreed with him and voted to leave. They are now seeking to attach themselves to the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon), an international movement of conservative Anglicans.
It was in the Scottish Episcopal Church that Richard Holloway was Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000: he denied the virgin birth and the divinity of Christ and now describes himself as an agnostic. He says his faith began to ebb away in the 1960s, and yet he still accepted the position of bishop. He apparently quietly “married” homosexual couples since the 1970s. He resigned his bishopric in 2000 but only the Most High can measure the damage done to souls, and to Christ’s cause at large, by such an influential man.
In 2017 the denomination put itself at variance with God’s Word, and with global Anglicanism, by stating that marriage need not be between a man and a woman. The Episcopal Cathedral authorities in Glasgow invite same-sex couples to contact them with a view to marriage. Their website tells us they “believe that gay people and straight people are equally blessed by God and that the Bible teaches us that this is so”. In 2017 the Religion and Morals Committee wrote to the Provost of the Cathedral, Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, after he invited an imam to take part in their worship and permitted him to
read a passage from the Koran, which specifically denied the divinity of Christ. No apology or sentiments of regret were ever issued by Mr Holdsworth.
Last year Canon Anne Dyer, a supporter of homosexual rights, was appointed Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney despite several members of the Episcopal clergy protesting at the appointment, describing it as divisive. The Scottish Episcopalians evidently continue to fall away from the sound doctrine that is taught in the Word of God, but it is encouraging that some, however far they may be from Reformed doctrine, worship and practice, recognise this and seek to distance themselves from a God-dishonouring Church.
There is much need for prayer for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the churches. We long for that day when “they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion” (Is 52:8). FRD
Dogs’ Eyebrows
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth have found that dogs have a muscle in their foreheads which enables them to raise their eyebrows in a way that appeals to humans. Wolves do not have this muscle. The muscle enables dogs to adopt a “doleful expression”, and it has been found that dogs in shelters that deploy this expression get rehomed more quickly. Eye-contact is important for dog-human social interaction. Dogs are far more ready to establish eye-contact with human beings than either wolves or chimpanzees are, and they often use eye-contact to know when communication is relevant and directed at them. They also often establish eye-contact with humans when they cannot solve a problem on their own.
The research itself is quite interesting, but the scientists then go on to speculate about the supposed evolutionary origin of this eyebrow muscle. Such evolutionary speculation seems to be obligatory now in biology papers. Perhaps dogs did “micro-evolve” from wolves (micro-evolution is change within a species, or a “kind” as the word is used in Genesis, as opposed to macro-evolution which is what is claimed to result in the production of totally new species), and perhaps this muscle does confer a “micro-evolutionary advantage”, but the entire absence of the muscle in wolves rather suggests that this is not what happened. The evolutionary speculation in biology does not seem to be subject to the same rigorous criticism expected in other academic disciplines. Perhaps there would be little of it left if it was. DWBS