Anglican Bishops join credal controversy

OF THE 39 diocesan bishops of the Church of England, nine do not believe in the literal truth of the Resurrection of Christ according to a survey conducted by the London Weekend Television programme Credo last week.
The survey was undertaken following the controversy which has arisen concerning the views of Professor Philip Jenkins, the Bishop-elect of Durham, who on an earlier Credo cast doubt upon a wide range of traditional Christian beliefs.
During this programme Professor Jenkins said that the virgin birth was a story told after the event, that the miracles of Jesus such as his walking on the water were similarly embellishments to the truth of the gospel story, and that people who saw Jesus simply as a man acting on behalf of God could still be considered Christians.
His remarks have led to protests and calls to the Archbishop of York not to consecrate him as Bishop of Durham unless he recants. But the Credo survey of 31 bishops shows that there is widespread acceptance of Professor Jenkins' position, with 19 bishops accepting that it was possible to be a Christian without believing in the divinity of Jesus.
On the Credo programme last week, the Archbishop or
Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, said that as far as he was concerned the traditional beliefs enshrined in the gospels represented historical truth. Where Dr John Habgood, the Archbishop of York, stands is not yet entirely clear, although it is understood that he has every confidence in Professor Jenkins' beliefs.
However, in a letter published in his diocese, he describes the virgin birth as a "powerful symbol" of the revelation of God in Jesus the evaluation of which "has to rely more on judgments about its theological appropriateness than on historical study".