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Nov. 8th, 2012 08:49 amSo, it looks likely that we have a new Archbishop of Canterbury - Justin Welby of Durham.* Slightly surprising, inasmuch as he isn't very experienced, but I think on the whole he's a decent choice, and there's some hope he has some administrative talent, which would not go amiss. And he does give the impression of saying his prayers, which is a good thing in an Archbishop.
I've frequently heard him described as a conservative evangelical, but I can't quite work out why. He's certainly an evangelical - it is, after all, their turn - but the conservatism I've seen less evidence of, apart from the fact that he's opposed to gay marriage, but it's almost impossible to find bishops who are in favour, and that includes people who would normally be called liberals.** Of course, that may just be a function of him not having been high-profile for very long, and I may be missing something, but it equally may arise from the media not being very good (understandably enough) at reading the subtleties of things.
*Rotten luck for Durham; he's only been in post a year, and before that they had N.T. "Tom" Wright, who though a distinguished scholar, was never actually there....
** I believe that +Buckingham (the one with the interesting but poorly laid out blog) and +Salisbury have come out in favour, but they obviously won't go any further, +Salisbury because of his marital situation (married a divorcee), and +Buckingham because he says what he thinks too bluntly.
ETA: I left the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds off the list (thank you, bookwormsarah), but the point remains. Also, I am reminded that Welby lists the encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (the one in which Leo XIII sketched out Catholic social teaching on industrial relations and the like, endorsing unions, among other things) as the greatest influence on his moral thinking. Which probably won't please Conservative (as in party politics) Anglicans, but again is a count against him being all that much of a conservative evangelical, because regardless of political stance, endorsing Papal teaching is not something that that crowd tends to do.
I've frequently heard him described as a conservative evangelical, but I can't quite work out why. He's certainly an evangelical - it is, after all, their turn - but the conservatism I've seen less evidence of, apart from the fact that he's opposed to gay marriage, but it's almost impossible to find bishops who are in favour, and that includes people who would normally be called liberals.** Of course, that may just be a function of him not having been high-profile for very long, and I may be missing something, but it equally may arise from the media not being very good (understandably enough) at reading the subtleties of things.
*Rotten luck for Durham; he's only been in post a year, and before that they had N.T. "Tom" Wright, who though a distinguished scholar, was never actually there....
** I believe that +Buckingham (the one with the interesting but poorly laid out blog) and +Salisbury have come out in favour, but they obviously won't go any further, +Salisbury because of his marital situation (married a divorcee), and +Buckingham because he says what he thinks too bluntly.
ETA: I left the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds off the list (thank you, bookwormsarah), but the point remains. Also, I am reminded that Welby lists the encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (the one in which Leo XIII sketched out Catholic social teaching on industrial relations and the like, endorsing unions, among other things) as the greatest influence on his moral thinking. Which probably won't please Conservative (as in party politics) Anglicans, but again is a count against him being all that much of a conservative evangelical, because regardless of political stance, endorsing Papal teaching is not something that that crowd tends to do.