A commendable article
and blog. A blog recommended to other bloggers directly. Protestant
and Reformed Anglicans largely in England; there be few in the US. Smith, Mark. "Only in the Name of Jesus." Church Society. 23 May 2014. http://churchsociety.org/blog/entry/formulary_friday_only_the_name_of_jesus_christ#When:06:00:00Z. Accessed 23 May 2014.
Formulary Friday: Only the name of Jesus Christ
A short and crisp post this week – and a reminder that
these old Articles remain endlessly contemporary.
Article XVIII: 'Of Obtaining Eternal Salvation Only By the
Name of Christ'. They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That
every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be
diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For
holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men
must be saved.
The Article is taking aim against the kind of inclusive,
liberal view that says ‘it doesn’t really matter what you believe, it just
matters that you’re sincere, and live in accordance with your beliefs’. Perhaps
today this might often be expressed in terms of being respectful of other
religions – ‘we’re all following the same God really’, ‘there are many paths up
the mountain’.
But the Church of England has set her face decidedly
against all this. The Article refers us back to Holy Scripture, wherein we read
(Acts 4.12): There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved. Only in Jesus Christ do we find redemption, he alone is the way,
the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father, but by him (John.
14.6). To deny this is wilfully to set aside the grace of God in Jesus Christ,
and in vain to set up our own gods – it is to spurn our only hope and our only
Saviour.
Beyond all the debates that currently preoccupy our Church,
this Article points to her primary concern, and her fundamental message. Beyond
all the many things which can distract us in our daily ministry and service,
let us not forget this fundamental truth, which gives shape to all others: the
uniqueness and sufficiency of Jesus Christ, who alone is our mediator and
advocate.
CS Lewis puts this strikingly in the sixth of his Narnia
books, The Silver Chair. It’s a conversation between the great Lion Aslan, and
a new arrival to the land of Narnia called Jill, who knows little of the
strange land, and even less about this great Lion. All Jill knows is that she’s
very thirsty, but the only stream she can find is right next to the Lion.
‘Are you not thirsty?’ said the Lion.
‘I’m dying of thirst’, said Jill.
‘Then drink’, said the Lion.
‘May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?’,
said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.
And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well
have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious
rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
‘Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do
come?’, said Jill.
‘I make no promise’, said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had
come a step nearer.
‘Do you eat girls?’, she said.
‘I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings
and emperors, cities and realms’, said the Lion.
It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it
were sorry, nor as if it were angry.
It just said it. ‘I daren’t come and drink’, said Jill.
‘Then you will die of thirst’, said the Lion.
‘Oh dear!’, said Jill, coming another step nearer. ‘I
suppose I must go and look for another stream then.’
‘There is no other stream’, said the Lion.
Mark Smith is Curate at All Saints, Little Shelford,
Cambridgeshire –
See more at: http://churchsociety.org/blog/entry/formulary_friday_only_the_name_of_jesus_christ#When:06:00:00Z
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