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The Anglican Hindu

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William Crawley | 15:12 UK time, Wednesday, 13 September 2006

David Hart prefers to be addressed by his Hindu name "Ananda". He is a convert to Hinduism, currently living in the village of Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala, India, and has just published a book, , which tells the story of his conversion.

The Church of England bishop of Ely, Dr Anthony Russell, will probably not be addressing Mr Hart as Ananda in any correspondence. The bishop maintains that he didn't realise that David Hart, who is a Church of England priest under his authority, had

David Hart says, "My philosophical position is that all religions are cultural constructs. I am acting out God鈥檚 story in local terms.鈥 So, why shouldn't an Anglican priest be Hindu?

The Anglican priest and theologian has established an international reputation for arguing against the existence of God -- at least in the 'traditional' sense of 'existence' -- and sometimes describes himself as a "Christian Buddhist" or a "religious humanist".

If an atheist can be an Anglican priest, you might argue, why can't a Hindu? On the other hand, I doubt very much that the Archbishop of Canterbury will be asking Robin Eames to set up a Commission to investigate the matter. A gay priest who believes in God, it seems, is more controversial in Anglican circles than a straight priest who does not.

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 06:58 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Anglicanism is laughing stock. It seems many Anglicans don't stand for anything these days let alone anything remotely Christian.

SG

  • 2.
  • At 07:03 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Interesting article.

  • 3.
  • At 08:51 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • pauly wrote:

Stephen says anglicanism is a joke, yet this is the guy who was defending egoism a while ago. Maybe the hindu anglican is an egoist too, stephen - anything wrong with doing what he wants to do? Hmmm.

  • 4.
  • At 09:05 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Pauly- I don't think I saw you step up to effectively challenge egoism during that conversation? It is a foolish man that opens his mouth on something about which he is clearly ill-equipped to criticise. By the way, there is nothing internally inconsistent about egoism; Stephen's comment about the Anglican Hindu is a criticism of the inconsistency inherent to such a belief.

  • 5.
  • At 09:26 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

John: exactly. Like all my critics they ran away with their tail between their legs.

Pauly: are you making a point? I criticise many Anglicans for not really believing in anything. They lack consistency, clarity, and good sense. What has this got to do with my defence of egoism?

Actually, please don't answer. I'd rather not waste my time on your irrational babblings that you spew on here from time to time.

SG

  • 6.
  • At 09:42 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • Helenann (BELFAST) wrote:

JOHN AND STEPHEN,

You criticise this situation because you say it's inconsistent. Which means you think it's impossible for someone to be both an Anglican (Christian) and a Hindu. I disagree. If this priest is a pluralist, as he seems to be, that means he believes all religious traditions are equally valid paths to God. Why can't he then be a Hindu and a Christian? That's only inconsistent if he is the kind of Christian who is "exclusivist" - someone who argues that one religion is correct and the rest are false. This priest isn't arguing that, he's arguing that all religions are equal.

Given a pluralist perspective, it's no weirder to say that he is an Anglican-Methodist, or a Catholic-Baptist.

  • 7.
  • At 10:35 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

HELENANN- To be an Anglican priest entails the claim that Hinduism is wrong. I could claim to be a pluralist Christian (and I am compelled by various forms of pluralism myself), but, unlike David Hart, I haven't subscribed to the creeds of Anglicanism. That's the only inconsistency: being an Anglican priest involves subscription to certain doctrines and beliefs which make it inherently incompatible with Hinduism. :-)

  • 8.
  • At 10:53 PM on 13 Sep 2006,
  • Helenann (BELFAST) wrote:

John, you are wrong about this. Being an anglican priest does not commit a person to believing that Hinduism, or any other world faith, is wrong. Anglican priests are entitled to hold a pluralistic persepctive in theology - and many do. Priest-theologians often teach pluralism in theological colleges. You won't find ANY rule within current guidelines requiring an anglican priest to claim that other global faiths are erroneous. Sorry to be forceful about this, but I am an Anglican and have given a lot of thought to these things.

  • 9.
  • At 05:31 PM on 14 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Helenann- It could be that you are right and I am wrong. If that's the case, tell me, what is the point of being a Hindu Anglican?

  • 10.
  • At 08:46 PM on 15 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Oh come off it Helenann! You seriously think the concept of an Anglican Hindu is remotely similar to the concept of an anglo-catholic? You seem to think that it's possible to be an anglican and ANYTHING else you want to be? But doesn't this just empty anglicanism of all meaning? Why not just be a hindu or an athiest? Just what is anglicanism if it doesn't require any defining beliefs or practices? It can't be as fluid as you suggest and hope to retain meaning.

You claim to have thought a lot about this, but perhaps a little bit more thought might be the order of the day. I'm not surprised by your comments though - since you claim to be anglican; they typify the confusion that has - like it or not - made your church a laughing stock.

SG

  • 11.
  • At 05:28 PM on 18 Sep 2006,
  • Bill Corr wrote:

What about Presbyterian ministers who sign The Westminster Confession of Faith but don't believe in what they are signing,are they Non Subsribing Presbyterian-Presbyterians

  • 12.
  • At 05:44 PM on 18 Sep 2006,
  • Helen A wrote:

No Bill - they are presbyterians who can read!

  • 13.
  • At 12:00 AM on 19 Sep 2006,
  • Bill Corr wrote:

Helen:

Not that I agree that ministers of religion should be tied to man made documents, but there is the question of moral honesty and esteem to subscribe to something that you don鈥檛 believe in and to take enumeration under such circumstance is theft and therefore can鈥檛 stand in light of the moral code of Christianity the TEN COMMANDMENTS thou shall not steal.

Exo 20:15 `Thou dost not steal. E.S.V.

As a Christian Socialist one must be above all reproach and responsible to ones fellow man and to GOD for their actions.

  • 14.
  • At 02:18 PM on 20 Sep 2006,
  • wrote:

Bill:

Stealing is the essence of socialism.

SG

  • 15.
  • At 12:31 PM on 22 Sep 2006,
  • Bill Corr wrote:

Helenann: what thought have you give to the 39 ARTICLES OF RELIGION? Therein you will find that there are erroneous faiths this is an Anglican statement of faith. Or does this not count. Read XIX. Of the Church,

  • 16.
  • At 04:29 PM on 12 Feb 2007,
  • wrote:


The Anglican Church seems to be almost extinct. It hardly has a proper delaration of faith and most Anglicans seem to pick and choose their beliefs from a variety of sources including Hinduism.

  • 17.
  • At 04:31 PM on 12 Feb 2007,
  • wrote:


The Anglican Church seems to be almost extinct. It hardly has a proper delaration of faith and most Anglicans seem to pick and choose their beliefs from a variety of sources including Hinduism.

  • 18.
  • At 10:11 PM on 13 Mar 2007,
  • wrote:

Great website!

  • 19.
  • At 10:11 PM on 13 Mar 2007,
  • wrote:

Great website!

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