TOP NOSH AT THE NOT POSH THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

If the role of a theological college principal is both to safeguard sound doctrine and stimulate the Church to fresh thinking and action in the light of God’s Word, then Oak Hill's Dr Michael Ovey magnificently fitted the bill yesterday.

Cranmer’s Curate attended the college’s Annual School of Theology, this year on the topic of Truth, Unity and Schism. The speakers were Oak Hill New Testament lecturer, the Revd Dr Matthew Sleeman; the Revd Professor James Packer; Dr Ovey; and the Revd John Richardson, aka the Ugley Vicar, who rounded off the day with a barnstorming talk on Private Judgement and Christian Divisions.

Dr Ovey’s address was on the lessons for the contemporary Church from the Donatist schism in 4th Century Carthage, the theology of which Augustine countered so effectively.

GAFCON supporters are often accused of being latter-day Donatists, so Dr Ovey’s talk was particularly relevant to issues facing the Anglican Communion.

He ably demonstrated that Donatist theology was a kissing cousin of Pelagianism, with its downplaying of the depth of human sinfulness and thus of our total reliance on God’s loving grace in Christ.

The Donatists therefore literally displayed a lack of grace in separating from the Catholic Church.

Dr Ovey showed that the closest contemporary equivalent of the Donatists is not GAFCON, but the TEC supporters of the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. They are the ones who are downplaying the reality of God’s grace towards sinners by denying what the Bible clearly calls sin.

It is thus TEC who are the schismatics denying what Dr Ovey called ‘fraternal, charitable, forgiving love’.

As an aside, Dr Ovey suggested that middle-class Christianity also has Donatistic tendencies.

In the question time, cc asked him to amplify on this in relation to class-shaped Evangelicalism. Dr Ovey replied that he was talking about the tendency in suburban churches to downplay the reality of human sinfulness by focussing on the outward respectability of the ideal family, whereas a church ministering in a drug area, for example, cannot flee for refuge to bourgeois social respectability. Sin is in its face and so it is more inclined to cast itself on the grace of God.

This reminded cc that his discipleship and ministry must be firmly grounded on the grace of God towards sinners, including and especially cc.

Food for the soul indeed.

The day was enhanced for your curate by a fine apple crumble in the Oak Hill canteen, for which the chef ought to be congratulated.

So all round things are looking up for the Cinderella of theological colleges.