Tobias Haller at In A Godward Direction posted The Coinherent Bishop, which title I misread at first. Surely you can understand why. Switch around a few letters in "coinherent", and you will be reminded of someone many of us know and love, (because Jesus says we must). Here's a teaser for you:
Certainly we've had enough of incoherent bishops of late, from the abreactions of Durham to the megalomania of Pittsburgh, as well as somewhat less than pellucid prose from the chair of Augustine.
Good, no? However, Tobias' post, which concerns the ministry of bishops in the church, is quite serious and well worth reading.
Mimi, are you familiar with the writings of Charles Williams? I rather suspect Fr. Tobias is. At any rate, that's where I first heard of the idea (and first saw the term) "coinherence".
ReplyDeleteWilliams makes a good deal out of the idea, and in his footsteps one could make an outline of Christian theology based on it as a triple co-inherence
God coinheres with God: the mystery of the Trinity
God coinheres with Humanity: the mysteries of the Incarnation and Atonement
Humanity coinheres with God and with Humanity: the mysteries of the Church and the sacraments
So the idea of the clergy being part of a coinherence would fit very well with such an approach
Kishnevi, I am not familiar with Charles Williams' writings. I've read others in his circle of writing friends, but not his work.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of coinherence of all the ministers of the church, including the laity, makes good sense to me.