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Archbishop of York says Climate Change IS the Gospel
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
January 23, 2022
The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell told the Bishop of Niagara in Canada, one Susan Bell, that climate change is the gospel.
This is what he said, "This is the Gospel...how we inhabit the world in the way of Christ...this is the Gospel. So, I'd want to preach and teach about it much more." The second highest ranking cleric in the Church of England went on to press home the point saying, "this needs to be not a kind of add-on to the Gospel."
The language of Cottrell is reminiscent of what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
The archbishop might want to reflect on what the great apostle said, and in whose apostolic footsteps he claims to tread. In biblical terms the curse levelled by Paul involves eternal damnation. Paul's implication is that false teachers cannot show you the way to salvation because they do not have it themselves. They are condemned. Paul's letter clarified exactly what this meant. Any attempt to alter, water down or change the message of God's salvation in Christ, would meet with divine judgement.
The archbishop went on to link climate change with the Baptismal Liturgy found in the Anglican Church of Canada's Book of Common Prayer under the 5th Mark of Mission: "To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth." The archbishop finished with a flourish saying, "this is what it means to follow Christ."
We need to teach more about this, he said. I had no idea. Clearly, I have been asleep at the wheel for over seven decades, unaware that my lifetime pursuit proclaiming the gospel in thought, word and deed has been misplaced and I should have been alert to volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cows and sheep defecating in the bucolic streams of NZ and running around the world in greenhouse gas spewing jet planes, a major cause of our climate dilemma.
Apparently, the archbishop's updated resume now includes being a renowned climatologist in addition to being a sophisticated leader and theologian. God help us all.
Canadian blogger David of Samizdat made the obvious observation when he wrote, "So there you have it: the good news of Jesus Christ is fixing climate change. This is why Jesus died on the cross. This is the cause for which countless Christians have been martyred. This is what gives meaning and purpose to life. This is incoherent tripe."
The New Testament leaves us in no doubt that the heart of the preaching of the Apostles and the early church was Christ, wrote the late Bishop Charles P. McIlvaine. This seems to have eluded these two bishops.
If, one day, Cottrell should end up becoming the head of the Church of England we can safely assume he will go down with it, as the Thames River rises over the parapets of Lambeth Palace.
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