Muggeridge On The Church Of England: 1969

Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus Rediscovered

(Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1969), p. 139.

‘It is not by chance that the vogue word Establishment derives from the Church of England.

With the monarch its titular head, and a largely pagan parliament responsible for its governance, this curious body has hitherto been one of the main props of the social and economic status quo.

Nominally, it remains so still, but the actual support it offers proves on examination to be largely illusory, like one of those painted pillars one sees on Italian Renaissance buildings.

Though the Archbishop of Canterbury may take precedence at ceremonial functions over other officers of the crown, like the prime minister, his effective authority, such as it is, scarcely reaches beyond the ramshackle institution over which he presides.

In matters like divorce, homosexuality, and the so-called “New Morality,” the tide is flowing strongly against the traditional Christian position, often with the connivance of eminent churchmen.’

***************************