Giving the Devil His Due
It has been instructive to watch the reaction of some segments of the conservative Episcopalian press to the Ellen Cooke scandal. Mrs. Cooke, formerly the Treasurer of the Episcopal Church and a protégée of its presiding bishop, has been accused of diverting more than $2 million of church funds to her own use. Bishop Browning is clearly chagrined and embarrassed, while many of his conservative detractors can barely hide their delight in the whole affair and are giving him a good journalistic thrashing for it.
Even if Bishop Browning is one of Satan’s champions, when he is struck from behind by one of his own it is not right for those who regard him as an enemy to seize the advantage. Some orthodox Episcopalians have forgotten that we must follow the Rules, which include allowing the adversary to play from his position of greatest strength. This includes, among other things, not kicking him when he is down. There are important reasons for this. To do less is not of faith. The Gospels make it clear that the Lord gave the devil his due, which included a full and fair opportunity to beat him. His followers must bear up under a real risk of defeat until the foreordained victory is actually secured. But just as important is the notion that our attack must be focused upon the well-defended center at which are found the greater and more subtle lies that drive the whole campaign, and from which auxiliary evils ramify like the leaves of a weed.
Why should Episcopalians be so painfully genteel in so many areas of dispute and indulge in such vulgar whooping here? I wonder whether all this barely disguised joy at Bishop Browning’s discomfiture is not a sign of deeper recognition that those who are still willing to eat at his table really can do no better than hoot when he stumbles, since they, in the name of every Episcopalian virtue, have avoided direct and persistent attacks on the roots of the denominational deformity (this would have involved too much unpleasantness) at least since the days of Bishop Pike. A bit of leaf-lopping is the best they have been able to collectively manage, and so the weed, pruned to robust health by its detractors and nourished by their fallen bodies, has grown tall and immensely strong, filling the whole Anglican earth.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
S. M. Hutchens is a Touchstone senior editor.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
29.2—March/April 2016
The History of Family Strength in America May Reveal Good News by Allan C. Carlson
30.5—Sept/Oct 2017
on Costly Grace in Breece D'J Pancake's Flyover Country by Casey Chalk
31.5—September/October 2018
The Secular State Without the Decalogue by James M. Kushiner
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
