Pondering Anglican Woes
An Interview with J. I. Packer
At 76, James I. Packer is one of the world’s most distinguished Anglican scholars and theologians. He has spent more than half a century in Christian ministry as a pastor, theologian, teacher, author, and lecturer. Among the more than 300 books, articles, monographs, and contributions to symposia he has penned over the years are commentaries on the Bible, studies in Puritan theology, devotionals, and a series of “Knowing” books. Notable among his books have been Hot Tub Religion: Christian Living in a Materialistic World, in which he grappled with contemporary culture, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, Knowing God, and Fundamentalism and the Word of God.
In 1979, after teaching and preaching for 27 years in England, where he served as warden of Latimer House, Oxford, and principal of Tyndale Hall, he became Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Regent College in Vancouver. In 1989 he was installed as the first Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology, and in 1996 he became Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology. He also serves as Executive Editor and Visiting Scholar of Christianity Today and contributes to a variety of theological journals. Dr. Packer is married with three children.
David Virtue interviewed Dr. Packer at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, where he was one of the speakers at “Truthful Speech and the Power of God: Evangelicals and Liturgical Revision,” a conference put on by the American branch of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion in May 2002.
David Virtue: Dr. Packer, what are you working on now?
J. I. Packer (JIP): I am writing a flurry of articles, and I hope to produce a large catechetical survey of the faith of the Bible within the next two or three years. It will be published by Tyndale House in the United States and InterVarsity Press in the United Kingdom.
What is your present working status?
JIP: I am technically retired from Regent College, but as its Board of Governors Professor of Theology, I still have an office there and teach periodically.
The Primates of the Anglican Communion met recently in Canterbury. How did you read what happened there?
JIP: I don’t know enough to talk about it officially. But what I do see is that the Anglican Communion is beginning to crack, and what the Primates are engaged in is attempted damage control.
Why was it necessary for a group of men who already say they know who God is to write a Doctrine of God statement? How important was it to write a statement about the Doctrine of God when in fact these men are supposed to be affirming this week by week in their preaching?
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