In a denomination where conservative biblical foundational documents have been supplanted by same sex union blessings, approval of actively gay clergy, & abandonment of the supreme authority of scriture, a conservative, biblically faithful, evangelical theologian doesn't feel comfortable. For famed theologian J. I. Packer (81), this discomfort has become unbearable & the prolific author has left the Canadian arm of the international Anglican Communion for the more conservative & orthodox Province of the Southern Cone Anglican fellowship in South America. Packer made the move with 10 other British Columbian Anglican clergy last week.

Packer says he can no longer serve under Vancouver Bishop Michael Ingham, saying he "appears heretical" for sanctioning same sex blessing in BC Anglican churches. In recent years, 28 parishes have voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada for its liberal moves, aligning themselves with other international Anglican provinces that are more conservative.

Packer's perinially best-selling book Knowing God (1973) summarizes biblical evangelical Protestant faith as including the authority of the Bible as the "absolute authority" on divine revelation, teaching, & truth, & describes moral rectitude as outlined in the Bible explicitly disallowing homosexuality as acceptable Christian behavior. Packer & the others who left the Canadian communion have denied that they have left true Anglicanism, but instead aver that the liberal leadership of the Canadian communion have left true Anglicanism. "I'm simply being an old-fashioned mainstream Anglican," he said.

Time magazine named Packer one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in 2005. He serves as the Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regeant College in Vancouver, BC. Packer is a foundational signer of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978, a document that generally defines the conservative evangelical Protestant position on the authority of Scripture. He is an executive editor of Christianity Today magazine & was a general editor of the English Standard Version of the Bible. He has authored more than a dozen books & literally thousands of articles over his long career.

For the full story: Famed Theologian Quits Anglican Church of Canada.