Jeffrey Steenson: Why I Became Catholic

Jeffrey Steenson (formerly bishop in TEC) recently spoke at the Anglican Use Conference in Texas, USA. Read the entire apologia here. Anglicanism has for the last quarter century proceeded quite intentionally from the principle that truth not only is discerned primarily in the experience of the Christian community but also that the community itself has priority over truth. This approach has produced a very meager and inconsequential harvest, and the great legacy of Anglican theological scholarship has been lost. The contrast with the Catholic mind is striking. As an Anglican I would take in hand, for instance, The Catechism of the Catholic Church and ask, could my church have produced a work so penetrating and comprehensive? No, it has neither the capacity nor the confidence to speak its mind in such a way. Why? Because it has deliberately cut itself off from the tradition...Catholic-oriented Anglicans have expended considerable energy in the search for amiable ecclesial arrangements, both personal and corporate, but it is good to bring all this activity into perspective. There is an answer so simple and penetrating that it sweeps everything else off the table. To be sure, there are costs to be counted, teachings to be more fully comprehended (although this can easily become an excuse for indolence), and expectations to be managed. But this is what I should like to say to my dear friends who have put one toe into the other side of the Tiber. Listen to your conscience! The good conscience is a precious gift of faith, the Apostles regard it as the telos of all Christian acts, and it is our right by baptism. In the acrimonious Anglican wars, the liberals are acting from conscience (albeit misguided), the courageous Evangelicals are equally as clear, so why, dear friends, is your conscience so conflicted? God does not intend for it to be so but desires that we serve him with a good conscience (Acts 24:16).