Fr Wiebe+ I suspect that it was Ephraim Radner who wrote this tortured bit of prose. http://anglicancommunioninstitute.com/content/view/87/1 He sounds a mite less hopeful than he did in 2004 when his "Hope Among the Fragments" was published. In Part I of that book he argues "the Virtue of Staying Put." Five years ago, some of our brothers wondered aloud whether it was better for the orthodox to stay in TEC and work for reform or to come out and build anew. That was before the Titanic entered its final plunge into the depths. Now it appears there will be few conservatives remaining to sing "Nearer my God to Thee." I like some of the points that Radner makes in his books, but I have to wonder if anyone other than scholars read his offerings. Ernest Hemingway said that he found it difficult to write more than 250 words a day. As I read one of Radner's more opaque chapters, I thought of writing styles and of Hemingway's saying. I proceded to count just 3 of Radner's convoluted sentences and found that the sentences averaged 90 words. In just 3 sentences he passed Heminway's daily output. "Hope Among the fragments has 234 pages. If we subtract from that number 14 title pages, introduction and otherwise shortened pages, we come up with 220 pages with 39 lines to the page and an average of 11 words to the line. Give or take a few, the sum total of words is 94,000. Radner refers to the tragedy of Sept 11, 2001 in the book. Assuming that he began work on the book sometime after 911, and completed it in early 2004, he likely spent less than two years in the writing. Doing the math, it appears he was clipping along at a faster rate than Hemingway, with much more involved plot lines and words and concepts that were considerably more weighty. Radner is the master of packing polysyllabic words into a phrase. His voice should have been heard. His 11th hour plea in the Anglican Institute Article should be taken to heart by the leaders of the Anglican Communion and the TEC. The problem is, few will hack their way through the dense growth of verbiage. It is doubtful that there are many in his intended audience who have "ears to hear" his message. There may have been, or may still may be "Hope Among the Fragments". However, a translator is needed. Charles+ "-------------------------------- --- "The Rev GDVWiebe SSC.,PhD" <gdvw@...> wrote: > > > > Brothers+ > > Sounds like an essay I read aeons ago in a volume > on Victorian > England-and look what happened. I suspect that in > another few years we > will look back and ask why we did (collectively that > is) not have a bit > more faith in what we are about. Then it was > Tractarian-Oxford-Anglo > Catholicism. Today it is FIFUK. Blessings. GDVW+ > (Please pray for > Randall Davis dying of Stage 4 cancer). > >"========================== > > > Near the end of a lengthy article the principals > of the Anglican Communion Institute ruminate about> the end of the Anglican Communion. > > http://anglicancommunioninstitute.com/content/view/87/1 > > Charles+