Duplicity

Since I'm leaving Sydney tomorrow, I thought I ought to go and check out the phenomenon which is the "Sydney Anglicans" before I do. For those not familiar with this particular tribe, they are known for a strong Conservative Evangelical zeal, which places them close to one end of the spectrum which is the Anglican Communion. Their Archbishop is quite outspoken about women in ministry, homosexuality, and a few other things beside.


The parish I found seemed to fit the bill well, with a substantial expository sermon as centrepiece. Trying to get away after the service without staying for coffee (because I did have to get somewhere else), I found myself talking to a genial chap at the door, who asked lots of questions about where I was from, whether I was married, whether I was saved, what I was reading at the moment, and a whole lot else beside. He had taken no part in the service, but getting home and checking out the web site, I discover that he was the minister... (I guess Sydney Anglicans are not big on clerical garb).

I answered his questions nicely, like a good evangelical. (I've only once before been asked at a church door whether I was "saved". That was in Australia, too. 12 years ago, at a most astonishing Brethren assembly. But I digress). I know all those answers to the evangelical questions. I could do the discourse in the style and vocabulary of an Anglican, if pressed, or a Baptist, or the Plymouth Brethren. But that's life: within limits, we tend to express ourselves in terms that will be understood by our hearers, and, if you're like me, to simplify the discourse as much as possible and so not challenge or unnecessarily evade the simple answer.

So I told him the kind of things he wanted to hear. All were substantially true, but it has to be said that I would tend to challenge the premiss of many of his questions. Is it duplicitous not to bother?