To the editors:
Apparently the Reader feels no responsibility to check the truth and accuracy of the articles it publishes; else it would not have published “Is Nothing Sacred?” in the June 9, 1989 edition. If the article had demonstrated nothing more than the usual verbal idolatry, effete aestheticism, and cranial density of the self-styled Prayer Book Society, I would merely have yawned and let it go without comment. There are, however, overt lies–snide lies–presented in the article.
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One such is the assertion that the doctrine of regeneration has been removed from the liturgy of Holy Baptism in the (1979) Book of Common Prayer. While the Latin-rooted word “regeneration” is indeed absent from the rite, the equivalent terms “rebirth” and “new birth” occur three times in the rite, in addition to a reference to the “new life” bestowed in Baptism. Another lie has to do with the supposed “disappearance of the laying on of hands from the text of the ordination service.” The rubrics of all three ordination rites in the Book of Common Prayer (pages 521, 533, and 545) clearly direct the Bishop to lay hands on the ordinand.
The Reverend Donald A. Melvin Curate Saint Margaret’s Church E. 73rd St.
Furthermore, according to the Reverend William Deutsch, the Orthodox churches may say “we,” but they view it differently. The individual is still supposed to believe what he or she is saying. It doesn’t mean that anyone can commit perjury in the name of the church; your average Greek patriarch “would cheerfully excommunicate anyone” espousing Mr. Melvin’s twists on their theology. You can’t pick and choose, Mr. Melvin–it’s all or nothing.
