The Coronation of Charles III: The Emperor's New Clothes

In this time of existential crisis both institutions have tossed aside the Faith that underpinned them, both have turned away from proclaiming the Pax Christi (peace of Christ) and have instead turned to proclaiming Pax Romana (peace of Rome). The exclusive claims of Christ have been abrogated in King Charles III realms, the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland. He has stopped up his ears to Christ’s words that “no one comes to the father except through me” (Jn 14:6) and has committed himself to find a different way. Charles III will pray “Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace.” The idea that people “of every faith and conviction” may be able to walk the way of peace is inimical to the Christian faith. Charles III refuses the call to “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, but, now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace.” (Eph. 2:12-14). We are informed this prayer is the personal prayer of Charles based on ‘I vow to thee my country’ which poetically speaks of “another country” whose “shining bounds increase” “soul by soul”. This hymn refers of course to the the New Israel, the people of God, which grows as people come to Faith in God through Jesus Christ. Whilst this hymn speaks of another country whose “ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace” Charles prayer turns this on its head and speaks of this country, and of him as king. Charles does not offer Christ as the one who brings peace but instead he offers himself praying that together with people of “every faith and conviction” peace may be found.

The whole tone of the coronation is blasphemous from beginning to end. The King will be led into the Abbey not by Christian Faith leaders but by “leaders and representatives from the Jewish, Sunni and Shia Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Bahai and Zoroastrian” faiths. Non-Christian peers will hand the royal regalia to Charles, which we are told “do not bear explicit Christian motifs” and yet each is given with reference to God or should that be god, if they aren’t explicitly Christian. A Muslim gives the Armills which are “Bracelets of sincerity and wisdom” but if this not a Christian symbol then the king stands under judgement for “the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”" (1 Cor. 3:19-20). These Bracelets are also “tokens of God’s protection” but if this is not explicitly Christian then we have to ask whose god it is who will protect the king the Holy Trinity or Allah? A Jewish peer will give the king his robe and as he receives it the Archbishop will pray “May the Lord clothe you with the robe of righteousness, and with the garments of salvation.” If this is not explicitly Christian then the righteousness and salvation spoken of here do not come through Christ; this is a repudiation of the Christian Faith which proclaims that salvation is the gift of God, given to those who believe in Jesus Christ who clothes believers with his righteousness. A Hindu gives the king his ring “a sign of the covenant sworn this day between God and King, King and people” if this is not explicitly Christian then is the god spoken of the Holy Trinity or a pantheon of god’s as is understood by Hindu’s and as was understood by Rome? And lastly a Sikh will carry the king’s glove and as he receives it the Archbishop will pray “May you hold authority with gentleness and grace, trusting not in your own power but in the mercy of God who has chosen you.” If no Christian motif can be found here then Charles III and Justin Welby have forgotten “God, who is rich in mercy”, who “out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”; they have forgotten that is by grace we are saved (Eph. 2:4-5). The coronation ends as it began not with Christian but non-Christian Faith leaders who will greet Charles III “as neighbours in faith”, a gesture which is meant to consolidate “the significance of the religious diversity of the Realms” in other words it is to make solid, to affirm, the religious diversity of the people of the United Kingdom. Charles III coronation does not point towards Christ as the King of Kings but instead it points towards Charles who presents himself as the one under whom people of all faiths will find peace. This is a heresy of the highest order as Charles makes his first act as Sovereign the consolidation of the ongoing national apostasy.

LORD have Mercy on his soul!
The king is dead, LORD grant him life again!

“The Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles” (GSFA Ash Wednesday Statement). “We cannot ‘walk together’ in good disagreement with those who have deliberately chosen to walk away from the ‘faith once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). The people of God ‘walk in his ways’, ‘walk in the truth’, and ‘walk in the light’, all of which require that we do not walk in Christian fellowship with those in darkness (Deuteronomy 8:6; 2 John 4; 1 John 1:7).” (Kigali Commitment). If anyone was still in doubt about the present state of the Church of England then this coronation liturgy has publicly confirmed what the Primates of the Anglican Communion had already discerned, the Church of England has apostasised. It is time for all faithful Christians to heed the call of the Communion and to depart from the apostate Church of England and come under the “Primatial and episcopal oversight” (GSFA Ash Wednesday statement) being offered to them by the global Anglican family.

Explanations of pageantry and symbolism quoted and referred to were taken from the official “Authorised liturgy with Commentary” found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/coronation/liturgy

Cornelius Harding is an Anglican lay theologian living in Norwich, England.

The Coronation of Charles III: The Emperor’s New Clothes

By Cornelius Harding
https://www.aheartfeltplea.com/
May 2, 2023

The Monarchy and the Church of England have developed a somewhat symbiotic relationship in this country. The Church in anointing and crowning the Monarch legitimises their role as a leader chosen by God to serve the people, and the Monarch in making an oath to uphold the Faith legitimises the role of the Church of England as a national church who serve the nation. The Monarch as head of state and supreme governor of the Church is the figurehead under which the nations temporal and spiritual realms are governed. The civic roles that the Church and Monarch have are enabled by a differentiated legal position which ensures their independence from the party political arena, and so whilst governments, policies, and laws change, the roles of the Church and Monarch go on unchanged. The validity of this settlement in a liberal democracy was not in question whilst there was widespread support for the Monarchy alongside widespread identification with the Christian Faith of the national Church, but now both are in free fall.