John Smyth, the Makin Review, and a Typology of Sin in Institutions
In this paper I offer a short version of my forthcoming typology of structural sin in institutions, in conversation with the Makin Review into John Jackson Smyth’s activities and who within the Church of England knew about them and when. Aspects of the events following Smyth’s abuses can be understood as manifestations of institutional sin, and assessing them in these terms provides a helpful way in to understanding how these tendencies were not unique but in fact recur across many institutional contexts. That is not to excuse nor to explain away what happened, and certainly not to diminish the harm to his victims, but rather to recognize that, however much we might wish Smyth’s actions and the consequent cover-up had been extraordinary, almost unheard-of events, in actual fact there is an ongoing risk that harm will occur wherever these forms of sin are defended or go unchallenged.
This paper is hosted at ResearchGate
DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.12870.28486
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