Thursday, July 20, 2006

ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL

The new head of the Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA) is continuing to show her true colors. This article from Time magazine, July 17, 2006 speaks for itself…

UTTER APOSTASY. PERIOD. It is only getting worse…GET OUT NOW!

Here are some comments on this interview and on the ECUSA and PCUSA’s direction…

http://www.erwm.com/AntonBosch73.htm

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=2588

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-allen9jul09,0,2668973.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Here is the Time interview and a link to it: (emphases mine)

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1211587,00.html

Rough waters aren't new to Katharine Jefferts Schori, 52, a former oceanographer who is the Presiding Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. Bishop Katharine, as she's known, takes over a denomination rocked by controversy at home and abroad for its liberal stance on gay clergy. She talked with TIME's Jeff Chu about her mission of social justice, the relationship between science and religion and whether faith in Jesus is the only path to heaven.

What will be your focus as head of the U.S. church?

Our focus needs to be on feeding people who go to bed hungry, on providing primary education to girls and boys, on healing people with AIDS, on addressing tuberculosis and malaria, on sustainable development. That ought to be the primary focus.

The issue of gay bishops has been so divisive. The diocese of Newark, N.J., has named a gay man as one of its candidates for bishop. Is now the time to elect another gay bishop?

Dioceses, when they are faithful, call the person who is best suited to lead them. I believe every diocese does the best job it's capable of in discerning who it is calling to leadership.

Many Anglicans in the developing world say such choices in the U.S. church have hurt their work.

That's been important for the church here to hear. We've heard in ways we hadn't heard before the problematic nature of our decisions. Especially in places where Christians are functioning in the face of Islamic culture and mores, evangelism is a real challenge. [But] these decisions were made because we believe that's where the Gospel has been calling us. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has come to a reasonable conclusion and consensus that gay and lesbian Christians are full members of this church and that our ministry to and with gay and lesbian Christians should be part of the fullness of our life.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, who leads the Anglican Communion, wrote recently that a two-tier Communion may be a solution. What did you read in his message?

The pieces that I saw as most important had to do with the complexity of the situation and the length of time that this process will continue. He's very clear that we're not going to see an instant solution. He's also clear about his role: it is to call people to conversation, not to intervene in diocesan or provincial life--which some people have been asking for.

There's much debate about whether science and religion can comfortably coexist. You're a scientist and a pastor. What do you think?

Oh, they absolutely can. In the Middle Ages, theology was called the queen of the sciences. It asks a set of questions about human existence, about why we're here and how we should be in relationship with our neighbors and with the divine. And science, in this more traditional understanding, is about looking at creation and trying to understand how it functions.

What is your view on intelligent design?

I firmly believe that evolution ought to be taught in the schools as the best witness of what modern science has taught us. To try to read the Bible literalistically about such issues disinvites us from using the best of recent scholarship.

Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?

We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.

Pastoral work can be all-consuming. How do you relax?

I run regularly. I like to hike, and I take one long backpacking trip a year. Flying is also a focusing activity. I come from a family of pilots, and it's always been part of my experience. It takes one's full attention, and that's restful in an odd kind of way. It takes your mind away from other concerns, not unlike meditation.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

Chapter 61 of Isaiah is an icon for me of what Christian work should be about. That's what Jesus reads in his first public act. In Luke, he walks into the synagogue and reads from Isaiah. It talks about a vision of the reign of God where those who are mourning are comforted, where the hungry are fed, where the poor hear good news.

What is your prayer for the church today?

That we remember the centrality of our mission is to love each other. That means caring for our neighbors. And it does not mean bickering about fine points of doctrine.

12 comments:

Even So... said...

Jesus being the way the truth and the life and the only way to heaven is not a "fine point" of doctrine.

So much to say here, what say you?

Anonymous said...

"The Archbishop of Canterbury, who leads the Anglican Communion, wrote recently that a two-tier Communion may be a solution. What did you read in his message?"

"The pieces that I saw as most important had to do with the complexity of the situation and the length of time that this process will continue. He's very clear that we're not going to see an instant solution. He's also clear about his role: it is to call people to conversation, not to intervene in diocesan or provincial life--which some people have been asking for."

I have no idea what they're talking about. Please explain.

Even So... said...

The pieces that I saw as most important had to do with the complexity of the situation and the length of time that this process will continue. He's very clear that we're not going to see an instant solution. He's also clear about his role: it is to call people to conversation, not to intervene in diocesan or provincial life--which some people have been asking for."

She is talking about the fact that the worldwide leader of the Anglican communion (of which the ECUSA is a member) has proposed a two tier membership, those in full fellowship and those who are not, such as the ECUSA.

While KJS uses language to say this is an attempt at mere "conversation" really this is just her attempts to smooth the idea that the ECUSA is in trouble.

They (ECUSA) have not repented after having been asked to do so by the larger Anglican commmunity. The Archbishop and leadership passed a resolution, officially, that demanded the ECUSA repent of its sins, and instead the ECUSA goes further into rebellion against the wishes of the whole Anglican Church.

Now the parent group is taking steps, even if not directly, at removal of this group, in some way. It isn't that they don't want to interfere with provincial or diocese life; they want to preserve one last chance for repentance, but after two attempts, as the Bible says, dismiss them (Titus 3:10). Of course, they have had more than two, but now the denomination is officially keeping score.

That is what the statement by the Archbishop meant, regardless of the whitewashing of it by KJS.

Exist-Dissolve said...

I don't remember Abraham "believing in Jesus." Is he not also with God?

Even So... said...

Abraham looked forward to a redeemer, and what He would do, we look backward at what He did.

Jesus himself said that Abraham rejoiced to see His (Jesus') day (John 8:56).

Exist-Dissolve said...

But surely Abraham's conception of Jesus was not "Incarnate Son of God," "second Person of the Trinity," "consubstantial in nature with very God."

I agree that Abraham looked ahead to the promise which God had made to him. However, I think it is very unlikely that he had "Jesus" in mind. Therefore, it seems reasonable that when Jesus said, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day," he was not discussing the depths of Abraham's Christological understanding, but was rather showing that the promise made to Abraham was being fulfilled in Jesus' work.

Even So... said...

he was not discussing the depths of Abraham's Christological understanding, but was rather showing that the promise made to Abraham was being fulfilled in Jesus' work.

True, Abraham didn't have all the revealtion we have, and Moses surely did not understand the depths of the Trinty whne he anounced the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet KJS has the revelation of Christ, and so she cannot claim otherwise than to say that Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and the only way to salvation, and to God.

Exist-Dissolve said...

What differentiates an Abraham 4000 years ago from someone today? Is salvation really about just having the right information? Do you think that the difference between Abraham and us is simply a matter of chronology?

Even So... said...

Certainly not, however, KJS, as stated has the revelation of Christ, and that is what sets the matter in question.

The other is worth discussing, for sure, but this isn't the place yet. Perhaps a new post about this topic very, very soon, like Monday if I can "get it together".

How were OT people "saved", or something like that.

It would be nice to see some other hitters come in for that one, so I will see what I can round up over the weekend. Ask the deviant monk to come by if you can, exist, this could be the best one yet....

Exist-Dissolve said...

even so--

Rather than pursuing this issue farther, I will wait for your post on it. Also, I will see if DM can make it.

Neil said...

Look forward to it JD!

Daniel said...

I understand that some of the best things come in awfully small boxes...