A daily roundup of what bishops are blogging from their meeting in Kanuga.
The Rt. Rev. Dan Edwards, bishop of Nevada describes one of the teachings offered Friday at the meeting:
The rest of the day was devoted to teaching by Bill Bishop who wrote The Big Sort and Walter Bruegemann who has written all the best books on the Bible for 20 years. The Big Sort is about how America is “clustering” into ever smaller groups of like-minded people. It makes us small minded and keeps the nation divided. Churches made up of folks who think alike and have the same lifestyle are prime examples.
Bruegemann’s point is that like-minded churches are not reading their Bible honestly. The sacred text, which is our shared foundation, is pluralistic all the way down and from the get-go. The Priestly tradition and the Deuteronomic tradition for example, both run through the Old Testament from Genesis to Daniel — as opposing theological perspectives. He said the Priestly tradition is basically a Red State and the Deuteronomic Tradition is basically a Blue State. The Biblical view of truth is not unitary (one way) and exclusionary. It is diverse, dialogical — containing a tension which cannot be resolved in this life. An honest church is a big tent. It embraces different and inconsistent viewpoints. We don’t all agree.
Bishop Dan has a second post today: “We are here to constitute a national church out of dioceses, constituted by parishes made up of families and individuals.” Edwards has Part III on the session on economics.
The Rt. Rev. Christopher Epting, staff officer for Ecumenical Relations also reflects on the teaching about The Big Sort by Bill Bishop.
The Rt. Rev. Wayne Smith, bishop of Missouri, was also impressed with The Big Sort and summarizes his thoughts about it.
The Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, bishop of Louisiana, from the Why I Am an Episcopalian series: