One of the take-aways from controversies within the Anglican Communion is the recognition that there is no agreed upon Anglican method of “reading” Holy Scripture. That lack has frequently stymied attempts to get disagreeing bodies within the Communion to speak with each other about what the Bible is saying to the Church today.
There have been numerous calls for the development of an Anglican Hermeneutic (biblical interpretive method), and not just between Anglican provinces in the West or in the Global South but by emergent church groups, evangelicals and theological progressives too.
The Anglican Consultative Council is taking the first steps in beginning the conversation:
“We are undertaking this survey by means of a questionnaire that is now available online and in a downloadable paper form. It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete and we want as many Anglicans as possible to get involved – either individually or through their local churches.
We also want to use the questionnaire as a way that churches can explore further the way they engage with the Bible, the processes used. So we have written a five-session course outline that looks in more depth at the issues that lie behind the questionnaire.
The results from the survey will be included in the final reports that come from the project when it reports to Anglican Consultative Council at its next meeting in November 2012.”
Details here.
What do you think of the material? Are they asking the right questions?