There is a distressing amount of “you aren’t a real Christian” sort of commentary going on on the blog today, much of it centered on the interpretation of Scripture. I am wondering if this discussion might be more productive if people commented on a document, and explained their own method of interpreting Scripture, rather than continuing to question one another’s character, motives, intellect, etc.
Several years ago, the Episcopal Diocese of New York published “Let the Reader Understand,” which is one of the best concise statements of how (at least some} Episcopalians interpret Scripture.
Here is a sentence to whet your appetite from a commentary by our friend, the Rev. Tobias S. Haller, BSG, that was published in conjunction with the document:
“To attempt to turn the Scriptures themselves into an unchanging “thing” rather than approaching them as
the story and song and case history of which they largely consist, is to come very close to a form of idolatry.”
By all means, read the whole thing.