Disestablishment?

[tinyjo]

I wonder what will happen to the Church of England after this debate over gay bishops. The future doesn't look rosy what ever way the debate comes out, really. It was nice to hear an actual bishop endorsing my view of the bible, saying that it consists of people describing their experiences of God and what they believed about it. It's a valuable document, particularly for learning about Jesus but it does need to be read in the context of it's time and shouldn't be taken literally.

Comments

The literalist interpreters...

[applez.livejournal.com]

I wonder just how much influence those conservative Baptist-become-more evangelicals have had on all Christendom with their literalist interpretation.

I can't say I know much about Anglicans, but it seems that in the absence of strong doctrine, views can be swayed by external elements.

[shepline.livejournal.com]

That last bit of your post brings to mind a friend of the family, who's a vicar/reverend (never quite sure which, or if they are same thing?!). He had a discussion with his vicar when he discovered that he didn't actually believe in God. It didn't matter though. Because he was able to still do the job - all the pasteral side of the job and all... the message could still still be delivered.

[greengolux.livejournal.com]

I'm finding the current debate interesting too, especially having studied sexual ethics as part of the Chritian Moral Reasoning paper I took. I also read some of the work of Rowan Williams for my docturne paper (the one who recently became Bishop of Canterbury, I think?) doctrine paper, and got quite a positive position of his view on things.

Compared to other ethical subjects the Bible says relatively little about homosexuality, and what it does say is often ambiguous, and always tied to very specific, often cultic, cultural contexts. Jesus himself rarely gives specific ethical instruction and never on says anything at all about homosexuality. The only references to (possible) homosexuality in the Bible are either in the Old Testament, or are Paul's own views in his letters, and not even remotely attributed to Jesus.

But it is a huge mess right now, and doesn't look likely to be sorted any time soon. I don't really know why this issue hits home so bad with the church, but it's a real divider, that's for sure.