Overheard at the communion rail today:
As the young visitor was leaving the communion rail this morning he put his hand into his father's, looked up and said -- in an ever-so-audible-voice -- "Well, the cracker wasn't bad but the music is too loud!"
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Revisionist/Reappraiser = Heretic = Apostate ???
My, My, My!
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You gotta love Chris Sugden for being clear about what he's clear about -- even if it's NOT so clear how he got there! Here's the opening salvo from his new online piece, An End of Nationalistic Anglicanism. "The Archbishop of Canterbury will be meeting with the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church on 20 and 21 September. Later, the Common Cause of Bishops in the Americas, including Canada and Recife, Brazil will meet as the September 30 deadline for the response of The Episcopal Church to draw back from its apostate stance draws near."
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Hmmmm ... I thought we were either revisionists or reappraisers -- depending on whether or not you subscribe to the South Carolina lexicon ... or perhaps even heretics -- depending on whether or not you thought our revisions went far enough to be considered heresy .
Maybe I missed a meeting but it seems the ante has been upped if now we're apostates ... those who, according to Merriam-Webster, have "renounced a religious faith."
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Here's what Wikipedia has to say: The difference between apostasy and heresy is that the latter refers to rejection or corruption of certain doctrines, not to the complete abandonment of one's religion. Heretics claim to still be following a religion (or to be the "true followers"), whereas apostates reject it.
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It seems to me if we were rejecting it there'd be a sound of exhultation and victory in the tents of the "orthodox." Rather, the issue is our CLAIMING our religious faith -- the issue is our having the gall to not only believe but to trust and to proclaim that the Living God continues to proclaim, transform and INform -- that the love of God IS broader than the measure of the mind (even Chris Sugden's mind!) -- and that, my friends, doesn't sound anything like "apostasy" to me. I doubt Chris will be inclined to revision ... but perhaps he'll consider revisiting ... the choice of words? Or perhaps not.
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More from Tammy Faye
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My favorite quote from Tammy Faye: "Forgiveness is a choice. And it's a choice you ask God to help you keep. It doesn't happen overnight. Forgiveness is an ongoing battle. And sometimes when I see Jerry Falwell my heart hurts. But then I say to God, "God I forgave him, I gave Jerry Falwell to you, you take care of him," and then I'm okay again. So he's in God's hands, he's not in Tammy Faye's hands." May we all be given the grace to go and do likewise!
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1 comment:
Susan said . . . "It seems to me if we were rejecting it [Christianity] there'd be a sound of exhultation and victory in the tents of the "orthodox."
Susan, I feel you misread the tenor and tone of the "Orthodox." There is no exhultation and victory in acknowledging TEC's apostasy. There is hurt, betrayal, anger and sadness, But I can think of no one who is exultant at a church of over one million walking away from 2000 years of Christian faith and Tradition.
And if you are only looking to the orthodox Episcopalians to test their feelings on this, you might consider looking a bit further afield. The leaders of the vast majority of the world's Christians (1.5 billion Roman Catholics and 225,000,000 Eastern Orthodox) have either severed relations or declared themselves no longer interested in talking unity with you.
It doesn't matter whether or not TEC acknowledges its apostasy. What matters is the rest of Christendom recognizing it.
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