Andrew Gerns, at The Lead, has a brilliant post comparing the views of two bishops of Rochester, Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester (New York) and Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester in England.
Bishop Singh:
Video from IntegriTV.
Bishop Nazir-Ali:
"We want to uphold the traditional teaching of the Bible. We believe that God has revealed his purpose about how we are made.
"People who depart from this don’t share the same faith. They are acting in a way that is not normative according to what God has revealed in the Bible.
"The Bible’s teaching shows that marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way to express our sexual nature.
"We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed."
The bishop added that it is not just homosexuals who need to repent, but all who have strayed from the Bible’s teaching.
He said: "We want to hold on to the traditional teaching of the Church. We don’t want to be rolled over by culture and trends in the Church. We want a movement for renewal. We need a reformation of the Church and the life of the Communion."
From Thinking Anglicans.
Which message is life-giving? Which message is the Good News?
Is that a trick question? ;-)
ReplyDeleteCould be, Doxy. I want a your response in a 300 word essay.
ReplyDeleteMimi
ReplyDeleteNazir Ali now seems to be one of the moderates.
I was genuinely shocked today to read on Ruth Gledhill's blog that Bishop Greg said at the opening of FCA in England that 'We must remember we are not fighting flesh and blood. This is about principalities and powers.'
Ruth further writes about Bishop Broadhurst at the same event: "Broadhurst said he did not believe in the devil when he was first ordained. 'I now believe Satan is alive and well and he resides at Church House.'
Erika, I was just now writing a post linking to Ruth's column. Many who were taken in by FoCA's siren call will come to regret it. The leaders are extremists on both sides, the evangelical and the Catholic, with the befuddled in the middle.
ReplyDeleteBroadhurst's comment was completely off the wall, Erika. I watched the close of the live feed, which Baby Blue linked from her site. Poor bishop Nazi-Rali is completely tone deaf - seriously - very disconcerting since he was on microphone, dominating the singing of the final hymns.
ReplyDeleteJesus said (paraphrasing):
ReplyDeleteThose who are not against me, are for me.
You will know my followers by the fruit they produce. Bad trees can't produce good fruit.
The two most important commandments are love God and love your neighbor.
The only people who will go to heaven are those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited those in prison.
Worry about your own sins before you worry about other people's.
Don't judge other people. That's my job.
People who sacrifice others to religious law and judgment are not pleasing to God. (aka "vipers" and "white-washed sepulchers")
*****************
I don't see anything in there about correct belief. I see lots in there about being good to other people, keeping your judgments to yourself, and that the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.
I'll let others draw their own conclusions about which of those bishops has actually paid attention to what Jesus said.
Pax,
Doxy
P.S. That was 160 words. How did I do?
Lapin, so Nazir-Ali is tone deaf, and they give him the mic for the final hymn. I see a powerful metaphor there.
ReplyDeleteDoxy, A+, with the quality making up for the deficient quantity of words.
Erika, I had already picked up those two quotes. I must ask, "Who, besides Satan, resides at Church House?
It's beyond time to cut the crap from these purple-shirted hypocrites:
ReplyDeleteTHE BIBLE DOESN'T "TEACH"!
It's a frigging book, for Chrissakes! It isn't a magic educating machine. (I know; I'm married to one.) If it "taught" us stuff, we would be slaughtering our enemies and collecting their foreskins, having sex with our daughters, dashing children against rocks, etcetera, etcetera. On the contrary, it is no more a "teacher" than a petri dish or a telescope.
And it is particularly unreliable when it comes to sex: Instead of straight talk we have all these cutesy metaphors like "know" and "go in unto" and "uncover the nakedness" and "to lie the lying-of-a-woman".
Clearly any "teaching" that is to be done is goig to be done through an interpreter. And any interpreter who says they have the only true interpretation is lying.
So enough with this "the Bible teaches" stuff. Isn't one Obadiah Hakeswill enough?
Paul (A.) luv, next time you leave a comment, don't hold back.
ReplyDeleteI'll try not to restrain myself next time, Mimi.
ReplyDelete