[Magdalen] What We Believe - St. Paul's Bellingham

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

With all due respect, yes we do set aside scripture. We've been doing it
all the time, and rightly so. Some scripture is terrible and needs to be
set aside. I'd say we don't set aside scripture because we disagree with
it, although that's a perfectly good consideration, since scripture is not
some kind of magically produced text, written by the finger of God.

I'd say we set this group of texts aside because it flies in the face of
many other sections of scripture. Same reason I set aside the raging
against Babylonian children!  And rightly so.

You didn't answer my question.  That's okay.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 9:11 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:

> There is no movement in the Episcopal church to "set aside those
> scriptures," but rather to use our God-given reason to correctly interpret
> them.  This has been adequately done.  Probably 6-8 years ago we used a
> very good Lutheran scriptural study at St. Raphael's to discuss this
> issue.  Again, it's not about "setting aside those scriptures."  That's
> unacceptable from an Episcopal point of view (at least the larger church --
> what laypeople decide to do is pretty much up to them).  We seek to
> understand them more correctly, and to make theological arguments that
> widen the meaning of marriage from "one man, one woman."  That has also
> been done -- a very good beginning was offered by Sam Candler at General
> Convention in 2003, and it has been expanded since that time.  We don't
> just throw out scripture if we disagree with it -- we seek deeper
> understanding, including alternative possibilities for re-interpretation.
>
> Ann
>
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
> blog:  www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com
>
> On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 12:29 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Ann, did I understand you to say that the scriptural teachings on
> > homosexuality are actually the truth, and the movement to set those texts
> > aside is wrong?  Because, based on what you said about scripture trumping
> > reason and tradition, that would appear to be the outcome of such a view.
> >
>