Sir, We are told by some bishops that the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori to lead the US Episcopal Church shows the Holy Spirit in action and is theologically sound (reports, June 20). Others strongly dissent.
Many bishops find biblical support for their belief that homosexuality is an abomination. Others find same-sex love a gift from God. These days most bishops ignore the Bible’s recommendation that neighbours who work on the Sabbath should be put to death (Exodus xxxv, 2).
I wonder if the bishops would care to offer any criteria for correct biblical intepretations, gifts from God and how to spot the Holy Spirit in action. Or are the ways in which they reach their conflicting conclusions as mysterious as God’s?
PETER CAVE
Humanist Philosophers’ Group
London W1
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Sir, The Church is not an institution. It is people in communion with God. Anglicanism is not a Church, it is a way of doing things. It originated, under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, when it was necessary to remould our public religion to local political realities and theological challenges — to make it inclusive. The Anglicans of America recognise this, as do many Anglicans in England. Traditionalists, some evangelicals and Christians from different cultures around the world don’t.
The Anglican Communion can continue only if people are prepared to say: “I don’t understand you, but let’s go to the Lord’s table together and see if that gives us light.” We have a great gift here. It is squandered by those who claim to know the mind of God, and who claim to know better. Schism is not caused by radicals, it is caused by conservatives who want to throw them out.
I’m trying to remember who Christ threw out.
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THE REV RICHARD HAGGIS
Oxford
Sir, Where the Church clearly upholds biblical teaching and the Christian morality it has taught for more than two millennia, it is now accused, it seems, of inciting homophobic violence (letter, June 19).
But this same Christian morality condemns all forms of violence against, and hatred of, the person. Jesus always showed the distinction between the sin, which he was not afraid to define and expose, and the sinner, who he loved radically and to an extreme degree, even to death on a cross.
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PAUL WATTS
Coventry
Sir, It is certainly regrettable if anyone sees “approval to hate” in orthodox, biblical teaching on sexual ethics, primarily because there is no basis for this; if anything, the balance of Christian teaching suggests the opposite.
However, to dumb down moral teaching further for fear that it might induce a few individuals to hate or commit violence against those falling short in such areas is a recipe for disaster.
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DAVID CHADWICK
Yarm, Cleveland
Sir, I have recently tried to complain about the way that traditional churchgoers, who wish to worship with dignity and solemnity, are being ousted from local Church of England congregations by the policies of evangelical Christians and clergy.
I was warned that if I pursued my complaint I might become the target of “aggressive prayer”.
While the Church of England is claiming that evangelical congregations are growing, it should remember that it is also driving away many people who have served the Church all their lives.
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WENDY GOUGH
Lincoln
Sir, Is it any wonder that religion is an ever-fading force in the modern world when prominent religious leaders still insist on keeping women out?
Surely the key to religion which appeals to so many is the virtue of the message, not the gender of the messenger.
DAVID TEDBURY
Newark, Notts