Below are two questions asked of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswald appearing on Christianity Today’s website. I like the responses.
Q: Here in Kentucky, members of three Episcopal churches have voted to leave the denomination. They said that the church has departed from historic Christianity. What would you say to these people?
A: We all claim the authority of scripture. The ancient creeds, the doctrine of the trinity, the nature of Christ — all these things are not up for negotiation. … I would say if sexuality becomes the ground on which division occurs, then it means that sex is more important than the doctrine of the holy trinity and the divinity of Christ, which is a very sorry situation to find oneself in. Isn’t it ironic that people can overlook Jesus’ words about divorce and remarriage and claim biblical orthodoxy and become hysterical over a reference in the letter to the Romans about homosexual behaviour? The Bible, of course, didn’t understand homosexuality as an orientation. It only understood it as a behaviour. Clearly, the biblical writers presumed that everyone was naturally heterosexual.
Q: What would you want people in Kentucky to know about the Episcopal church?
A: The Episcopal Church is a questioning community. … It’s confident that Christ is at its centre, and that gives it the courage to look at things that are difficult. It also is a church which has lived with open-ended questions. It doesn’t need to reduce things to absolutes. We can deal with shades of grey, we can deal with paradox and ambiguity without feeling that we are being unfaithful.