Posted on 04/27/2006 2:44:26 PM PDT by sionnsar
Kevin Carroll reminds me that Gene Robinson was just the icing on a very large cake:
For Robinson, this saying of creeds intensified a spiritual crisis that had been gathering since high school. He had accepted Jesus Christ in his early teens, submitting, as was the custom in his church, to a full submerging in the baptismal pool following a public profession of faith. By high school, though, he had begun to harbor doubts about some of the particulars of the Christian faith—doubts, he felt, that would not be a welcome subject of inquiry either in his church or in his deeply religious home. At Sewanee, he found himself regularly obliged to proclaim some of the very assertions he questioned. The Nicene Creed, that fourth-century statement of Christian orthodoxy, particularly vexed him:
I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man: And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried: And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets: And I believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church: I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins: And I look for the Resurrection of the dead: And the Life of the world to come. Amen.
To be expected to repeat these sentiments, Robinson decided, was an offense against conscience. He took his protest to one of the school’s chaplains, who listened to him and told him that he saw no problem at all. If joining in the Creed distressed him, why not just speak only those portions of it that didn’t offend?
And whatever ECUSA is, it is no longer Christian.
It is true, Griswold says, that from “the classical point of view” sexuality “is to be exercised only within heterosexual, monogamous marriages.” But he notes that the church has, through time, come to an understanding of marriage and sexuality that is less rigid than that prescribed by the Bible and church tradition. “The Episcopal Church over the years has come to, let us say, an understanding of the human person that is more sophisticated, possibly, than the understanding on the part of the Biblical authors.”
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. I'd be "vexed" by this quoted version of the Nicene Creed too!
(It's the old 1928 Book of Common Prayer version. Is it inimical to Orthodox belief?)
I wonder, though, exactly what Vicki Gene found vexing about it . . . probably not the same things you do.
"What's vexing about it?"
Its not the Nicene Creed. It appears to be a rework of a later Western, some say heretical, version of the Creed.
"Is it inimical to Orthodox belief?)"
Yup!
" I wonder, though, exactly what Vicki Gene found vexing about it . . . probably not the same things you do."
I suspect you are very right, dear lady! I doubt that man has the theological training, even though he is a "bishop" to understand the Creed anyway.
Eastern Orthodox churches do not recognize "and the Son" in the phrase "Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son".
I guarantee you that Bish Vicki neither knows nor cares about whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father or the Son, or from both . . .
. . . his objections probably run more to "born of the Virgin Mary", "rose again according to the Scriptures", "judge both the quick and the dead," . . . you know, stuff like that.
Actually, the correct term is "Wood decay."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.