Friday, May 22, 2009

An agnostic in shepherd's clothing

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said,
in a rather scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."


The following is from Al Mohler's blog:
Richard Holloway is a Bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church. There seems to be on obvious problem -- he doesn't believe in God. In the Scottish Episcopal Church, that must not be a problem.

Bishop Holloway served for years as Bishop of Edinburgh and primate of the Scottish church. The Scottish Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion -- the Scottish sister church of the Church of England. During his years as Bishop of Edinburgh Holloway regularly offended the faithful, promoting one heresy or scandalous teaching after another.

In 2000 he took early retirement, but did not resign his ordination or consecration. He remains a bishop, even as he has become an agnostic.

Bishop Holloway claims a right to interpret Christianity as he sees fit. This is a claim commonly offered in some churches. The truth of the Christian faith, the great doctrines of the Bible, the creeds and confessions of the church -- all these are instantly relativized by a claimed right to private interpretation.

The case of Bishop Holloway serves to demonstrate that this right of private interpretation is destructive of the very concept of truth and doctrine. Here we meet a bishop who has "interpreted" the faith all the way down to agnosticism. Many others have interpreted the faith down to something that is not recognizably Christian.
Read the rest here

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