Episcopal 101: Session #3 - Episcopal Authority

From whence cometh our authority?

Scripture? Law? God? Church tradition?

In the Episcopal Church, we say our ultimate authority is God as revealed in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Westerhoff's question: "How do we come to know the mind of this triune God"? (Westerhoff p.6)

Good question. Let's first look at authority.

He reminds us -
* Roman Catholic authority rests in Scripture and Tradition, with the emphasis on tradition
* Protestant authority is in Scripture alone
* Anglicans (Episcopalians) chose a middle way - Via Media

For Episcopalians, authority is a 3-legged stool

Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Richard Hooker thought of this one in 1534.



"There is a single authority composed of three intersecting sources, the Scriptures being the normative authoritative source, reason and traditioin being necessary interpretive authoritative sources". (Westerhoff p. 8)


We believe the Holy Scripture to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary for salvation. Soooooo. . . . . . . . You don't have to believe anything that is not in the Scriptures, but you may believe anything that is not incompatible with Scriptures (such as scientific knowledge about the geological age of the planet, for example.)


The Bible is not a collection of dead letters.

It is the "living" word, not "the last word".


QUESTIONS:

What do you think? Is it, "the Bible says it, I believe it and that's the end of it" or "the Bible is just a really quaint, old book"? Does it have to be one or the other?

What do you think of this quote from Westerhoff? "Revelation as contained in the Scriptures about God and God's will is essential to our salvation, but revelation in the Scriptures is not the source of all our knowledge about God and God's will". (Westerhoff p. 8)

Which church hears the most Scripture read on a Sunday morning?
A. Roman Catholic
B. Methodist
C. Episcopal
D. Baptist
E. Presbyterian
F. Disciples of Christ

(If your answer is "C", congratulations! Every Sunday in the Episcopal Church, when we celebrate a full service of Holy Communion, one hears read three lessons from scripture and a Psalm - Old Testament, Epistle, Gospel and the Psalm.)