John 17:18-23 (NRSV)
Looking up to heaven, Jesus said, "As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
Blog Reflection
Today the Episcopal Church invites us to commemorate Richard Hooker. Richard Hooker was an influential Anglican theologian, author, priest, student and teacher at Corpus Christi College in Oxford, England.
That statement can be authenticated by the statue of Richard Hooker in front of Exeter Cathedral found in the photograph to the left.
Richard Hooker presented many challenges to the Puritans who were rebelling against the reforms of the Anglican tradition. Two of his most famous works of theological discourse drew great criticism from the Puritans.
A Learned Discourse of Justification, Works, and how the Foundation of Faith is Overthrown. In this he defended his belief in the doctrine of Justification by faith, but argued that even those who did not understand or accept this could be saved by God. This therefore included Roman Catholics, and emphasised Hooker's belief that Christians should concentrate more on what united them, rather than on what divided them. Hooker thus further articulated the Reformed nature of the English Church alongside its claim of belonging to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Christ and the Apostles. Sermons much like this one provoked a reaction that led to his greatest work. Walter Travers, for example, publicly attacked Hooker's extension of salvation to Roman Catholics and elsewhere critics complained that his support of reforms in the church did not go far enough. Hooker responded with his masterpiece, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie. (Wikipedia).
Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
Title page of Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie.
Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously,[1] and indeed may not all be his own work. Hooker argued for a middle way or via media between the positions in his time of the Roman Catholics and the Puritans. In these books, it was argued that reason and tradition were important when interpreting the Scriptures, and that it was important to recognise that the Bible was written in a particular historical context, in response to specific situations: "Words must be taken according to the matter whereof they are uttered.".[3]
It is a massive work, with its principal subject is the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). The Puritans, then known in England as the "Geneva Church" for John Calvin's influence on them, advocated the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism. Hooker attempted to work out which methods of organizing churches are best.[1] What was at stake behind the theology was the position of the Queen Elizabeth I as the Supreme Governor of the Church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme with government by the Elect, then having the monarch as the governor of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God to be the governor of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable.
The Laws is remembered not only for its stature as a monumental work of Anglican thought, but also for its influence in the development of theology, political theory, and English prose (being one of the first major works of theology written in English).
Scholastic thought in a latitudinarian manner
Hooker worked from Thomas Aquinas, but he adapted scholastic thought in a latitudinarian manner. He argued that church organization, like political organization, is one of the "things indifferent" to God. He wrote that minor doctrinal issues were not issues that damned or saved the soul, but rather frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. He argued there were good monarchies and bad ones, good democracies and bad ones, and good church hierarchies and bad ones: what mattered was the piety of the people. At the same time, Hooker argued that authority was commanded by the Bible and by the traditions of the early church, but authority was something that had to be based on piety and reason rather than automatic investiture. This was because authority had to be obeyed even if it were wrong and needed to be remedied by right reason and the Holy Spirit. Notably, Hooker's affirmed that the power and propriety of bishops need not be in every case absolute. (Wikipedia).
As I think about what I am reading about Richard Hooker, I find myself coming to the conclusion that Christianity is more than the Bible and Church Authority. The lessons from the history of what was taking place in the Church of England at the time, are really not that different from what is happening in the 21st Century.
As we continue to see great progress for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people and others marginalized by the Church and society, we also find ourselves between the Biblical literalists within the Puritan traditions of fundamentalist and evangelical protestants and the authority assumed by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
One of the best examples of this is the work of the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to oppose marriage equality. As State's like New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and others have passed marriage equality, the organizations I have named along with others are working tirelessly to take those rights away. In States like Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Indiana and else the same organizations are working to pass State Constitutional Amendments that would ban marriage equality if passed by the voters of those States.
As a gay Episcopalian, I am very proud that the Episcopal Church in Minnesota passed a resolution opposing the MN Marriage Amendment to be voted on in 2012 at our Diocesan Convention.
As Episcopalians our tradition is one where Bishops are elected in America by the consent of the individual diocese and the whole Church. In the Church of England Bishops are appointed by the Queen. The Archbishop of Canterbury has no authority over any particular Church with in the Anglican Communion.
Yet, the age old question of who has the ultimate authority continues to compound many of the issues we face. Those who are more conservative would like there to be more of a top down approach, until those on the top do something they do not like. Those who are more liberal want an approach from the bottom up to solve problems, until a consensus cannot be reached, and then they want those on the top end to make a decision that everyone can live with. But then the liberals are not happy either.
What hangs in the balance on the questions of authority and the interpretation of the Bible is the issue of what are we as the Body of Christ suppose to be doing?
We find the answer in our Gospel today.
Jesus is praying for those who follow him to remember that Jesus lived to share the good news of God's salvation for all humankind. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus gave life and hope to those who felt like they had lost both. Those who were pushed aside by the political and religious quarreling of the day, were those Jesus was most concerned about.
If those who follow Jesus cannot keep in mind that the Church exists as the Body of Christ, the House of Prayer for all people through generous hospitality and reconciliation, it is very difficult for the hopeless, the excluded, the poor and marginalized to experience the Living God.
LGBTQ people who have been told that they are living in sin, and are without hope for salvation, are turning away from God and the Church. They and many others including women who have had abortions or gotten divorced, immigrants, people of color, Native Americans, Muslims and Jews are being told that they cannot find God, unless they "convert" to the "white, heterosexual, male, Christian" way of doing things.
The Bible is used by fundamentalists and evangelicals to condemn anything outside of the Christianist's world view.
The Catholic hierarchy uses their "authority" to suggest that they alone have the duty to tell other individuals, governments and whole communities how to see abortion and homosexuality, and no one else's opinion matters or is valid except theirs.
People who are giving up on organized religion are not interested in theological or philosophical debates. They are looking for a reason to believe in the God of love that Christians are suppose to be bragging about.
What Richard Hooker and Jesus are attempting to tell us in 2011 is that what matters most is helping people know that there is salvation in Jesus Christ regardless of who you are, who and how you love, what you believe and what you do. Jesus makes room for everyone to come as they are "and find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11: 28-30).
The Sacraments are not there to be legislated as tools of punishment or to force someone to see things any particular way. The Sacraments are their to communicate God's grace for all who seek peace and holiness through all the good things the Christian Faith has to offer. I truly believe this is the "reason" we are being challenged to understand in 2011.
For those of us who still think that Christianity is "the only true religion" and all others must supercede or perish, I really think that today's commemoration and the meaning of the Gospel draws a very different conclusion.
If we really believe that the Christian Faith is as good as we say it is, then among the many other things we must do is trust in God to be God. For Christians there is only one God, and God has not put out an employment ad for a replacement. Therefore, let's work on Christians getting our act together and leave individuals of other religions alone.
Prayers
O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 667).
Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 822).
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833).
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