To read it go to: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/05/13/presiding-bishop-preaches-in-curacao-diocese-of-venezuela/
The shocking part is the fourth paragraph. (There may be other shocking parts, but that’s the portion of the sermon I focus on here.)
Apparently, according to the Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, the Apostle Paul wrongly cast out of a slave girl her “gift of spiritual awareness”–an action that, according to the text (Acts 16) resulted in her owners being deprived of the ability to make money from her “spirit of divination.” We are not told that she was liberated from their use of her, but it would be reasonable to assume it from what the text says.
The Episcopal bishop makes Paul out to be the villain in this story; he “can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it.” All one can do is utter a stunned “Huh?”
But, following up on my immediately preceding post, is this what can happen once one stops believing in Satanic realism? I suspect so.
This sermon strays so far from anything recognizable as orthodox Christianity in so many ways that it makes the head spin. And it displays an amateurish and possibly ideologically-driven handling of a biblical text (by a bishop!).
IF I were a member of the Episcopal Church I would have to speak up against this sermon. As a non-member, my voice has little to no influence, but I hope readers who are members of the EC will become aware of this matter and let their voices be heard.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In