‘I am not a Bible person!’ exclaimed the elegant and
sophisticated woman sitting across the table from me during Coffee Hour, ‘I am
an Episcopalian.’
Those around her laughed, not because of her accuracy, but
her intention.
After all, the moniker ‘Bible person’ conjures up images of
ill-educated, over-bearing and angry street preachers looking to harass and
condemn. We think just because the ‘Bible person’ is louder – and can quote
chapter and verse – they know the Bible better than the rest of us. That’s
rarely the case. After all, whenever someone says, ‘The Bible says…’ they’re really
saying, ‘My reading of the Bible says…’
The truth is if you’re an Episcopalian you are a Bible
person. First, it was from this tradition
that the Bible was translated and promoted in English in the first place – including the invention of chapter and verse. Second, it was this tradition that published the most
popular and influential version of the Bible in the world - the King James
Version. And third, every Sunday morning, the average Episcopalian hears more
of the Bible, and from more varied places in the Bible, than a very large
number of the ‘bible’ churches out there.
Go ahead and keep your image of ‘Bible person’ – but please,
please don’t shortchange what that means. At the heart of the
Anglican/Episcopal tradition is a soul that yearns to have God’s words define
us – to be inside us, on our hearts and in our minds – so that we might become
more fully who we are and who we’re meant to be. You may not know chapter and
verse, but you know more of the Bible than you think.
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Reading
Fail – J.R. Briggs
Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage – Marvin Wilson
The Bible
