Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ssc-bee!ssc-vax!carroll@cs.washington.edu (Jeff Carroll) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: A pastoral letter to the members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Message-ID: Date: 25 Jun 91 07:42:22 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Boeing Aerospace & Electronics Lines: 23 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article math1h3@ELROY.UH.EDU (David H. Wagner) writes: >Is the 'priesthood of believers' still alive in 'liberal' churches? Does >anybody still believe that an ordinary person should be able to read the >Scriptures and understand them? I hesitate to generalize about the Episcopal Church at large (anyone should), but I've been involved in fruitful and productive Bible study on a number of occasions with fellow Episcopalians whose views on Scriptural interpretation would have to be described as "liberal". On the other hand, my experiences as a United Methodist were entirely different. Nearly all the Bible study I participated in there was pretty juvenile, centering on personal feelings and reactions rather than the Scriptures themselves. My parish priest speaks quite glibly of the priesthood of believers, although we don't have laymen celebrating the Eucharist or pronouncing absolution (yet). -- Jeff Carroll carroll@ssc-vax.boeing.com