Biblical Authority Or Biblical Tyranny

Proposes that scripture be understood as a word that prompts more questions than it answers and that in scripture God has not uttered the last word for us, but the first.

For 1700 years the Trinity has been considered the cornerstone of Christianity by all mainstream churches. But the Bibles words for God, appearing thousands of times, never mean a triune God. The concept of the Trinity has been taught to churchgoers based solely on implication and inference. The truth is, the Scriptures dont support the doctrine of the Trinity, but it has been indoctrinated into the minds of otherwise intelligent and well-educated Christians and perpetuated as a mystery not meant to be understood. The majority of Christians have not bothered to investigate the doctrine for themselves, and consequently have been duped. Ms. Lackey suggests that far too many Christians attend church with the attitude: Tell me, pastor, what do I believe today? Ms. Lackey expressed her resentment at being accused of being a heretic, not being a Christian, and being condemned to hell because of her strong belief in the human Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God, as opposed to being the one Almighty God. Her strong conviction led her to collaborate with biblical Unitarian authors to create a book that challenges the centuries-old man-made doctrines of the Trinity, the mainstay of ecclesiastical tradition. Ms. Lackey sees the Trinity as blight on the true Christianity taught by Jesus Christ for the benefit of humanity and feels Trinitarian Christians have traded Hebrew theology for Geek mythology with barely a question asked. She further contends that the majority of Christians believe in the Trinity primarily because they are expected to! Not to accept this dogma would place them under condemnation from both their brethren and the clergy. Ms. Lackey invites churchgoers everywhere to consider that they may have been drawn into a thinly veiled polytheism a belief in more than one God. She adamantly contends that Christians must take more responsibility for their beliefs and stop settling for centuries-old, creeds and doctrines as scriptural truth! The cover illustration depicts the agony experienced by Michael Servetus, a brilliant Spanish physician and theologian, who as one of the first Protestants to challenge the Trinity, was slowly burned at the stake in 1553, his book fastened to his thigh, at the instigation of the Protestant reformer John Calvin.

Escaping Eden brings together feminist biblical scholars to explore how aspects of social location such as gender, ethnicity, class, and religious background affect biblical interpretation. The volume combines feminist reading strategies with sustained methodological inquiry. Writing in a range of modes including historical and literary criticism, cultural studies, satirical fiction, and the personal essay, the contributors challenge the presumed objectivity of conventional biblical scholarship. Interrogating biblical authority, que(e)rying Jeremiah, exploring translation as a feminist act, and reclaiming texts as diverse as Genesis, Luke, and Philippians, Escaping Eden expands the usual boundaries of biblical academic discourse.

New Episcopalians may be nervous about opening the Bible; others simply don't know how to begin. An often-overlooked gift of the Episcopal Church is that the texts and doctrines of the Bible are embedded in its prayers, liturgies, and creeds. Making that knowledge explicit and placing it in context can open the way for further and more in-depth study.

"Bearing Fruit in Due Season calls upon biblical scholars to pay attention to what happens when academic biblical studies meet the worshiping Church. It also provides the keys to a treasury of feminist biblical interpretation to enrich both the makers of liturgy and all the people who worship."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved