May 16, 2006
Shocking
This reflection on Sunday’s propers, the source of which I know not, came in on the wire yesterday. Ever so slightly emended, herewith:
“I was shocked, shocked! to read Acts this morning and realize that Philip took unilateral action to include an outcast eunuch (Acts 8.26-40). Who in the world authorized him to circumvent Deuteronomy 23 which excludes men with genital disfigurement? Did he check with the rest of the apostles? Was there a council? Were there thirty years of discussion? Was there a vote by orders?
“Apparently not. There was water nearby and so, violating the scriptures and without an authorized liturgy for the purification of the permanently outcast, Philip just baptized the eunuch. In the same passage in Deuteronomy, the children of illicit marriages are excluded to the tenth generation. No purification or restoration is possible for that. Who changed that and was it done unilaterally too?
“A shocking Sunday morning. Like Jesus told old Nicodemus, the Holy Spirit just blows around, willy-nilly. Hasn’t HS heard about councils and reception and making sure everyone is on board with these kinds of massive changes?
“Who is in charge of informing the Holy Spirit on proper Anglican process, anyway?”