Formation -- Part 3

Attending to the life of the mind is a significant part of the Anglican ethos. Anselm, an Archbishop of Canterbury during the 12th century gifted us with a definition of theology as, "faith seeking understanding". Four centuries later, Richard Hooker articulated the contribution of Spirit-inspired reason as an indispensible aspect of how Christians "know what they know". Indeed, the commitment to the ongoing engagement of the mind with the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church has been the hallmark of what it means to be an Anglican .

Unfortunately, the open-minded stance of Anglicans has often been misconstrued as an inability to arrive at definitive, once-for-all theological decisions. Of late, this open-mindedness has been caricatured among everyday Episcopalians with phrases such as "the good news about being an Episcopalian is that you can believe whatever you want." I would argue that such statements do little to commend our rich theological heritage to people who are new to the Episcopal Church. In fact, such statements may actually discourage people from engaging the theological task with the sort of vigor that is necessary if the Church is to give a vibrant witness to "the hope that is within us".

I remember when I became an Episcopalian, someone told me that I didn't have "to park my mind at the door". I worry that it's too easy to park our minds on the pews -- to allow them to coast in neutral as the liturgy carries us along comfortably to the Dismissal.

My ongoing concern is that we Episcopalians will too quickly sell our birthright of intellectual latitude for the pottage of intellectual laziness.