I Hold what many in the Anglican/Church Of England would coonsider very Liberal views. At the same time I hold Many other preferences which are towards the Anglo Catholic side of the Church of England. Especially in having the Holy Communion as the centre of worship.
Do other Liberal leaning Christians hold what might be thought of by others as split beliefs?
I will be baptized and confirmed Sunday, March 30th, 2008, in the Episcopal Church. Indeed, I do have High Church and Anglo-Catholic tendencies. I pray the Rosary (using the three sets of traditional mysteries, i.e., Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious) every single day, and I usually use holy water in my prayers. (I have lots of holy water.) I cannot yet partake of Holy Communion (though that will change on Sunday). I prefer it that way because keeping the sacraments in their historical order and waiting and thinking while I develop my faith before I take the Sacrament makes it more meaningful to me. (Though I think others can benefit from doing this, I wouldn't want to deny someone Holy Communion if they really wanted to partake of it, even if they were not baptized.) I can still revere the sacrament with genuflection and other ways in the mean time.
The liturgy, set prayers, the rosary, holy water, all of these things and more, help me enter into that sacred space. It cleanses my mind and heart, so to speak, to meditate and feel the presence of the Divine. I think about traditional Christian themes, teachings, and doctrines and how I relate to these and how they are relevant to my life. All of these things are very traditional.
Yet I am the most unorthodox Christian I know. There is hardly anything in the Bible or the creeds that I accept as historical or literal. (I have my reasons -- can't go into all of it now.) I do not at all believe that the Bible is the word of God in any literal way. (Just read the Old Testament and much of the New and hopefully you can see what I mean!) I find more truth in the Bible by studying the sources it comes from, where it was written, what time it was written, and why it was written.
I do not believe in a literal virgin birth, resurrection, etc., though all of these things are a deep part of my faith with much meaning to me. Nor do I believe that all parts of the Scriptures state these things so clearly and definitively as the creeds which were developed in the third and fourth centuries. (Note that the creeds didn't fall out of heaven from God. They evolved over time, as did much of the Scriptures.)
I believe that qualified women should be ordained to all levels of the ministry, as should those gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgendered Christians who are qualified. The LGBT community should have full access to all of the sacraments, including Holy Matrimony. (This should include legal marriage!)
I could go on and on. So yes, I love the beauty of tradition -- I even love many traditional themes and doctrines, such as the traditional mysteries of the Rosary as well as the Luminous mysteries. They are beautiful! But the way in which I relate to them, experience them, and believe in them is very non-literal and unorthodox. They are, after all, called
mysteries. However, it doesn't bother me at all to kneel beside the orthodox in worship or Holy Communion. I just wish that many of them felt the same way about me!
James