Click HERE for the text of a recent sermon by Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church in America, given at All Saints Church, Steenrijk, Curaçao (Diocese of Venezuela) on 12 May 2013.
In line with one of the respondents, I think this has to be one of the most delusional pieces of exegesis and theological extrapolation I’ve ever encountered. Jefferts Schori equates Paul casting out the demon from the Philippian slave girl (Acts 16), thus ending the exploitation by her pimps, as depriving her of her beautiful and holy gift. Apparently the demon in her was the Spirit of God!
Yep! You read that right. You can read the whole thing HERE to see that I’m not taking it out of context, but here’s an excerpt:
But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her [the slave girl] of her gift of spiritual awareness. Paul can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it. […] It makes me wonder what would have happened to that slave girl if Paul had seen the spirit of God in her.
This is what passes for biblical exegesis? By a bishop? A presiding bishop, no less? I’ve heard some shocker sermons in my time, but mangling the text like this to say the complete opposite of what it’s actually saying is breathtaking. How in God’s name can this be taken seriously?
God help us!
With Meagre Powers 