Taylor on the Rublev icon, again

As with Monday's post, we see here Taylor's scepticism about Trinitarian interpretations of the encounter with Abraham at the oak of Mamre:

If the letter of the story infers any undecency or contradiction, then it is necessary that a spiritual or mystical sense be thought of; but never else is it necessary. It may in other cases be useful, when it does advantage to holiness; and may be safely used if used modestly; but because this spiritual or mystical interpretation when it is not necessary cannot be certainly proved, but relies upon fancy, or at most, some light inducement; no such interpretation can be used as an argument to prove an article of faith, or relied upon in matters of necessary concern: the 'three measures of meal' in the gospel, are but an ill argument to prove the blessed and eternal Trinity; and it may be the three angels that came to Abraham will signify no more than the two that came to Lot, or the single one to Manoah, or S. John; this divine mystery relies upon a more sure foundation; and he makes it unsure that causes it to lean upon an unexpounded vision that was sent to other purposes. 'Non esse contentiosis et infidelibus sensibus ingerendum', said S. Austin of the book of Genesis; searching for articles of faith in the by-paths and corners of secret places, leads not to faith but to infidelity, and by making the foundations unsure, causes the articles to be questioned.

From 'The Minister's Duty in Life and Doctrine', Sermon XI, in Volume VIII of The Works.

(The mosaic is 7th century, from the Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna.)

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1928 practices and the 1979 book: unthinking conservatism or popular piety?

Those responsible for Earth & Altar - a new blog emanating from a group within TEC - are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to wider Anglican discussion and debate. The commitment to "an expansively conceived credal orthodoxy as fully compatible with LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality, and racial justice" is an important part of a wider retrieval of creedal orthodoxy within what we might call the post-liberal generation. It is in this spirit that I want to respond to a recent post on the site by Andrew McGowan , Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School. Against the background of another round of "ill-defined" liturgical revision in TEC, he understandably urges that a fuller reception of the 1979 BCP should occur before further reforms. In doing so, however, he takes aim at what he describes as "clinging to the ritual structures of 1928" while using the text of 1979. We ...

laudable Practice

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