The Cathedral Times - May 28, 2023

The CATHEDRAL TIMES

I’M SELLING BIBLES, MA’AM

By the Very Rev. Sam Candler, Dean of the Cathedral

“I’m selling Bibles, ma’am. God’s holy word.”

Those are the words of young Henry Dampier, in Clyde Edgerton’s delightful novel of a few years ago. It’s called, simply, The Bible Salesman, a kind of coming-of-age story in which a young Bible salesman actually begins to read the Bible.

That’s right. He is a Bible salesman before he has even read the Bible. The novel is about his beginning to read the Bible, and about his beginning to grow up, and about his experiencing the good and the evil of human life.

“I’m selling Bibles, ma’am. God’s holy word,” he says, without ever having read the Bible. There’s a lot of people these days who talk about the authority of the Bible, or who believe in the literal and inerrant authority of the Bible, but who seem never to have actually read it – or at least have never actually pondered, and critiqued, and truly examined it. I am amused by proclamations about the infallibility of scripture that so rarely ever actually use scripture.

The fact is that scripture only occasionally talks about itself! In the Episcopal Church, ordained priests vow that the Holy Scriptures “contain all things necessary to salvation.” (See page 526 of The Book of Common Prayer.) That sort of vow has been in place a long time; it was part of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion in sixteenth century England.

But the vow does not say that everything in scripture is necessary to salvation. It says simply that scripture “contains all things necessary to salvation.” Furthermore, the vow does not claim that the Bible is inerrant, or without error. That sort of claim has never been a majority claim in the Episcopal Church, or the Anglican Communion of Churches.

The inerrancy of the Bible is not part of our tradition. But let me note something else. The Bible itself never claims to be inerrant! When I am arguing with people who believe in the inerrancy and the authority of the Bible, I ask them for one thing: “If you believe so much in the inerrant authority of the Bible, give the chapter and verse where the Bible itself claims it is inerrant.”

It’s not there. The Bible itself never claims to be inerrant.

But the Bible does make some extraordinary claims for itself, or at least for the scriptures. One of its major claims for itself is in 2 Timothy. We think it was Paul who was speaking to his young disciple Timothy; it was certainly some authoritative figure speaking to a larger church. And he mentions scripture, the sacred writings. Remember, if he writes during the middle of the first century, AD, much of the rest of the New Testament has not been written yet, or certainly regarded as scripture yet!

He says, “As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,… and how from early childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

(2 Timothy 3: 14-17).

This is a beautiful passage, speaking of the merits of sacred scripture for teaching and correction and righteousness, yet the passage never claims that the sacred scriptures are inerrant or without error.

Yes, our Christian past is littered with outlandish attempts to interpret the Bible so that it can be symbolized as without error. Some of the more amusing have to with harmonizing various accounts of the same event. In case you haven’t noticed, the Bible contains many different stories which seem to refer to the same event.

This SUNDAY

MAY 28, 2023 · The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday, Year A Acts 2:1-21 • Psalm 104:25-35, 37 • 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 • John 20:19-23

8:45 AND 11:15 A.M.: IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

CATHEDRALATL.ORG / THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PHILIP APP / FACEBOOK / YOUTUBE

7:45 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST, MIKELL CHAPEL

Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. Canon Cathy Zappa

8:45 A.M. AND 11:15 A.M BAPTISMS AND HOLY EUCHARIST, CATHEDRAL

Celebrant: The Very Rev. Sam Candler

Preacher: The Rev. Canon Cathy Zappa

Cathedral Singers:

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943), “Veni Sancte Spiritus” from Lux Aeterna

Grayston Ives (b. 1948), Listen, sweet Dove

Baptism at 8:45:

Bodie Daniel Bassity, son of David and Alison Bassity

Baptisms at 11:15:

Tate Frances Bradford, daughter of Jake and Hadley Bradford

Eloise Elizabeth Ervin, daughter of Jeffrey and Betts Ervin

Teddie Hill Wallace, son of Garrett and Molly Hill

Kit Alexander Peacock, son of Tyge and Alina Peacock

Casimer James Peacock, son of Tyge and Alina Peacock

Virginia Ann Reynolds, daughter of Tyler and Mary Caroline Reynolds

William Huntington Rolison, son of C.J. and Evelyn Rolison

11:15 A.M. BAUTISMO Y LA SANTA EUCARISTÍA, MIKELL CHAPEL

Officiant and Preacher: The Rev. Deacon Juan Sandoval

Baptism:

Valerie Jimenez, daughter of Angel Jimenez and Elizabeth Alvardo

Alex Lopez, son of Cesar Lopez and Jaqueline Deloya

Wonder Week ofJUNE 5–9

Purchase Tickets: cathedralATL.org/concerts

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER: CATHEDRALATL.ORG/CHILDREN

PRAYER List

FOR THOSE WHO ARE ILL OR RECOVERING:

FOR IMMEDIATE NEEDS: D. Louis Gruver, Jr. • Randi King

LONG TERM PRAYERS: R. Huntley Allen • Randy Allen • Virginia Bicksler • Miguel Boaz-Contreras • The Bryant Family • Don Cameron • Connie Chapman • Geraldine Charles • Lawrence Cowart • The Crossley Family • Rita Daly • Terry Dornbush • Sarah duBignon • Deborah Ellington • Paul Fekete • Joyce Egan Ferris • Phoebe Forio • Tom Frolik • Susan Frierson • Aidan Gray • Ken Griffiths • Elizabeth Groseth • Jenny Ham • Suzanne Haerther • Karen Howard • Jane Jones • Lisa Krysiak • Liza Lanier • Jill Mahaffey • Tommy Mason • Lee Moran • Estanislao Muniz • Susan Myers • Jim Myrick • Charlie Neal • Marian Palmore • Al Plummer • Rubye and Wayne Reid • Lorraine Reynolds • Barbara and Joel Rice • Bob Riggins • Agnes Elizabeth Robertson • Betty Roper • Louis “Skip”

Schueddig • Greg Smith • Gail Morgan Timmis • Tommy Truesdale • Ron Wallace • George Watson • Jonathan Wright

FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Josephine Rose Adams • Elizabeth Alexander • Alison and Jeffrey Armor • Caroline Ballard • Shaista Bashir •

Bettina Bass • Charlotte Eloise Bell • Ray and Pat Bell • Jason Brady • Catherine Brinton • Calvin Burgart • Lila Jo Callaway • Kelly Grey Carlisle • Bob Carreras • Lois Chapman • Mika Chorey • Anna Clifford • Marie Corrigan • Ava Corroon • Apryl Roberts Cox •

Bob Crawford • Judy Crosby • Freddie DeSantiago • Redell DuBose • Megan Dyer • Ron Dyer • Kenneth Farr • Timothy Florence •

Peter Foster • Don Harp III • Gayle Higley • Jay Horton • Beth Ingle • Cami Jackson • Patty and Shannon Jafolis • GK Johnson •

Kathy Johnson • The Kelly Family • Robin Kemp • Tim Kirkbride • Herb Larrabee • Rachel Laurin • Pete Livezey • Cakers Long •

Carolyn R. Lusk • Lauren Makhlouf • Kendall Martin and family • Michele McBride • Susan Mendivil • Elaine Metcalf • Denise

Mims • Betsy Moore • Malcolm A. Moore • Linus Nickel • James Paul • Einar Sagstuen • James Sands • Skip Saunders • Patricia Schooley • Stacey Schuitema • Don Smith • Philip Gregory Smith • Michael and Kathryn Snider • Christine Still • John and Cleary Tanner • Pierson Thames • Amy Wadsworth • Donnie and Ann Waller • Cheryl Waybright • Jason Wilke • Jennifer Wright • Whit A. Wright • Marjorie Young • Hollis Youngner

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED: Julian Richardson • Mimi Smith • Carlton “Sam” Young

REGISTER FOR SUMMER MUSIC CLASSES!

CLASSES ARE JUNE 7 – JULY 26, 2023

All class costs are $50/child.

All Together Now

Open to children from birth through age 4 (caregiver attends with child/children) Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m.

SIGN UP AT CATHEDRALATL.ORG/ALLEGRO.

Saturday Mornings 8:30 a.m. – Noon

Open rain or shine through December 16

PEACHTREEROADFARMERSMARKET.COM

The CATHEDRAL of ST. PHILIP

The Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler, Dean

Dale Adelmann, Ph.D., Canon for Music

The Rev. Lauren R. Holder, Canon for Community and Education

The Rev. George M. Maxwell, Jr., Vicar

The Rev. Canon Julia B. Mitchener, Canon for Mission

The Rev. Catherine Zappa, Canon for Liturgy and Pastoral Care

The Rev. Deacon Salmoon Bashir,

Curate for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations

The Rev. Deacon Juan Sandoval, Deacon for Hispanic Ministries and Pastoral Care

The Rev. Theophus “Thee” Smith, Ph.D., Priest Associate

Ward Bondurant, Senior Warden

Melody Palmore, Junior Warden

CATHEDRAL TIMES SUBMISSION DEADLINES: FOR THE SUNDAY, JUNE 4 ISSUE, THE DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, MAY 24. FOR THE SUNDAY, JUNE 11 ISSUE, THE DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, MAY 31.

TO RECEIVE THE TIMES BY EMAIL: CONTACT LIZ AULL, LAULL@CATHEDRALATL.ORG.

TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT REQUEST: CONTACT SARA CRAIG-GOODELL, SCRAIGGOODELL@CATHEDRALATL.ORG.

404-365-1000 | cathedral ATL .org

pastoral care emergency line: 404-365-1003

cathedralatl

Take the Ascension, which we remembered this past week. Luke, chapter 24, seems to indicate that the Ascension of Jesus occurred on the very same day as the Resurrection? Yet, Acts chapter 1 explicitly says that the Ascension occurred forty days after the Resurrection. James Barr, in his book called Fundamentalism claims that he has heard conservative scholars offer, in all seriousness, the explanation that Jesus must have ascended twice – once on the Day of Resurrection, then he came back down, and he ascended again forty days later.

Obviously, this is a silly and extreme example. The point is this. There is a difference between inerrancy and inspiration. I believe that sacred scripture is inspired of God. That inspiration is why I read scripture, and contemplate scripture, and study scripture. The words contain the breath and energy of God. I do not read the Bible because it is inerrant and literal; I read the Bible because it is inspired. God breathes through the Bible’s words.

Dean Sam Candler met with Senator Jon Ossoff and other area clergy this week to discuss the importance of communities of faith in our current national landscape, as part of the senator’s ongoing conversations with local community leaders.

CATHEDRAL GIVING BY DESIGN

Following 50 years of the legendary Cathedral Antiques Show and its long tradition of philanthropic giving to the Atlanta community, the inaugural Cathedral Giving By Design event was held earlier this year on January 20-21. This two-day event celebrated the joy of home and hospitality with a festive Welcome Home party and auction, a sold out design speaker panel and both an in-person and virtual tour of homes. As much as it was a fun and engaging weekend for our community, it was ultimately an opportunity to support our incredible 2023 beneficiary: the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence.

Cathedral Giving By Design has been thrilled to partner with WRC to support their vision of a community center for families impacted by domestic violence. The establishment of this center will allow WRC to expand their violence-prevention work with children, resulting in fewer children carrying the burden of domestic violence with them for the rest of their lives. Thanks to the efforts and teamwork of our fabulous committee, the first ever Cathedral Giving By Design event far exceeded our goals and expectations on every level. Because of the active participation and generosity of our Cathedral community, patrons and sponsors, we are overjoyed to present a check for $291,252.86 to the Women’s Resource Center to Prevent Domestic Violence. Again, we would like to thank our devoted committee, our honorary chair Mary Mercer, our corporate and patron sponsors, the dedicated staff at the Cathedral and so many others who made 2023 Cathedral Giving By Design a success!

The Very Rev. Sam Candler Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip

Sam Candler’s program for the parish retreat this weekend, at Kanuga Camp and Conference Center, will be titled, “A Three Hour Tour of the Bible!”