What does being an "Episcopalian" mean? Tough question...I believe that there is a God that created the world, and am open to the claim that human beings can on occasion have a sense of the divine in everyday life. I believe that human beings can live their lives in conversation, in some way, with God, and I also have hope in the ultimate redemption of the world. I also believe the Bible is a uniquely rich resource for understanding the human condition, its frailties, and its ever-present hope. I also believe that there are other realms of reality beyond visible and measurable time and space.
Can I rationally justify any of those beliefs? Probably not to the degree which could convince a skeptic. That inability does not perturb me as it used to when I was a college freshman or sophomore and would have long stemwinding debates with convinced atheists. The idea that God has a purpose for my life and that I have a responsibility to be faithful to as best I can it is just a background assumption for my day-to-day living. I want to regard my life as a gift to me, not a piece of personal property which I "own," but as a gift which I have responsibility for stewarding.
It is easier for me to use reason to specify what I don't believe. I don't believe in the literal truth of the Bible, don't believe Christianity has a monopoly on either literal or allegorical truth, and don't believe that human beings must assent to some specific creed to earn salvation. I don't believe God wants us to spend our earthly lives preoccupied with our own salvation. I don't believe that God will sentence non-believers or sinners to eternal torment. Rather, I believe that God, or any God worthy of being worshiped, is empathetic with every manner of human shortcoming, sin, temptation, delusion, and alive to the fact that each and every human being's moral horizons are limited, whether to a lesser or greater degree, by the social and cultural climate which they inhabit. I find it difficult to conceptualize the notion that we have disembodied, eternal "selves," but I believe Christians have the responsibility to hold out hope for the redemption of all, including both ourselves and the worst criminals and scoundrels–that as Paul said, God really can overcome everything. The theological rationale for this set of statements is laid out in more detail in a paper I wrote at Union, available here.
Those are personal beliefs. I also have views on religion as sociological and ethical force. At its best religion can inspire human beings to be alive to their highest selves, to be a spark towards the love of humanity and the healing of the world. At its worst it can be a vehicle for smug self- righteousness, ignorance and hatred, repression and violence. Those of us who are attached to institutionalized religion have a responsibility to help steer the social practices of our faith communities in ways which nurture the former function and restrain the dangerous possibilities religion raises for human life.
To this end, I am a board member of Cross Currents, an interfaith scholarly journal of ethics and religious practice. You can learn more about Cross Currents and its many educational outreach activities here.
I also am interested in practical ways American churches can use their resources, especially economic resources, in more socially beneficial ways; and I am interested in the question of how the general decline in liberal Protestant denominations of the past half-century might be addressed by church leaders and congregants today. My 1998 master's thesis at Union discussed just this topic; it is available as a free download here.
Finally, I am particularly interested in the efforts of liberal churches in the United States to have an effective advocacy and witness in the American political process. I am skeptical of the effectiveness of most current efforts and believe churches should focus more on a bottom-up approach that focuses on practical activity and institution-building at the local level. For a more detailed statement of this view, see this article from the Union Seminary Quarterly Review.
