Chris,

 Absolute agreement that we need to give ourselves room to reexplore the inspiration and, I would add, the authority of the scriptures. Can a community aesthetic with respect for the history of the story, help us here? It’s an intriguing idea, in any case, to place the locus of inspiration elsewhere.

I like the image of lines rather than circles to describe ways of expressing “orthodoxy”. If the various lines can be various ways to look at text, spirituality and community, then these can help a lot, I think. But at the center one still needs some kind of image/story of what “orthodoxy” is, and how that’s defined. I am not arguing for a particular interpretation of orthodoxy here, but merely stating that something cohesive is needed there. The Apostoles’ Creed, perhaps? But then I shy away from defining orthodoxy as solely doctrinal.

I remember reading somewhere that the early Methodists held Scripture, the Church (historical and acutal) and experience as the three grids for interpreting and giving meaning to spirituality. Behind them all was a sense of respect for all.

In any case, I welcome discussion on this. Maybe we only getting a few squiggly lines ourselves, but it’s better than no lines at all.