Orombi on Scripture

Praise God for the African Anglicans.  Writing in First Things (August/September, 2007), Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi comments on how the Word of God works (or ought to work) in the worldwide Anglican Communion:

"We are convinced that Scripture must be reasserted as the central authority in our communion. . . . The Bible cannot appear to us as a cadaver, merely to be dissected, analyzed, and critiqued, as has been the practice of much modern higher biblical criticism. Certainly we engage in biblical scholarship and criticism, but what is important to us is the power of the Word of God precisely as the Word of God--written to bring transformation in our lives, our families, our communities, and our culture. For us, the Bible is 'living and active, sharper than a doubled-edged sword, it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart' (Heb. 4:12). The transforming effect of the Bible on Ugandans has generated so much conviction and confidence that believers were martyred in the defense of the message of salvation through Jesus Christ that it brought. . . . We would not be facing the crisis in the Anglican Communion if we had upheld the basic Reformation convictions about Holy Scripture: its primacy, clarity, sufficiency, and unity. . . . Without a commitment to the authority of the Word of God, a confidence in a God who acts in the world, and a conviction of the necessity of repentance and of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we will be hard-pressed as a communion to revive and advance our apostolic and missionary calling as a church."