Celebrating the inaugural lecture by the Rev. Dr. Frederick Houk Borsch are, from left, Bishop Charles Bennison of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania; the Rev. Dr. Pamela Cooper White, an Episcopal priest serving on the LTSP faculty as associate professor of pastoral theology; Dr. Borsch and his wife, Barbara; the Rev. Otto Lolk, and Bishop Roy Almquist of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Lolk is rector at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Rhawnhurst. A $1.2 million bequest to the Episcopal Diocese from the estate of the late Anna Werner, an All Saints' member, made possible at LTSP the establishment of the Chair of Anglican Studies held by Dr. Borsch.

PHILADELPHIA (October 7, 2003) -- To whom does the Bible speak?

Congratulating Dr. Frederick Houk Borsch, center, are, left, Bishop Charles Bennison of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and Bishop Roy Almquist of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The occasion was the Oct. 7 delivery of Dr. Borsch's inaugural address for the new Chair of Anglican Studies at LTSP. Both Bennison and Almquist offered brief greetings and remarks.

The Right Rev. Dr. Frederick Borsch defined three kinds of audiences for the Scriptures in the modern day before an ecumenical audience at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). Borsch, a professor of New Testament and holder of the new Chair of Anglican Studies at the 140-year-old seminary, was giving an inaugural address to about 200 seminarians, faculty and staff members of the seminary, and scores of Episcopal visitors.

All were in a highly celebrative mood and responded with enthusiastic applause when LTSP President Philip D. W. Krey welcomed the audience to "the inauguration of the Chair of Anglican Studies, a gift to the seminary from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania."

Borsch, formerly bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and author of 17 books, began his address by defining the three audiences as 1) church-going Christians, 2) spiritual people without much in the way of ties to organized religion and who probably don't often go to church, and 3) "all of us who are part of civil society including citizens of this country, a pluralistic group living under the 'separation' of church and state, but occasionally hearing passages or phrases from the Bible."

Frederick Borsch: Bible stories tell us of the mystery of God, that even in the midst of loss we may also discover "hope and abundant life."

Borsch said the Bible clearly is meant to speak to the first group - "churchgoers who hear the Bible preached, hear its readings, and hear it in the context of Christian community and worship."

Problems and challenges enter in. Borsch recalled for his audience the remarks of LTSP Professor Erik Heen during last month's convocation opening the academic year. Heen, he noted, had talked about the "demise of biblical civilization" in recent decades. The scientific revolution, Borsch observed, with its news of 100 billion galaxies, makes our understanding of the world vaster than biblical imaginations could take in at the time the Scriptures were written. Other complicating challenges, he noted, are the growing awareness and impact of other religions, and the manner in which our society has evolved into a more individualistic rather than a communal framework. Borsch noted that the Bible as a part of history "is subject to the factors of historical living." The Bible, he said, "was in the world as Jesus was in the world."

Frederick Borsch paused at one point to quip that the extensive handouts he had for nearly 200 attendees were actually the text of the lecture he intended to read.

Borsch also cited the human tendency for various groups within the churches to have different "working canons." Not everyone is dealing with the whole Bible, but rather with the parts that are most relevant to them, he said. For example, Borsch noted a tendency for many African Americans to place more emphasis on the Hebrew Scriptures and passages describing liberation. Many women will struggle with the patriarchal and hierarchical aspects of the Bible and, along with the poor, interpret the Bible with a certain "hermeneutics of suspicion" with regard to the use of the Bible by dominant groups.

While, however, different groups and churches may argue over the texts and their interpretation, this debate shows that the Bible is "a privileged text for us," he said. "We all find that the Bible in this sense is authoritative." But in reading biblical stories such as the Good Samaritan different groups of people can place different interpretations on such a story, he maintained. And because of the different interpretations and our "distance" from biblical cultures and worldviews, it becomes difficult for any one group to "appropriate the Bible" just for themselves. "It belongs to all," Borsch said.

While biblical stories shape us all despite our differences, they do not "tell us everything or answer all our questions," he held. "While we don't read everything we want to know about particular issues" in the Bible, Borsch said, "we nevertheless understand that Scripture offers us the basics: 'all things necessary to salvation' through its stories of God's love and redeeming work."

Another challenge is that "we don't fully know God, nor are we meant to," he said. "God is always beyond us." The Bible points us in the direction of experiencing God's presence in the world, he said. It thus becomes critical today for people to develop an appropriate notion of theology shaped by the biblical narrative that enables them to gain an authentic public voice in an age of relativism, Borsch said. Finding that voice involves looking at Scripture in such a way that allows passages "to speak to us and then through us to others."

Borsch pauses after his lecture to acknowledge the congratulations of friends and those in the seminary community.

Borsch talked about a number of biblical passages, including the prophetic words of Amos 6: 4-6, and Paul's reflections on meat offered to idols in I Corinthians 8 and the Parable of the Sower as found in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The parable deals with the awareness that many seeds don't grow well. The interpretation in Mark focuses on encouragement, Borsch said. Matthew's words are more exhortative and Luke is appealing more for "faithful living."

"How do we hear these passages today?" Borsch asked. "How do they apply to us?" He said it is not likely that the authors of Scripture were able to think outside of their own context. "They were thinking of their time," he said. But with careful reflection, the letters of Paul that circulated to the Corinthians may also be helpful to us today. He said the Amos and Corinthians passages remind readers of Scripture that the children of God are part of a community that Christians need to identify with to keep from falling apart in the face of great loss. The parable of the Sower, he points out, is a realistic story. "It's what happens to a farmer, to someone who deals in mining or other risky ventures. It is about this loss as well as gain." Such stories and lessons in the Bible help us cope with loss, Borsch said, while also pointing to hope and abundant life.

To live out such abundant life in community demands recognition "that no persons are disposable, that it is important for us to care for each other and respect the dignity of all people. There are no insiders or outsiders except when those who are inside try to push others out," Borsch said. And then those who push out become the outsiders. Scripture, he said, is meant to nurture Christian wisdom - a coming together of knowledge with compassion - for the understanding of others, joined with an awareness of our own mixed motives and sinfulness.

What about the second audience of the spiritually minded? Borsch said he finds it challenging to try to understand how the Bible can speak to those outside the context of Christian community, and therefore the witness of those who live in the community of practicing believers becomes essential. "How is the Bible heard out of that practicing context?" he asked. While that may be hard for practicing Christians to imagine, Borsch said they should not be arrogant. "Its wisdom may yet from time to time speak to others."

And what about that third total audience of all who hear words of Scripture as members of the civil society? Borsch looked at recent uses of biblical passages by Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush as well as the debate over the place of the Ten Commandments.

Finally, Borsch challenged congregations and the seminary through their interpretation of Scripture to find their public voice by being "models of Christian community" in such matters as conservation and the environment. In accepting this challenge, he maintained, we will find that the Bible most certainly does speak to us. It is then through this authentic witness that the Bible is best able to speak to others.

Dr. Borsch was introduced by the Rev. Dr. Pamela Cooper-White, an Episcopalian who is the seminary's professor of Pastoral Theology.

Adding their voices to singing that marked the opening of the inaugural festivities are, from left, Pastor Otto Lolk, Bishop Charles Bennison and Bishop Roy Almquist. The gift making the Chair of Anglican Studies possible came via a legacy left by Anna Werner, a member of Lolk's parish, All Saints' Epicsopal Church in Philadelphia's Rhawnhust section.

Introductory remarks also came from Bishop Charles Bennison of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and Bishop Roy Almquist, an LTSP alum who shepherds the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bennison recalled the enormous generosity of the late Anna Werner of Northeast Philadelphia, a retired school teacher who lived a simple life and whose legacy of $1.2 million made the Anglican Chair possible at LTSP. He thanked the seminary and its faculty for continuing to serve as an educational resource for future Episcopal priests and deacons.

Bishop Almquist said the gift of the Anglican Chair is a sign of a great love that is growing between two church bodies that serve an overlapping territory. He said that sign is like "a ring on a finger for the whole world to see. It is a commitment that we can do better together than what we can do apart. This seminary, my seminary, is becoming more precious to both churches."

President Krey read a congratulatory citation regarding the Chair of Anglican Studies signed by President Judith Rodin of the University of Pennsylvania.