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One of the reasons I am increasingly drawn to Orthodoxy is because of the inherent inability to condemn Westboro (or anyone else's) interpretation of the Bible. We Evangelical Protestants insist that every believer can (nay must) interpret the Bible for himself using the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit. Westboro would insist that …
One of the reasons I am increasingly drawn to Orthodoxy is because of the inherent inability to condemn Westboro (or anyone else's) interpretation of the Bible. We Evangelical Protestants insist that every believer can (nay must) interpret the Bible for himself using the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit. Westboro would insist that they "have the Holy Spirit" I'm sure, and the rest of us evangelicals have no tools to argue with them. Oh sure, we may disagree, but there's absolutely no way to prove who's right. It turns out that the only thing worse then having one Pope was making every man his own Pope.
Orthodoxy at least has a way to solve this problem of competing Biblical interpretation. Ecumenical councils are a middle road between theology ordered from on high (Catholicism) or a theology free for all (nondenominational Protestantism). It's not perfect, but the Orthodox theological toolbox is far more robust.