Anglicanism's insistence on the Bible and Reason usually succeeds in forestalling religious tyranny. That three-fold approach to authority thrusts Episcopalians into a search for the principle underlying a Bible passage, for the spirit within the letter. Searching for the principle of Scripture by prayerful Reason is a key element in our Tradition. Historically that prayerful exercise has led the Church to several radical modifications of biblical law that most of us today take comfortably for granted. This was done in order that Scriptural principles of economic justice might no longer be hampered by a rigid application of biblical letter.
Clergy take counsel with each other, with their bishops, with their lay leaders.
Seminary professors have to submit their stuff to the critical scrutiny of colleagues, journals, and bishops. Episcopalians find that such an approach to authority provides us with a godly manner of remaining faithful to the Revelation, attentive to the Spirit's present voice, and courteous to one another. That is not easy to get used to, takes maturity to exercise, and occasionally gets mishandled. The term 'absolutes' arises from discussions that Anglicans took no part in. Frankly, Episcopalians find the notion overly simplistic.