Prologue
It all started with a conversation, no…an argument, no…a debate, no…a conversation.
The conversation was with a friend over a topic that is a deeply contentious issue in our current culture. We disagreed. I have a fairly diverse friend-group so these types of arguments conversations happen quite often. What made this conversation unique was that our disagreement was not political in nature but biblical. In short, he thought the Bible was clear about this particular thing. I was less than convinced.
Part I
The Bible is Clear
The trouble with speaking about Biblical clarity is that the Bible, so often, isn’t clear. There is a difference between “using” scripture and “loving” scripture. When people begin a sentence with “The Bible is clear…” this is often a giveaway that they are about to “use” scripture to defend a certain political position or serve a cultural agenda. This, however, is nothing new. Christians, throughout history, have opposed or supported certain agendas that we are embarrassed of today because they thought, “the Bible was clear.”
For example, Christians opposed things like:
abolition, integration, women’s suffrage, and a heliocentric model of the universe,
all because “the Bible was clear.”
However, I must point out that there were also Christians who appealed to scripture to support these things. These issues should serve as a reminder that rhetorical claims to the Bible’s clarity on a subject do not necessarily make it so. Furthermore, even just a quick moment a self-analysis reveals that we all approach the Bible with varying levels of subjectivity. Put differently, the Bible is not self-interpreting. We all, to at least some degree, do the work of interpretation.
So when someone says:
“The Bi...
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... see that:
Jesus reveals God.
Scripture witnesses to Jesus.
In Conclusion
If you think I’ve slipped on a banana peel and lost my mind, I still love you.
If you currently feel the creeping desire to pick up your lap-top, phone, or tablet and throw it at me, let me remind you of one of my favorite quotes from John Wesley:
“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may.”
After all, this is the purpose of Scripture: It witnesses to the love of Christ.
In the end, the purpose of Scripture is not to make us of one mind but to take our heart, marred by sin, and to replace it with the heart of Christ. The word of God (the Bible) is a plowshare that opens up hearts for the Word of God (Christ) to reach.
If we can just grasp this, then perhaps, we are reading the Bible right.
"We are one in all and all in one. There is no man but only the great 'we', one, indivisible, and forever."
When looking at the common theme that Barth develops in God Here and Now, it becomes apparent for the need of congregation to justify, ratify, and promote the Bible as the living word of God. When and where the Bible constitutes its own authority and significance, it mediates the very presence of God through the congregation. Encountering this presence in the Church, among those whose lives presume living through the Bible’s power and meaning. Barth states that the Bible must become God's Word and this occurs only when God wills to address us in and through it. The Christ-event is God's definitive self-disclosure, while Scripture and preaching are made to correspond to him as a faithful witness becomes the perfect statement according to Barth (Barth, 2003, p. 61).
The Bible for many has several interpretations, and meanings. There is not one interpretation or meaning in which Christians all believe identically. Each part of the Bible has its own symbolic meaning to each faith, and their ways to interpret those meanings may differ from other Christians. In Having Words with God: The Bible as Conversation by Karl Allen Kuhn, Kuhn describes the Bible as a conversation between several and God. In this essay there will be a different approach to the same metaphor effect describing the Bible but, as a Pizza. The Bible is like a Pizza in the ways of having many toppings (topics) and layers (depths within the text), not to mention the types or styles just like there are many styles of scripture
...nature of God, the world, and human beings, the Bible is a source from which a reasonably comprehensive worldview may be constructed. Many narratives or teachings of Scripture speak directly to the various elements of a worldview” (Palmer, pp 93) .
The most striking of these is the notion that the Bible needs correction. This is huge in that it suggests that God failed somehow in inspiring the original scribes to write what He wanted in the manner the He wanted it written. Contemporizing the language is therefore seen as justified, and in the process interpretation and exposition are included. Some modern translations remove the reader as far from the original as the old Latin did. The Bible does not need to be changed to make it relevant; because it is the ETERNAL Word of God it will always be relevant. Metaphors, gender, patriarchalism, short sentences, repetition – God designed it all that way.
Although, Jesus scolded the Jews for not believing on Him, He told them to “Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39 If only those who are saved and have the illumination of the Holy Spirit can understand the scriptures, Jesus would not have told unbelievers to search the scriptures, nor would Paul have stated that faith is produced by the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17)
The Bible is our textbook life, and it also places a high value on doctrine. God wants us to know important things, and gave us the bible to help, and guide us. Unfortunately, many Christians know very little about the Bible and its Christian doctrine. We believers put our interest in other things, and know a lot about things that do not matter. In Romans 6: 1 introduces us to the major doctrines of the Christian faith.
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
The, political, cultural, social and religious circumstances the Bible was written in is unfamiliar to today’s society. Therefore, it would make sense to interpret the Bible in today’s perspective without going astray to the core of Christianity.
Authority of Scripture reconciles the community with God and can transform our lives. To participate in the fuller blessing of understanding, it is important to view Scripture with historical and literary sensitivity, interpret theocentrically, ecclesially, and contextually. I realize each of these can be overwhelming to the average person who is seeking direction for a specific concern in their life. Therefore, Migliore reminds us, interpreting Scripture is practical engagement in the living of Christian faith, love, and hope in a still redeemed world. When we listen carefully to the voices of the past, from a worldwide culture, and guided by the Holy Spirit, we will open ourselves to those transformational opportunities.
2 Timothy 3:16 upholds that the Bible produces valuable direction in living a Christian life. Living one’s life based on the authority, inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible brings about transformation. Without the Scripture being a God given absolute, truth erodes and man risks becoming god by interpreting the Bible according to his knowledge, which is limited.
The nature of Scripture and the authority of Scripture are two characteristics carefully entwined in such a way that creates an impossibility for them to not affect each other. They directly influence each other. Evangelicalism, Liberalism, and Neo-Orthodoxy all have differing views of the nature and authority of Scripture. Evangelicalism takes up the view that the Bible, Scripture, is infallible (Lane, 2006, p. 255). Scripture is God’s word and is therefore fully truth (Lane, 2006, p. 256). People under Evangelicalism equate Scripture with God’s spoken word, and they believe that though God and humans are both authors, the human author was divinely prepared by God to write out His word (Lane, 2006, p. 257). They believe that “the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice” (Bingham, 2002, p. 162). Liberalism takes a different view on the Scripture. In Liberalism, religion is “nothing but feeling and experience” (Lane, 2006, p. 238). This reduces the authority and value of Scripture. Scripture is not seen as God’s word or His revelation but as a written record of the experiences of humans, which takes away from its divinity and authority (Lane, 2006, p. 239). Schleiermacher, the father of Liber...
In today’s society, many people question the authority and inerrancy of the Bible in search of unquestionable proof to ascertain the acute accuracy and trustworthiness of it’s writers. When the Bible is referred to as authoritative, we as believers, must demonstrate where the authority was originated. By definition, authority is the right and power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine or judge (Elwell, 2011,pg 153). Authority may be bestowed or inherent as demonstrated in our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, were both aspects are combined.
middle of paper ... ... There is estimated to be approximately 41,000 different denominations, so I can assume that I am not wrong in saying that there is more than one way to look at the Bible. So, you can’t use the Bible to micromanage the lives of the people around you, because the Bible is about finding a personal interpretation that you believe is right. 10 different people can read the same passage and all get something different out of it, and all of them could very well be right.
How do we interpret scripture? It might come through prayerful interaction, or when we first become a new Christian in our faith journey. We also interpret scripture by our own events and traditions that are happening in our lives at the present time. As we look at scriptures we can relate them to our own faith journey and we can seek comfort and meaning through the scriptures. By putting ourselves into the scriptures we make them our own and are able to apply the scriptures as a rule and guide in our lives. (http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/authority.html, n.d.)