Bizarre Phrases...

-
There are a few frequently heard phrases that I just don't get.
  1. "Common sense". Since when is it common?
  2. "Getting some exercise". You don't get it. It's something you do. Well, apparently some people do. I wish I could just get it, but I don't (nor do I do it for that matter!) 
  3. "Losing your virginity". You lose your wallet, or your car keys, or even weight. Your virginity... that's given away (or tragically stolen for some).
  4. "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so." 
This last one strikes at the heart of what we understand the Bible to be and do. Frankly... it doesn't talk to me. It doesn't do anything. It's a book. Paper and print. That's all. 

Now before you go and stone me, let me qualify this statement. The reason the Bible is "Sacred Scripture" is because the church has found it to be a way that God has revealed himself to his people. The Bible hasn't done this in and of itself, God has. The Bible is the tool in the hands of the redeeming God, used for his purposes. Even in the oft quoted 2 Timothy 3:16; "All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."; it's not the scriptures that do the teaching, etc, but the teacher, rebuker, corrector and trainer. It's a tool for those purposes. A sacred tool, yes, but a tool nonetheless.

Why is this distinction important? Well, let's rephrase number 4 above in the light of this. "Jesus loves me, this I know. For God himself tells me so." Christianity is not Bibliocentric, but Theocentric (Christocentric if you want to). It is not centred on a book, but in a relational, self-revealing God whom we have come to know primarily in the person of Jesus Christ. That God is revealed through that Book, but only because he reveals himself through that Book, as the Spirit inspires our shared reading of that Book. The word of God is the word of God because of God, not because of anything in the words themselves. It is him that we have relationship with and him who confirms to us that he loves us - not the book.

It's a subtle, but I think a very important distinction. Otherwise it's possible to make almighty claims about the Bible and suggest that it is saying what is in fact our interpretation. Perhaps even going so far as to suggest that our interpretation is "guaranteed"... 

No one would ever do that, though, would they?

Comments

  1. Ian PackerJune 22, 2011 at 1:06 AM

    Important point, Adam - though I think the Bible doesn't "tell" line is a bit of a stretch. If quoting 2 Tim 3:16-17, why not also Rom 4:3 "What does the Scripture *say*?" So, we can happily speak in a common sense way (gasp) of "Scripture" or "the Bible" "telling" us something. But we nonetheless need to see the Bible as part of the ekklesia as its interpretive community. I wonder also what light Wolterstorff, Divine Discourse (CUP) might shed on this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Adam CouchmanJune 29, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    OK, I take the point about Romans 4:3, but I guess I'm here challenging the way people treat the Bible in almost a magical, or superstitious manner. If it had those capabilities, we wouldn't even need to read it, just having it on our shelves, or in the back of pews would be enough. Rather, it's in the inspired and shared reading (which is always an interpreted reading) in which its sacredness lies. This too, for me, moves beyond the debates of infallibility and inerrency onto faithful interpretation in the power of the Spirit.

    As for Wolterstorff, I have to plead ignorance there. Thanks for the reference though. I'll check that out.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inerrent, Infallible, Inspired... Interpreted?

-
Image
I love Chopin. I love listening to his music, but I especially love playing his music. His Nocturnes in particular. There's something very satisfying about playing Chopin. He was a pianist, and every piece of music he wrote was for the piano, and so he "gets" what it's like to sit at a piano and wrestle with those 88 keys in front of you. He was a genius who knew how to get the most out of this instrument, and to challenge those who would want to call themselves a pianist (ever tried playing 12 notes at once with 10 fingers?). Perhaps what I like best, though, is the opportunity that playing Chopin gives me to really express myself through the music. It's like nothing else that I know and taps right into the depths of my emotions and indeed my soul. For me, it's very much a kind of prayer to play this music. Anyone who plays a musical instrument well understands (or should understand) that it's so much more than just the notes on the page. In fact, the b
Read more

Sermon: Mark 1:29-39

-
Image
  Do you think you can keep a secret? I have an important secret. A secret so powerful that it will change your life forever. Can you keep a secret? You probably already know this secret, but I want to make sure you know it. Really know it. Can you keep a secret? Here’s the secret. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It’s a good secret isn’t it? Do you know it? I mean really know it? Mark shares this secret at the start of his gospel account. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). Mark wants to make sure you know this secret too. There is general agreement that Mark is the earliest of the four gospel accounts. It bears so many similarities to Matthew and Luke that scholars also agree that those other authors used Mark as a source for their own accounts. More recently, it’s been suggested that Mark wasn’t written to be read but rather to be performed. That makes sense given only a few people were actually able to read anyway. Mark is short, sharp, and to
Read more

An end and a beginning...

-
Image
At about 4:30pm on New Year's Eve (2023), I submitted my PhD thesis. It was a quiet moment, with my wife by my side. It was a simple moment, with only an email disappearing off my screen to confirm the disappearance of year's of work into the hands of the examiners - no printed and bound copies, no physical copies of any kind. Just a PDF attached to an email. Gone.  It was the end of years of work, struggle, and wrestling. Throughout my candidature, I encountered many doubts and fears. Was my idea good enough? Was I being heretical? Was my idea new enough? Could I do this? Then there was the inevitable imposter's syndrome and writer's block. Wow, did I struggle with these two. There were too many times to count when I sat at my computer with barely more than a paragraph added to a document because I couldn't get the ideas out of my head and onto the page. This, of course, fed the idea that someone was going to figure out that I really didn't know what I was doin
Read more