So - does this logic make sense?
Submitted by Forgiven on August 22 2001 17:57:55
In reply to Can't anyone attempt to answer my question? submitted by Collin on August 22 2001 06:02:27
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First lets take a step back; the ultimate object of studying the bible is to discover the will of God for our lives - the bible is just a means to this end. And it is the Christian perspective that the way to discover what God's will is is to look at the life of Jesus. In this context we are forced to look at the bible - since we have no other source of information about his life. We can then approach his life as presented in the bible as authoritative - i.e. taking it as a clear guide to our life despite the opinion of the majority of the world - or we can pick and choose the bits we like about what we said, and effectively ignore the bits we don't like. Now a very specific indication that we have about how to relate to the bible is offered by Jesus' own use of it - he had no difficulty in using it very unambiguously to demolish his opponents' arguments; in some cases by applying the principles of the bible (see Mt. 12 v 1 - 14) but also at times by a very precise and literalist application of the specific words from the text (see John 10 v 31-38 and Luke 20 v27-44). Since that is his approach to biblical authority and interpretation, I am extremely unwilling to take a more liberal stance! |
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