Is “What Does the Bible Say?” the Only Question?
I continue to think through the implications of Luke Timothy Johnson’s claim that our experience of the gospel is one way that we interpret scripture. Those implications are huge. (Scripture & Discernment: Decision Making in the Church
Those who opposed the mission to the Gentiles on the terms being offered were, strictly speaking, right. They had scripture on their side. But Peter (Acts 11) and Paul (Acts 15) argued that they had experienced the grace of God among the Gentiles — beyond all the familiar boundary markers.
Those who said that the Messiah couldn’t have been crucified on a tree had scripture on their side. Such a person was deemed to be accursed. But the early church had experienced the truth of the unimaginable.
Those who argued against abolition had scripture after scripture to help make their case: scripture seemed to regulate the practice of slavery but not abolish it. However, Christ-followers who opposed slavery argued from their experience of the good news of Jesus that it was morally wrong. Thankfully, they won the day.
In an issue like the ministry of women, one question is: How do we interpret the relevant scriptures? But another hermeneutical question (that follows the former one) is: What is our experience of the gospel here? What are we observing about women, gifts, ministry, and leadership?
“What does the Bible say?” is a wonderful question. It is not, however, the ONLY question. There are also the questions and observations that arise from community discernment!
Mr. Cope didn’t advocate personal experience trumping scripture, but helping to interpret it.
Correcting faulty interpretations of scripture, considering other relevant scriptures, and using only relevant scriptures – as you recommend, Terry – is exactly the goal that Mr. Cope pursues in this post.
Terry, the idea of “community discernment” explicitly rules out your hypothetical adultery outcome. You have taken Mike’s thoughts about community discernment and twisted them into individual discernment. You ought to give Mike more credit than that.
Moreover, this is not a question of SUBSTITUTING experience for scripture, but rather understanding and using each in light of the other. Where the two fail to intersect, we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions, both of which require a certain degree of exegetical, hermeneutical, and psychological humility: first, am I interpreting the scripture correctly? And second, am I construing my experience correctly?
If something is true, ought it not be true in all three dimensions of knowledge (experience, revelation, reason)? If it is not, it is incoherent, which is to say that it’s not really knowledge at all in any useful sense. We put the three dimensions of knowledge in dialogue with one another as mutual correctives.
(You undoubtedly do it, too, perhaps without consciously recognizing it. The very act of making exegetical assumptions is an exercise of your reasoning faculties, and your subsequent exegesis is contingent on that exercise.)
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When John 17:3 says that “eternal life” is “knowledge of [Christ],” surely we ought to understand that as having an experiential dimension. Not exclusively, of course. But nobody is saying that. That’s your basic error in rendering the question Mike is raising.
qb
Hope it is not the only thing that matters! Some of OT is not the high road for any human being. . .in fact it is the basis for what we see in Middle East today. The cultural limitations of the scripture must be taken into consideration openly and honestly and without fear. It cannot be the case that truth was delivered “frozen in time” in the first century. One of the “movement’s” fundatmental principles contains its fatal flaw.
I actually haven’t gotten onto the sight in quite sometime Mike. Hey, more power to you. I don’t have a Blog, and trust me…I know no one gives a rip about what I think on a wide variety of topics. I appreciate a stirring of the pot as much as anyone; TRUST ME.
For your “on any given day” file, Mike:
WTAMU 32, (#1) ACU 21
On the bright side, perhaps you might like to let that remind you that a World Series involving the Yankees need not be a foregone conclusion.
Discovering the Buff in me,
amarillo qb