"Mark the plain and manifest places of the Scriptures, and in doubtful places see thou add no interpretation contrary to them; but (as Paul saith) let all be conformable and agreeing to the faith." ~ William Tyndale, Preface to the New Testament 1526.
Reading Tydale's prefaces to the New Testament, I thought about our society in regards to Scripture. I think that for a long time most churches have took different passages of Scripture and have used them as a wedge to divide the church. Most lay persons, who struggle with a particular scripture, will either a). struggle with the passage and come up with their own interpretation or b). go to a church member, with the struggling passage, and get the members interpretation of the Scripture and hold that as truth.
Before my training in undergrad and seminary, I have fallen victim too the two scenarios. During my training, I found out that some of my views (mine or others instilled in me) on certain passages were not accurate. Now, if i encounter a passage that makes me struggle a bit, I do my research to make sure I understand it completely. I also debate with colleges and friends to get more depth in understanding a passage.
I understand the temptation to take a certain passage and label it irrelevant and/or contradictory to other scriptures in the Bible. But, as Tyndale wrote, we should interpret them as agreeing to the faith. Paul wrote in his letter to the Church in Phillipi to "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling..." I think we also need to work out troubling scripture the same way.
This has very much been the case with me. So many of my predispositions and preconceived notions of faith have been rocked by trying to enter into not only the Scriptures themselves, but by entering into the world of the Scriptures and the minds of the writers of Scripture. I often find myself very uncomfortable when I realize that my beliefs are not biblical or in agreement with Christian faith.
ReplyDeleteI think something that we need to keep in mind though is that God allows room for disagreement. I think that there are so many ways we can interpret Scripture in accordance to our faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Let us not get hung up on those differing interpretations which represent a community's attempt to be faithful to God.
I think a good example of this is the Homosexuality debate. We need to recognize that those communities who do not accept homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle are trying to take Scriptures seriously in that the way that the Scriptures themselves speak of the issue is minimal in detail. Those on the other side of the debate are trying to take seriously the fact that Jesus never condemned the marginalized in society, but rather, he entered into life with them. They also try and take the Scriptures seriously in recognizing that the Scriptures never give a reason as to why homosexuality is wrong. And the "why?" of life is certainly as important as the "what?" or "how?" to Christian living.
Without a doubt though, we can affirm that those communities that suggest "God hates fags!" or that homosexuality is a fundamental cause for natural disasters,are not in accordance or agreement with the Christian faith where the greatest of all virtues is a life of love.