Monday, January 21, 2008

The Last Word 1

As I wrote earlier, I am beginning my post-seminary theological journey to begin to sort out what I really believe (for now) about a wide variety of theological issues. I am starting with my view of Scripture and I purchased three books to begin with. I have begun reading the first, N.T. Wright's 'The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture.' I decided to blog chapter by chapter through the book. In this post, I'm going to work through the prologue.

Wright begins with a brief history of the place of Scripture within the church. He describes the first 1500 years of the church as according Scriptures a major role in 'pursuing the mission of the church and strengthening it against persecution without and controversy within.' From the Reformation to the present, Scripture has been set against tradition as the possessing the 'central place in their faith, life and theology.

Additionally, Scripture has never been seen as only a reference book that Christians check in with when theological and practical questions are raised. There is a devotional and discipleship component that informs and transforms the believer.

Wright then describes five ways that contemporary culture 'impinges on the questions that are being asked about the Bible'.

First, the shift from modern to post-modern culture 'creates a mood of uncertainty' within western society. This happens because the old metanarratives have been deconstructed, the idea of truth has been attacked, and the question of personal identity has been understood differently. This uncertainty then gives birth to an anxious desire for something certain which causes some to return to various forms of fundamentalism and others to a form of premodernism.

Second, culture impinges on the questions being asked about the Bible in the area of politics. In reflecting on a post-Holocaust world, Wright reflects that 'virtually all Western moral and political debate has taken place in a world where we know certain things are wrong but aren't sure how to put them right.' Within this context, the Bible's 'narratives of exodus and conquest, of liberation and monarchy, of exile and return, and of the universal claims of Jesus' cannot be ignored.

Third, philosophy causes us to ask different questions of the Bible. Wright claims that existentialism and analytic philosophy have been found to be 'dead-end streets', yet these and other ways of thinking about the world have heavily influenced Biblical studies. The fact that these philosophical approaches have been discredited in the world means that new philosophical approaches are beginning to speak into the way we read the Bible.

The fourth area where culture changes the questions being asked of the Bible is theology. Wright describes how systematic theologians have tended to ignore the place of the Bible in theology. Often, the Bible has been simply a resource to refer to rather than something that contains authority that theology ought to, in some way, submit to.

The fifth area Wright describes is ethics. Just war theory and pacifism, gender and sexuality, and other issues force us to ask the question of how these issues relate to the Bible.

Wright then suggests that we need a fresh word from God. He writes, 'Jesus' parables broke into the world of first-century Judaism, cracking open ways of understanding God's Kingdom and creating hermeneutical space for fresh insight in which people could imagine different ways of thinking, praying and living. In the same way, scripture itself holds out the continuing promise that God's word will remain living, active, powerful and fruitful.' He claims that it is not acceptable to simply quote a passage of Scripture and assume that a reference settles the question. Wright offers the following questions which will be the scope of the rest of the book:

1. In what sense is the Bible authoritative in the first place?
2. How can the Bible be appropriately understood and interpreted?
3. How can its authority, assuming such appropriate interpretation, be brought to bear on the church itself, let alone the world?

1 Comments:

At 8:56 PM, Blogger Erik said...

I'm looking forward to this blog series. I've heard lots about N.T. Wright and have never read anything by him.

 

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