In his letter to the Corinthians about the use of tongues, Paul is careful to distinguish between one’s private use of that gift for personal edification and the claim of some that it is a gift for the whole church. It is legitimate to ask, “Whose reason? Whose experience?”Ī look at two biblical passages may be helpful. And now may be a good time to insert a word of caution. We begin to feel we are walking on thin ice. I have discovered, however, that whenever I make an argument such as this, there is great fear that we may give too much credence to reason and experience as agents of change. How much change can we bear?Ī reading of biblical and church history makes it obvious that we do change our positions on certain matters from time to time. The task of interpreting the Bible is more complex than taking a text, following certain time-honored principles and coming to an obvious conclusion. … Beyond that, could show immense variation in scope, emphasis, and vital concerns.”įroehlich also made the observation that the way we interpret Scripture will inevitably be influenced by “the articulated faith and hope of the interpreters as well as of the communities in which and for which they have operated.” Froehlich wrote about what he calls “the predicament of biblical interpretation.” He observed, as I have suggested, that, in the history of interpretation, one principle has always been at the core: “God’s action in the historical person of Jesus Christ was central to God’s plan of salvation. Lutheran theologian Karlfried Froehlich addressed this question in a 1997 article in the Princeton Seminary Bulletin. Whenever the church engages in the kind of debate we’ve explored in this series, there is a tendency for those who champion little or no change to be regarded as “conservative” and those who call for study and possible adaptation to be labeled “liberal.” Unfortunately, this penchant for attaching labels to those who disagree with us clouds the real question: How do we interpret the Bible and how much weight do we give to tradition, reason and experience? Part four explored biblical contextualization throughout church history. Editor’s note: In this five– part series, former ELCA Presiding Bishop Herbert Chilstrom examines the authority and interpretation of the Bible.
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