Re: Biblical Interpretation Reconsidered

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 05:20:00 -0500, asa-digest wrote:

>From: "Jack Haas" <haas.john@comcast.net>
If we regard 'nature' as the '67th book of the =
>Bible', as Dr **** teaches this means that man's fallible science, which =
>tells us of 'nature', has been elevated to the status of Scripture. =
>That's the problem. Remember John 1:1-3."
>__________________
>
>Can any of you suggest an approach (or better have had success with an =
>approach) that can move such believers from this "wooden" take on God's =
>word? Or, perhaps, what moved you from this view?
>
>I'm preparing a collection of FAQs related to our interests from the =
>list and other resources. (Names always deleted)
>
>Thank you.
>
>Jack Haas

Jack,
(my opinions only here!) If God created the whole of nature, then that creation
must be consistent with his revealed word. (This assumes that God is rational,
that he won't go out of his way to deceive us, etc, etc.)
Yes, science is (fallen) man's attempt to understand nature, it does rely on
interpretation, and yes, this attempt is not infallible.
However, let us not forget that just as nature needs to be interpreted to be
understood, so does God's word. Theology is (fallen) man's attempt to
understand God's word, and theology is not infallible either.
Just as different Christians will have different interpretations of other aspects
of theology - infant baptism, spiritual gifts, communion, etc - so different
Christians have different interpretations concerning creation. This is not
of course to say that all interpretations will have equal value. Some will be
right and some will be wrong. But who among us would dare to say that we
know our own interpretation of all Scripture to be wholly correct, and that
anyone who disagrees with it must be mistaken (or worse, that they must
not be a Christian, or must be compromising)? Often such widely differing views
may be arrived at as a result of widely differing 'plain readings' of the Bible.
I note that Loren Haarsma has already recommended "How to Read the Bible
for All Its Worth", and I would strongly reinforce this recommendation.
On the issue of creation, I would also strongly recommend Henri Blocher's
"In the Beginning" which handles the issue from a biblical/theological
perspective, rather than beginning with science, and lets "the Bible dictate
what our views should be" (to quote from your quote) by comparing scripture
with scripture and with reasoning in order to arrive at its conclusions.
I hope I've been helpful.
/Gary
Received on Thu Dec 18 08:15:38 2003