Re: [asa] A question on morals (OT and NT)

Hi Pete,

I like the way you put this; "not a contradiction to be resolved but a trajectory to be understood."

All too often I think there can be a tendency to bet bogged down in the minutiae of the biblical text and not appreciate that there is, indeed, an overarching trajectory to it all.

In respects of morality, I think the trajectory evidences a move from the idea of following an outward moral code (the Law) to the idea of following an internal witness (the Spirit). Crudely put, I know, but I'm sure I don't need to labour the theological niceties!

I should probably acknowledge, incidentally, that "contradiction" wasn't your term. I'll simply remark that I was referring rather generally to the tendency to so focus on Scripture as a bunch of "data" to be systematised that the *function* of scripture as a guide to faith and practice gets lost. I'm not, let me say, against the practice of biblical theology - the attempt to systematise the teachings of Scripture - but I do think we can get just a bit obsessive about the minutiae of it all.

Here's to seeking to understand the trajectory!

Blessings,
Murray

Pete Enns wrote:
> Murray,
>
> It is both, even within the Sermon on the Mount (although we need not
> linger there). Jesus is both addressing the use of Israel's civil law by
> the religious hierarchy (but not limited to them) and he is also
> abrogating certain laws. A good example is the passage on oaths and vows.
>
> But there are bigger issues about what the OT itself assumes and what
> the NT says. However, although I do not shy away from the notion of
> contradiction, I did not use that term to describe this phenomenon. It
> is not a contradiction to be resolved but a trajectory to be understood.
>
> Oh, and hi :-)

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Received on Tue Nov 3 11:47:37 2009