Category: Theology

The Bible is not univocal. Univocal means “having only one possible meaning” (Oxford English Dictionary).

One Great Mistake

One of the great mistakes in reading and interpreting the Bible is treating it as one book with one author. It is not. It is a library of books from over 40 very different authors writing in very different circumstances during a large time span.

Lost and Distorted

By reading the Bible as one book by one author a lot of nuances are lost. Differences are overlooked, downplayed, or simply ignored. The context is ignored, the individual writer’s intent is ignored, and therefore the message is lost or distorted.

Contradictions

It also means the contradictions and discrepancies are denied. It means that we are not handling the test honestly. We are not letting it speak for itself. The result is eisegesis instead of exegesis. Instead of drawing out the meaning of the text, we are reading into the text our own meaning.

Before Interpreting

Before interpreting a text we should understand who the author is, their particular situation, and the reason they are writing it. Textual criticism is also important, for many texts have variant readings that effect its interpretation.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13).

When I use the word Church, I am referring to the Christian Community worldwide. I am not talking about an organization, institution, or building.

Scripture

The Bible is authoritative because the Church says it is. The Church created the Bible, the Bible didn’t create the Church. That is why the Bible is not the only source of the Christian faith. Tradition is alao authoritative.

Tradition

Paul tells his followers to live “according to the tradition that they received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6). That they are to “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (2 Thess. 2:15). So oral tradition was a real thing.

Worship

But so is the manner of worship. The Latin phrase, lex orandi, lex credendi, catches this. It means that the law of what is prayed is the law of what is believed. Our relationship with God influences our beliefs.

The Didache is the oldest church manual, which tells us how the church practiced their faith. The Book of Common Prayer has had a profound effect on the Anglican Church throughout the world. All this is part of Tradition.

The Church

So the authority in Christianity lies in the Church, not in a book, a pope, or a patriarch. It is our collective voice that sets the standard for our sources of faith and practice.

We can and often do make mistakes, but the Spirit will ultimately “guide” us “into all the truth.” We must be humble and teachable and open to not only Scripture and Tradition, but also reason and personal experience. And reason includes listening to the evidence from science, history, and modern scholarship.

Despite what others may mean by the term, by “Progressive Christian” I mean those Christians who accept the historical faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed, but who believe we need to grow and reform the faith according to the best available evidence from science, history, and current scholarship.

Liberal Christians

Now to be clear, there are people who call themselves a progressive Christian that are, in my view, better labeled liberal Christians. Here I am thinking of people like Richard Rohr, Bishop Spong, and Philip Gulley.

Progressive Christians

Progressive Christians, according to my definition, would be people like Brian McLaren, Peter Enns, Brian Zahnd, David Bentley Hart, Marcus Borg, and N.T. Wright. I could name more, but you get the idea.

Faith Matters

If they don’t believe in the Trinity, they may be Christians but they are not Progressive Christians. If they don’t believe that Jesus died for our sins, they may be Christians but they are not Progressive Christians. If they don’t believe that repentance and faith in Kesus Christ is required for salvation, they may be Christians but they are not Progressive Christians.

A New Progressive Christian

As a Progressive Christian theologian, I do speak for Progressive Christianity. But I have not always been a Progressive Christian. I was a Gnostic and a Buddhist for a while. That is because the Evangelical Church has done a losey job at being honest with the truth. Fundamentalism says I believe what I believe, let the evidence be damned

David Bentley Hart is the reason I am a Christian today. And Brian McLaren is one of the reasons I am a Progressive Christian. He let me know that I was not the only person struggling to make sense of my faith in a postmodern world. And the Episcopal Church gave me a home to grow in.

Recommended

Randal Rauser, Progressive Christians Love Jesus Too: A Response to Alisa Childers, Canada: 2 Cup Press.

When I use the term progressive Christian, I mean a Christian who both accepts the Nicene Creed as their statement of faith and accepts the general findings of science, history, and modern scholarship.

My concern is to distinguish myself from those who have given up the historical faith for a Christianity that is disconnected from its historical roots. It is too easy to overcorrect for years of disregarding science, history, and modern scholarship. The result is a Christian Humanism, which some are calling progressive Christianity.

Thus, in order to avoid confusion and try to bring clarity to the subject, I propose we call what we believe as Nicene Progressive Christianity. For we believe, with John Wesley, that there are four foundations to our faith. They are scripture, tradition (which includes the Nicene Creed), reason (which includes science, history, and modern scholarship), and Christian experience.

I would argue that if Christianity is going to survive, we need to make mysticism its heart. By mysticism I mean the pursuit of and experience of oneness with God. It is this experiential relationship with God that is the lifeblood of vital Christianity. If we neglect this, our progressive churches will die.

Update May 2024

I have changed my terminology, I now call my position Progressive Orthodoxy. I am orthodoxy (small o) in affirming the Nicene Creed and Apostolic Succession, but I am Progressive in updating my other beliefs based on the best available evidence.

The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!” (Gen. 3:4).

The Bible is the word of God in the sense of being a message about God. But the words of the Bible are not the words from God. That is, the words of the Bible are not a direct message from God to the reader of the Bible.

Words of God?

Those who claim the Bible is the word of God, have a problem with a passage like the above. This is clearly the word of Satan, the serpent. It cannot be the word of God. Because it is a lie. They died spiritually the moment they disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge.

Human Source

So that means you cannot say that the Bible is the word of God. You have to decide what is a message from God and what isn’t. For example, Jesus said that Moses allowed divorce. But that this was not God’s plan. Moses allowed it, not God (Matt. 19:8).

Merely Cultural

And we also have to decide what is a universal principle and what is merely cultural. For example, how many women violate the Bible and pray without a veil or head covering (1 Cor. 11:5). And how few churches practice the directive by Paul to greet one another with a kiss (2 Cor. 13:12).

Slavery

And what do you do with Leviticus 25:44, which says, “you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you.” If God said this, then how can slavery be wrong. God can’t be wrong. And women should ‘keep silent in the churches” (1 Cor. 14:34).

The Answer

The answer is simple, but it bugs Bible worshippers (Biblidolatry). The Bible is a message from God through fallible, human people, who “see in a mirror dimly” and so only “know in part” (1 Cor. 13:12). So we need church Tradition (like ecumenical councils), reason, and personal experience to help us discern what is a universal principle, what is a cultural artifact, and what is distorted and misunderstood.