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Citation: Toward a New Evangelical Paradigm of Biblical Authority, by Wilson, Johnathan R.; in The Nature of
Confession: Evangelicals & Postliberals in Conversation. Phillips, Timothy R.; Okholm, dennis L (eds.)
pp.151-161 & 183-185
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152 THE NATURE OF CONFESSION
10
keep that discussion lively and current, our commitment to biblical authority may
TOWARD ANEW wither due to neglect
epistemology, what fo1lows' is a rough-and-ready sketch of this new possibility.) Jesus. Paul's appeal is already situated within particular Chri,stial). corvi~tions. So we
Quine's Web of Belief calls into question the picture of epistemology that forces us need to give an account of biblical authority that. does not depend upon a founda-
~o be foundationalist or antifoundationalist.11 He asks us to think of our knowledge tionalist epistemology.13
as a web of belief. More radically still, Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature In respol'\se to biqlical assertions and critiques of found~tionali~~' some }}.ave
introduced a philosophical program that rejects modernist epistemblogy'and meta- locat~d biblical authority in an i!ppeal to the Word aI\d the Spirjp' In its appeal to
physical realism. 12 (By the way, I accept the first part of Rorty's program and reject the Spirit, this approai:Jl resists foundationalist epistemol9gy. Inde~d, in the way
the second.) Among other things, Rorty's argument exposesthe historicist nature that yYorq and Spirit ant,intertwined, it is closer to Quine'~."w~b of belief" than t~
of our knowledge. foundationalism. What is usually underdeveloped in this account is the role of the
As a result of these developments, some have noted ironically how "modern" community.
evangelical theology h'as been, even as it sought to'stand against modernity. This In this context we need to .draw on Lindbeck's proposal ~f a cultural-linguistic
jud~~ent, I believe, is correct, but I do not believe it is a reason for rejecting our approach to religion. In this unders!al).ding "re\igion" is shaped anq transmitted.by
hentage. Some have done just that by questioning whether or not our theological a particul.ar community-in the case of Christianity, the ~hurch. In additi,on, the
forebears shOuld have been more aware of how much modernity was determining reJigion of the comqmnity is conveyed by the linguistic practices of the community.
the evangelical response. Inerrancy, they say, is a faulty doctrine determined by Here LiI\dbeck applies to religi,on Wittgerstein's dictum that meaning is use. J~\ other
wrorig assumptions. I-disagree. I am enough of a historicist to believe that we must words, in contrast to mode,rnity~where the.meaning qf language is .found in jts
respond to the' particular circumstances in which we find ourselves and "make do" reference-in }he postliberalism of L41dbeck, the mearing $>f religious language is
~tlr ~he res~urces ~t, hand'. Indeed, one of the main reasons I am writingthis paper found inthe ways the community uses the langu~ge. This is a much ri~her account
is that I believe that the circumstances have changed and= other resources are at 9f religious lJlnguage, sip.ce it allows for such practices. a~;sq,qf~ssi9n, prais~ and
hand. thanksgiving, as well as assertion.
Thus the inerrantists were right to meet the challenges they faced in the manner
they did. But the cir~umstances and challenges have chang.ed so that inerrancy no Practicing the Gos~l
longer serves the purpose of faithfully assertingbiblical authority. To use a slightly Together, a.cultura\ and \inguistic v.ngerstanding of. religion turns our attention to
prejudicial historical example, the Maginot.Line was a brilliant tactical 'strategy in the practices of the chur~h and produce~. an <!CCount q,f biblical authority different
World War I, but useless in the face of Hitler's Blitzkrieg. Likewise, inerrancy is a from th~ account th~t would be gi~en by an ine.rrantist. In this cultl!ral-linguistic
brillia~t response to foundationalist attacks on the gospel, but unless we respond account, biblical authority is rooted in. w~at Nicholas La~h calls "performing the
to new challenges, we will find ourselves defenseless 'an~ overrun:~ unable to assert Scriptures/ts In his ,articJe, !..ash argues. that. the proper interpretation of Scripture
the truth of the gospel that we have inherited. is not fo~nd in a biblical commenta.ry or a theological te~t, but in Christian disci-
However, even as !'reject foundationalism, I want to recognize that our faith has pleship. :DeveJoping ~is argument with analogies from dra_pla and musif, l:.ash
a "foundation." As Paul says, the church is 1'built on the foundation of the apostles argues .that interpretive performance is the proper -activity ,in respon.se ~o these
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief' cornerstone" (Ep'h 2:20).- But "texts" .atid to the .text ofS,qipture.
this foundation is far from foundationalisin. Foundationalism looks' for a foundation ~efore offering some nances to ~y position, I want to push the argume!lts of
separate from any particular convictions that a Christian might have: In other Lind.beck and.Lash further,. to argue: that in the.contemporary cultural context, the!
words, a foundationalist epistemology seeks to ground knowledge in truthsthat "fir~t phy9sophy" is no Jonger epistemology but (th~ological) fithics. A number of
anyone can accepf. Thus an inerrantist who applies a foundationalisl epis'temology argumep.t~.may be)Il.ade.for this notion of ethics. Emmanue,!Jevinas, t.he source 9f
might say, "Set asideany convictions about Jesus Christ, God and salvatioit through the notion o(~thics as first philosophy, is an obvious source,, as are some arguments
the cross of Jesus Christ. I will show yoU' that the Bible is true through historical, from Rorty's "Priority.of Democracy to Philosophy."16 But even mo,re import~nt for
geographical and scientific study that everyone agrees on. Now if the Bible is true theology are arguments that may be m~.~e from S~ripture. Jesus' w~r4s.ip John 8:31-
on these matters, ydu should als'o accept ~hat it says about G;d, Jesus Christ and 41 indicate the importan.ce of "doing," a~ do many o( his oth~r ~ta}eplents .. The letter
salvation." , of James likewise calls us to doing. Even in 2 Timothy 3:16, inerrancy is an inference
This' approach may be effective at certain times and places, but it is no longer drawn from the.,verse. The verse itself describes the importance of Scripture for
where the main challenges to biblical authority occur. Nor is a foundationalist epis- living, not knowing.
temology what Paul appeals to when he refers to the apostles, prophets and Christ While inerrantists certainly cannot be accused ~f neglecting doing, in that whole
TOWARD A NEW EVANGELICAL PARADIGM OF BIBLICAL AUTHORITY 157 158 THE NATURE OF CONF~SSION
debate doing was an inference from knowing; that is, ethics followed from episte- and theologians-though these roles are no longer, in the technical sense" "founda-
mology. With recent developments, we now have the cultural and intellectual re- tional."
sources to articulate~clearly and forcefully the biblical emphasis on doing the word. Finally, this move also responds to the slisquiet I noted ~!irlier. Forlines's con-
This is admittedly a potentially radical shift that needs further exploration, but it cern for the whole persol'l is met by the emphasis.,on livi!lg, not just knowing.
is one we must explore for the sake'of the gospel. The experience of the ICBI in atteJTlpting to move from. the foundation of iner-
Here we enter a tangle of1ssues that will never become-entirely clear. Certainly, rancy to questions of practice arguably displays the n~ed tp displace. epistemology
doing is a kind of knowing 'and knowing is a kind of doing. Moreover, in order to as the first philosophy. Stott's concern for the relevanci:.of the .gps_pel is met by
do what Jesus calls us to do, we have to' know what he calls us to do. In the face the call to live the gosJ'el before the watching world. What, we may ask, would be
of these rather intractable complications we may note that a foundationalist ap- the result for biblical authority if .the world observ~d Christians practicing the
proach to biblical authority often has the (unintended?) effect of postponing obe- gospeJ to which Scripture bears witness? Should we no,t _explore this possibility
dience until we are certain of the truth of Scripture. Moreover, it often leads evan- together?
gelical scholarship into a quest to say why the Bible is authoritative rather than
saying what God, through an authoritative Bible, calls us to do. Reasserting the Living in Community
importance, perhaps even the priority, of doing rect>vers the biblical call to disciple- In'addition-to practicing the gospel, Lindbeck's proposal directs our attention to
ship. After all, the disciples did not learn that Jesus was th'e Messiah and then decide living in commUJlity.19 Drawing on Ge~rtz, Wittgenstein and _others, Lindbeck
to follow him. Rather, they realized his messiahship by following him. argues that linguistic practices take place within what we may call "interpretive
Those who know the theological tradition may at this point have several objec- communities."
tions. Some objections will be resolved only through dialogue. Others may stop We may get at this notion by briefly considering the layol}t of.most contempor~ry
dialogue before"-it ,begins. Let me address two dialogue stoppers. First, some may biblical commentaries. These commentaries are usually structured to address at least
think that this approach simply reenthrones experience as authority and thus leads two interpretive communities. Some sections of the commentary ~e~~ct t~e,inter
us intoa new "liberalism:" Lindbeck's original account disarms- this objection by pretive int~rests of the academy-of other biblical scholars. Th~se sections follow
clearly distinguishing the role of experience in an experiential-expressivist approach conventions, arguments and concerns that only biblical scholars underst~nd and care
from the role of experience in a cultural-linguistic approach.11 In the fortner, Scrip- about. Other sections, variously labeled "Exposition," "Application" and the like,
ture is interpreted by our (authoritative) experience. In the latter, our experience reflect the interpretive interests of the community df believers.
is interpreted by Scripture through the Spirit-led community. Therefore, my appro- This conflict of ihterpretive interests raises many questions that we cannot
priation of Lindbeck's proposal does not elevate experience. Rather, it recognizes the pursue here.20 My.purposes in describing it,is to help us understand how biblical
proper role of experience and disciplines it by Scripture.is authority may be stated differentJy .in differj!nt interpretive communities. For my
A second objection to my proposal may be raised by some who think that this is purposes, we must recognize that the assertiQp pf the inerral'\CY of Scripture may
only a restatement ofthe old "infallibilist" position that Scripture is our infallible rule often (not always) play into the interpretive interests of a community at odds with
(only) bf faith and practict?. However, that infallibilist claim was still made within the community of disciples. Is inerrancy the first thing that we, as disciples of Jesus
the context of epistemology as the first philosophy-thatis, it was a "limited iner- Christ, want to say about the authority oj Scripture?
rancy" position that was still concerned with what we could know from Scripture This, emphasis on the community of interpr,etation accords well .wi~~.Scripture
wlth certainty. It accepted the presuppdsitions of modernity and narrowed the and opens up the process of biblical interpretation in ways that are ~o.nderfully
Cnristian claim to knowledge. The claim that ethics is the firs't philosophy differs described. by John Howard Yoder. 21 ln..''Tqe Hermeneutics ,of Peoplehood," ,Yoder
from this infallibilist position by denying the epistemological priority granted by uses the doctrine of spiritual gifts .to show how a community of disciples practi<;es
modernity. moral reasoning. Although he applies it specifically to "practical moral reasoning,"
This move to ethics as first philosophy is what I have called in theology "practicing his description fits all processes of faithful interpretation. Yoder describes the con-
the gospel." In this view the first step toward biblical authority is not establishing tributions to interpretation of biblical scholars and historians (agents of memory),
an inerrant text which we then follow; rather, the first step is following the text. prophets (agents-of direction), administni.tors (~gents of due process), philosophers
In this approach, there is still a place for the avowal of inerrancy, but it now follows (agents of linguistic self-consciousness) and others. Together, and guided by .the
from doing rather than vice versa. As Lash has pointed out, there is also still a role Holy Spirit who gives these gifts, the community discerns.the authority of Scripture
for "the expert"-scholars of the biblical langua~es1 text critics, exegetes, historians in their circumstances. One can argue that this ,i!l precisely the picture, of biblical
TOWARD A NEW EVANGELICAL PARADIGM OF BIBLICAL AUTHORITY 159 160 THE NATURE OF CONFESSION
authority reflected in the account of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and in the Interpreting' the. World
accounts of the later Etumenical Councils. The third element of my proposed paradigm, interpreting the world, Teinterprets
In the context of foundationalist epistemology, inerrancy works against this com- Lindbeck's claim that "intratextual theology redescribes reality within the 'Scriptural
munal process. Instead, it tends to foster a process of, interpretation that Lash labels framework rather than translating Scripture into extrascriptural categories. It is the
"the relay methbd."22 Here the biblical expert determines the inerrant foundation text, so to speak, which absorbs the world; rather than the world the text."2s Lind-
and applies an interpretive method that yields "what the text meant." This product beck's move here reflects the analyses and proposals of Hans Frei.26 For Frei and
is passed to the theologian-ethicist,. who J:hen determines "what the text means." Lindbeck, theology shouldnot seek to interpret or hanslate Scripture into catego-
This product is in turn passed on to the "laity" for their consumption. ries, concepts or convictions found outside the Bible. Rather, the flow should be just
In the new paradigm that I am seeking to develop, biblical authority is centered the reverse. It is not that' "believers find their stories in the Bible,. but rather tnat
in the communit~ of disciples, not in the work of the expert. Before the. watching they .make the story of the Bible their story. The cross is not to .be .viewed as "a
world, the church is' willed to live in such a way that the authority of Scripture is figurative 'representation of suffering nor the messianic kingdom as' a symbol for
displayed as a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, there is a place for hope in the future; rather, suffering should be cruciform, and hopes for the fut'ure
inerrancy in this paradigm/ but it is no longer the province of the expert, nor is it messianic."27
foundational. Instead, it is part of the weh of belief. But note that inerrancy leads us to do just what Lindbeck argues we should .not
Many concerns and objections may' be raised in response to this ~mphasis on do. lnerrartcy seeks .to demonstrate the authority of the Bible by showing how it
community, Let me address two of them. First, in response to the arguments meets thl! demands for accuracy and precision pressed upon theology by the world.
of literary critics like Stanley Fish, some may object that this emphasis on inter- In other words, in spite of our conservatism and desire to be faithfulto the gospel,.
pretive communities may dissolve the text.'That may or may. not be the case with we emt up interpreting the Bible for the world.
Fish (I think that it is a misunderstanding of Fis.h's argument produced by his Following Lindbeck and others, I want to argue that the proper way to practice
extreme rhetorical style); it should not be the case for Christians. For-Christians, the authority of Scripture is through a theology that interprets the world according
the text of Scripture is the indispensable and authoritative means by.-which God to Scripture. In my account, I warlt. to go beyond Lindbeck's, which focuses too much
forms the commtfnity of the redeemed1 It is, in'Donald Bloesch's words, "sacra- on the te'xt. It is not the text that absorbs the world, but the practices of the
mental."23 community formed by the Holy Spirit through the text that "absorb the world." In
A second objection raises the specter of relativism.Jf biblical authority and inter- order toenforce this difference, I speak of "interpreting the world."
pretation is dependent on the community, then how do we confront other interpre- An account of the community'.s practice of interpreting the world incorporates a
tive communities or malformed Christian communities?24 We may begin the process number of my previous points. Through Scripture, God incorporates us into the
of disarming this objection by noting that foundationalist epistemologies and other work of red!!mption in Jesus Christ. Redemption gathers us into the people of God
formulations of biblical authority have not been terribly succe~sful in avoiding or and a particular form of life that simply iS' participation in the reality of redemption.
dissolving conflict: Of course, the more basic concern of this objection is that all As a result, we are formed by a' cultural-linguistic "world" and.taught a view of
conversation among varioust:ommunities will cease .... reality. Our way of life and our language, then; interpret the world according to the
We Christians have a particular contribution to make here. Since we believe that gospel.
the God who has redeemed us and 'called us together is the Creator and Redeemer So, for example,. when Christians see nonviolence as the appropriate way to live
of'llll humanity and that we have been commissioqed to, make disciples of Jesus in a world created by God in peace, marked by Christ's forgiveness through death
Christ among all nations, we must also believe that God will enable us to carry out and determined by the resurrectidn of Christ, then our way of life interprets the
that commissiorn We are uhfaithful to this calling when we downplay the conflict world according to that reality. 28 Likewise, when Christians through Christ confess
of communities; there is a.Prince of Darkness against whom we do battle. But we their sinfulness, ask for forgiveness and receive assurahce of that forgiveness, we
are unfaithfuLto the gospel when. we engage theae conflicts as the world does and interpret the world and ourselves as fallen from God and redeemed by God. As we
with the weapons of the world. Rather, we are called and equipped by the gospel live our lives in these and other ways, we are learning to live in the world established
to be peacemakers .. As we recognize the line between the community of the faithful and revealed in Jesus Christ. As we learn to live in this world, we are interpreting
and other communities that runs even through our own lives, we may be enabled the world for ourselves and others.
to display more faithfully the authority of Scripture and the work of redemption These acts of interpretation are themselves particular ~inds of truth claims.for
through Scripture that is the good news of Jesus Christ. which the community must be prepared to argue. How the argument will go cannot
TOWARD A NEW EVANGELICAL PARADIGM OF BIBLICAL AUTHORITY 161 NOTES 283
be specified ahead of time (thus the concept of "ad hoc apologetics'~, but we cannot 98Jbid.; see pt. 4, "~iving ynder the Cross."
be content merely to say, ~Well,. that's. the ,way we see things-too. bad for you if 9911} making this observation, I am using the term evangelical in the somewhat peculiar sense
it pas acqufred in t~ E!lglish-speaking worlp over the last 250 y,ears or so. A more gener-
you don't. So there." As I noted $rlier, our convictions-the world established and
ous (and more descriptively apt) usage would widen its scope to include theQlogians often
revealed in the gospel-lead ~s to seek to p~rsuade all of the tru'th of, the gospel.
negle~ted; excluded or castigated by self-described "evangelicals"-theologial'IS lik,e Thom-
As Julian l;:fartt warns us, we cannot be content merely to tell and retell the, story. as F. Torran~e, Eberharg Junge! and Robert W. Jenson, each of whose work I would regard
We must alsQ be. prepared ~o say and show how we are !o live according to the as distinguished.
story. 29 100J,.indbe.i:k, "Scripture, Consensus and Community," p. 98.
101Jbid.
Conclusion , , 1021t may not be amiss to indicate that I don't think there is necessarily a tight fit beiween
In Scripture we have God's witness to the reality of the kingdom: God ang ~umanity one's views of historical criticism and the cootinuum I am seeking to establish. The con-
tinuum P,ertains to-the relationship petween signum,and res in Holy !icrjpture. W~t the
reconciled through Jesus Christ. Through Scripture the faithful are.gatl\ered into
theologians on my continuum all share is a belief tpat this. relationship is positive, thqugh
the c9mmunity of the redeemed and commissioned to witness to the gospel so that not ~nivocal. The rejecth;m of univ!)c;ity separates them froJI} someone like Henry, jqs~ ps
others may entephe kingdom. That kingdom, as Julian Hartt has bught me to say, ti)e affirmation of adequate and reliablj! reference ,separ,!ltes t~rp. {rom moderpistsk,e9tis;s.
is an everlasting a,ctuality~ it is at work even today and until the end of the. age. In No~ everyone who accepts historical criticism...beJieves tha,t it \!JldeTmines adequate,refgr-
order to be faithful to that gospel and commission, we must pe continually enabled em:e or significaQt (although ther~ may be disagreeynents about jst wh~t copstitutes the
\.
by the Holy Spirit to discern the threats to and possibilities for the gospel in our res). The issue that determin_es the continuum is not whJ!!her on,e as;cepts the relative
present circumstances. We are living through changes that are altering our circum- validity of modern h\storical criticism (about which Calvin of course knew nothing, and
to~a,rd'which Kuyper and Bavinck were largely negatjve, though not without sorpe am-
stances significantly from those to which the doctrine of inerrancy responded. The
biv:il~nce). The i!!_!!.Ue is \Yhether o,ne affirms !,he texts of Holy Scripture as inspired, au-
new paradigm of biblical authority that I am developing here is an attempt at evan-
thoritative and sufficient vel\icles of reference to their relevant subject matter (about
gelical fa~thfulness. I look forward to companions along the way who will correct, which the likes of Frei and Lindb~ck agree with the rest).
instruct and encourage.
Chapter 10: Towar4 a New Evangelical Paradigm of Biblical Authority/Wilson
1Fqr references, see John Warwick Montgomery, e.d., Gors Inerrant Word: 4n InternatiOJJal
Symposium on the Trustworthiness of Scripture (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1973).
2Ha.rold Lindsell, Battle for the Bible (Grand Rapiqs, Mich.: Zop.dervan, 1976).
~Robert l'f. Gundl;y, fyfatJhew: ,A Comment(lry on His Literary and, Theological Art 1Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 1982).
4Jack Rogi:rs and Donald K,., McKim, The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible: An Historical
Apf!!Oach (San Francisso: Harper & Row, 1979.); James 1\1. ~a.ice, Does Inerrancy Matter? (Oak-
land, Calif.: International Council on Biblical lnerrancy, 1979); Earl D. Radmacher and
Robert D. Preus, Hermeneutics, Inerrancy and the Bible: Papers from !CBI Summit II (Grand Rapids,
M~c}l.: A~jidemie/Zpndervan, 1984); Kenneth S. Kantzer, Applying the Scriptures (Grand Rap-
ids, Mich.: Academie/Zondervan, 1987).
sf. Leroy Forlines, Systematics: A Study of the Christian System of Life and Thought (Nashville:
Randall House, 1975).
6John R. W. Stott, The Contemporary Christian (Downers Grove, Ill.: lnterVarsity Press, 1992);
back cover. '" .
'Gfor,ge,Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine: .Religio!f and Theology in a Postliberal Age (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1984).
8Jbi?., p: 18.
9My account here overlaps with that of Stanley Hauerwas, "The Moral Authority of S~rip
ture," in A Community of Character: Toward a.Co11structive Christian Social Ethic (Notre Dame, ln\i.:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1981), pp. 53-71.
10Since mgst evangelical the9logy has been bound to a foundationalist ~pistemology, this
discussion may cause sol)le discomforL But evangelical theology does not need this kind
284 THE NATURE OF CONFESSION NOTES 285
of foundationalism. For further discussion of these matters, see the essay by Rodney Clapp 29Julian N. Hartt, Theological Method and Imagination (New York: Seabury Press, 1977), p. 254.
in this volume and the essays in Stanley Hauerwas, Nancey Murphy and Mark Nation, For development of this claim, see my "Gospel as Revelation" and Theology as Cultural
eds., Theology Without Foundations: Religious Practice and the Future of Theological Truth (Nashville: Critique.
Abingdon, 1994).
11 W. V. 0. Quine with Joseph Ullian, The Web of Belief (New York: Random House, 1970). Chapter 11: Toward a Sensus Fidtliilm for an Evangelical Church/Freeman .
12 Richard Rorty,Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (Princeton, N.J,: Princeton University Press, 1James W. McClenaon Jr., Systematic Theology: Ethics (Nashville: Abingdon, 1986), p. 27.
1979). 2By identifying myself as a baptist I also accept the label of evangelical. Some have argued
13For a description of the foundation of the gospel that does not aepend on a foundal:ionalist that in strict historical terms (big B) Baptists are not evaqgelicals because the two groups
epistemology, see my Theology as Cultural Critique: The Work of Julian Hartt (Macon, Ga.: Mercer have different histories. But in broad theological terms (e.g., conversionist spirituality,
University Ptess, forthcoming). biblical ~uthority and evangelistic strategy) baptists (of both upper and lower cases) are
14An admirable example of this approach may be found in Donald G. Bloesch, Holy Scripture: evangelicals. For a careful discussion of tlie question see James Leo Garrett Jr.,.E. Glenn
Revelation, Inspiration and Interpretation (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1994), al- Hinson and Jam~s E. Tull, Are Southern Baptists "Evangelical"? (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University
though I do not have Bloesch's account directly in view in what follows. Press, 1983).
3Jon D. Levenson describes how applicants to graduate studies in religion typically provide
15Nicholas Lash, "Performing the Scriptures," in Theology on the Way to Emmaus (London: SCM
Press, 1986), pp. 37-46; s~e also Stephen E. Fowl and L. Gregory Jones, Reading in Commun- a "conversion narrative" that- describes how they came to accept the historical-critical
ion: Scripture and Ethics in Christian Life (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1991). method and to abandon biblical inerrancy, in "The Bible: Unexamined Commitments of
16 Sean Hand, ed., The Levinas Reader (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989), and Richard Rorty, Objectivity, Criticism," First Things, February 1993, p. 24.
4Krister Stendahl, "Biblical Theology, Contemporary," in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, ed.
Relativism and Truth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). As Wes Avram noted
at the Wheaton Theology Conference, I am not a pure follower of Levinas or Rorty because George Buttrick (Nashville: Abingdon, 1962), 1:418-32.
8A historical-critical reading of the texts required that the meaning (that is,.whatit meant)
I want to retain a chastened epistemology and a robust doctrine of revelation. My point
is that we often obscure the conviction tl'iatGod's revelation is both "truth and command." must account for the kind of fulfillment that pr6pht!t himself envisioned in the post-
.See my further explication of this in "The Gospel as Revelation in Julian N. Hartt," Jou;nal exilic community (such as a king'or a prophet like,Moses). Thus a christological reading
of Religion 72 (October 1992): 549-59: was precluded from being the meaning and should be understood as an ascribed interpre-
t7Lindbeck, Nature of Doctrine, pp. 30-45. tation.
6 George Lindbeck, "Scripture, Consensus and Community:" in Biblical Interpretation in Crisis,
18This is particularly important to note because although formal evangelical theology has
tended to follow Lindbeck's cognitive-propositionalist type, popular evangelical faith tends ed. Richard John Neuhaus (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988), p. 85.
to be experiential-expressivist. 71bid., p. 87.
19Here let me register a warning for evangelicals (like me) who are appropriating Lindbeck's 8The.. suggestion was made by Stanley Hauerwas, and he graciosly followed through by
work. Lindbeck's work requires a robust ecclesiology~which he is currently developing. helping to guide the project as an outside reader on the dissertation.committee. See Curtis
Evangelicalism, as a movement that crosses ecclesiastical boundaries, has been notoriously W. Freeman/Reading St. Augustine's City of God as a Narrative Theology," Ph.D. disser-
lacking in ecclesiology. Can one have an ecclesiology that pleases Episcopalians~ Baptists, tation, Baylor University, 1990.
Presbyterians, Pentecostals a'nd others who make up the evangelical movement? Iain not 9Iame!f'W. McClendon Jr. makes this distinction wonderfully clea"r in his essay"A New Way
sure. to Read the Bibi~" Collins Lecture, Houston Baptist University, March 16, 1995.
2Fowl and Jones, Reading in Communion, pp. 14-21.
10Gilbert K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1908; reprint New York: Dou-
21John Howard Yoder, "The Hermeneutics of Peoplehood: A Protestant Perspective," in The bleday, 1<990), pp. 9-12.
11 For an excellent discussion of the conservative-liberal consensus against ancient.allegory
Priestly Kingdom: Social Ethics as Gospel (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre'Dame Press,
see William S. Babcock, review of Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Ale:randria
1984), pp. 15-45.
by David Dawsoh, Modern Theology 9.0uly 1993): 299-301. "', .
22Lash, "What Might Martyrdom Mean?" in ibid., p. 79.
12 For a fuller account of this argument see my essay "The 'Eclipse' of Spiritual Exegesis:
2JBloesch, Holy Scripture.
24 See Fowl and Jones, Reading in Communion, chap. 5, for some guidance here. Biblical Interpretation from the Reformation to Modernity," Southwestern Journal of Theology
25 Lindbeck, Nature of Doctrine, p. 118. See also Bruce D. Marshall, "Absorbing the' Wdrld: 35 (Summer 1993): 21-28.
13Gabriel Fackre calls for an '~evangelical catholicity" drawing from Philip Schaff, who gave
Christianity and the Universe of Truths," in Theology and Dialogue: Essays in Conversa1ion rbith
currency to the phrase, in Ecumenical Faith in Evangelical Perspective .(Grand Rapids,. Mich.:
George Lindbeck, ed. Bruce D. Marshall (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press,
Eerdmans, 1993), pp. 71-88. For examples of.How the notion of catholicity is appropriated
1990), pp. 69-102.
26 Hans Frei, Types of Christian Theology (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Ptess, 1992). here see also James W. McClendon Jr. and John Howard Yoder, "Christian Identity in
Ecumenical Perspective," Journal of Ecumenical Studies 27 (Summer 1990): 561-80; Curtis W.
27Lindbeck, Nature of Doctrine, p. 118.
28 My point here is not that all Christians should practice nonviolence, but that all Christian Freeman, II A Confession for Catholic aaptists," Ties That Bind: Life Together in the Baptist Vision,
ed. Gary A. Furr and Curtis W. Freeman (Macon, Ga.: Smyth and Helwys, 1994), pp. 83-
practices must be rooted in an account of Jesus Christ and are interpretations of the world.