Progressive Evangelicals

The introduction deals with the ideas of authority and perspective, and how they function properly in the process of Biblical interpretation. A key idea is that reading is a dialogue between the text and the reader. Both sides have a role to play. If we acknowledge this, then we must also acknowledge that the perspective of the reader has some significance in how the Bible is interpreted and exercises authority. This dialogical reading transcends the categories of ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’, and

Because of aspects like how someone was raised and what type of culture they lived in, individuals interpret the Bible differently. This means that even if an individual believes the Bible is the inherent word of God, they may not have the same beliefs as someone who declares the same claim.

The Bible and its text is trustworthy and reliable to its fullest, but on this journey in seeking the word of God can using it in how daily life is where arises an important question; How now is to understand the idea of the ‘Word of God” and its implications for how Christian theology is to be done. Karl Barth (1886-1968) a Swiss Protestant theologian who is one of the most substantial and influential recent works of Christian Theology in the twentieth century. In this text analysis of one of Barth teaching he breaks down in explaining what he means by “reflection” on the Word of God. Barth first address this three part: “the Word of God in a First Address in which God himself and God alone is the speaker, in a second address in which the

This book review is from the readings of Biblical Inspiration by Howard Marshall. The book is published by Regent College Publishing located in Vancouver, and British Columbia published the book in 2004. The book is braces around the interpretation of the Bible, and the inspiration of the Bible in our lives of today. There are many questions that are brought up the book, and these include: Is the Bible infallible? How do we interpret the Bible today? is its inspiration believable in and biblical criticism believable? All of the different opinions on biblical issues equivalent to these bring up issues and questioning within the community. It is Marshall’s goal to try and produce a statement that is concrete of what the Bible says in our lives today.

Then, the authority of scripture and its a priori usage is presented. Scripture provides a positive a priori, which is information that is useful when approaching new experiences (98) and negative a priori, which is that which provides boundaries to our understandings (102). Furthermore, our interpretation of scripture is monitored by reason. Reason (as logic) is necessary for a correct interpretation of scripture to Wesley (110). Without it, we would be unable to acquire tools for proper interpretation of scripture.

In the study of Christian theology, scripture plays an essential role in the revelation of the Doctrine of God. Scriptures are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) words, written by the Holy Spirit through divine inspiration of prophets. They are necessary for the proper understanding of the doctrine of God, the self-revelation of God, the proof of God’s existence, and for the discernment of false doctrines.

Seized by Truth: Reading the Bible as Scripture is written by Joel Green, a New Testament scholar, and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Prof. Green, has participated and contributed greatly on a wide range of topics related to both New Testament scholarship and theology.

Evangelical Christians believe inspiration of scripture comes from God. Scripture declares that, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In addition, inerrancy declares that scripture remains truthful incessantly. Book of John states “If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). Furthermore, the bible maintains authority because it’s from God. Scripture claims” Because the Bible is what it is, it can do what it does (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Additionally, inspiration comes from God, which makes the scripture truth, whiling obtain authority.

When Baptists are called “Bible lovers,” it not only means that they keep biblical principles, but it also indicates that they believe what the Bible says. Although most denominations have given up their position for the authority of the Bible, Baptists in America remain the largest and most organized conservative group for supporting Bible inerrancy. However, the debates over Biblical inerrancy have threatened even the Bible lovers with an unceasing controversy in Baptist history. The issue of “Bible inerrancy” has caused many frictions and wounds among denominations as well as Baptist.

It should, however, be noted that biblical texts only appear to be contradictory when taken out of context. The importance of studying scripture as a whole is clearly illustrated by the happenings of September 11th: Muslim fundamentalists took the Koran's teaching on Holy War out of its context and used it to justify action against America. Many liberal theologians engage in hermeneutics, the study of interpretation and application of Biblical texts. They may reject literal interpretations in favour of establishing general rules from the Bible, thus maintaining that the Bible is not the inspired word of God, but simply a text from which we can learn about God and Christian teaching, and then apply this knowledge to our own lives.

To understand how each group looks at scripture as well as other documents to back up their view of the law, grasping others perspectives can be different. Paula

Generally, most biblical scholars agree that scripture’s authority is found in the sovereign God Himself; but their doctrinal positions differ from that point. Wisely enough, Wright avoids the “locked suitcase” melee on biblical inerrancy or biblical infallibility. Instead, he focused on God’s purpose for scripture and why it is demonstrably authoritative. Scriptures are not merely human books or collections of human opinion; they are books which contain God 's revelation of

Church history reveals that a number of serious biblical doctrinal controversies occurred during the late 1800s and early 1900s that gave occasion for the formulation of certain fundamentalist principals to be implemented as a clarification and remedy against unbiblical manifestations. The authority of the Bible was brought into serious question.

The third school of interpretation is Traditionalism. Traditionalists maintain that the Bible is full of truth, God is revealed within the Bible and that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. One of the key characteristics of their approach to the Bible is its emphasis on the need to understand the nature of the different types of literature within the bible. However, traditionalists would not accept the fundamentalist’s notion of inerrancy as many would acknowledge that there are mistakes in the Bible. These are seen as a reflection of both the historical context in which they are written and the human fallibility of the authors. As with Liberals, traditionalists believe that some aspects of the Bible need to be reinterpreted for today. Traditionalists place a lot of emphasis on the process of exegesis. However, after establishing the intended meaning of the author the next step in the traditional approach is the question of how it should be applied to Christian today. However, whereas fundamentalists believe that the true meaning of a text should be clear to each reader;

Since one of the characteristics of God is that He is unchanging, there are theological truths He provides us in Scripture that transcend time and different cultures. We need to understand these theological principles when considering how to live them out today. We also need to evaluate a principle in a passage of Scripture to the rest of the