What is the purpose of Scripture?
Dr Stephen Curkpatrick from CCTC, regularly sends around little thought provoking posts to people in our movement of Churches of Christ. The recent one I thought would be of interest to signposters who often discuss the use and place of scripture.
“In Churches of Christ identity and witness, Scripture is regarded as the primary reference point for Christian faith, discipleship, community and mission.
The writings of Christian Scripture, received or newly written, were affirmed as Scripture through significant community use in the spirit of Christ. These writings are to be read alongside each other, interacting with and enhancing each other, to produce a range of effects in their hearers, for example—prayer, wisdom, repentance, joy, decision, courage, inspiration, deed, faith, hope and love.
Such a focus on Scripture is not theologically naïve but fulfils its most indigenous purpose. The purpose of Scripture will always be otherwise than the conceit of knowledge that stands aloof from the joy its pages give to sincere listeners.
Scripture’s lack of weighting on some areas and strong emphasis in others provide a perennial counter-balance to poor theological foci. A recurring lesson of Christian history is that our theological foci will only have durability through their congruence with Scripture. This can be so on the most controversial topics, yet impatience, arrogance or partisan alignment can also prevent this occurring.
For Christians, the congruence of their testimony with Scripture is ultimately focused in Christ and nowhere else.”
June 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Surely the main purpose of scripture is for God to talk to us
June 5th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
and to fill up all the blank pages that would otherwise make up our bibles
June 5th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Homer… the brilliant Dr. Curkpatrick would agree with you… although he’d use big words like “vocative”.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I would say the main purpose of scripture is to reveal and illuminate Jesus the Christ.
rev
June 6th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I reckon it’s a record of the spirituality of our forebears.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
My dad once said that he heard someone say that the Bible is said in the least amount of words possible… hence why we have such hard times figuring it out sometimes.
June 6th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
WTF did you just say?
June 6th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Least amount of words possible?
Doesn’t read that way to me.
I reckon with a bit of editing I could trim it down a bit.
The first four books of the new testament for instance, way too much repetition. Lets get that down to two books (Luke and John?)
Even then we can trim the overlap.
Genealogies, exiles, false gods - gets repetitive. Lets trim that down a bit too and we can make at least 33% of the OT disappear.
I’d happily say that I could edit it to use a hell of a lot less words and as a result it’d be a lot easier for the man on the street to understand.
mmm,
I can see it now,
[scene - a Koorong store
casher stands at desk, enter customer]
customer: I want to buy some bibles.
casher: we’ve got lots of bibles here this is a bible shop. Waht translation would you like?
customer: NKJ
casher: Oh, I’m afraid we’re out of NKJ, not much call for it around here, we’ve got NIV, RASV or ADHD.
[scene fades]
June 7th, 2007 at 9:31 am
June 7th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Ooh snap! Someone get me some ice, I just got BURNED!
June 7th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I like that he was able to use the word ‘foci’ and ‘congruance’ in the same paragraph.
I find myself getting increasingly annoyed with people who say ‘the bible says this in chapter_ verse_ therefore that’s what God thinks’.
It’s the whole document, or it’s nothing…
June 8th, 2007 at 8:34 am
For a lot of people I know it’s like a house of cards…if they re-interpret or don’t take the Bible literally in every sense, and make every issue a black-and-white “the Bible says this” kind of an issue, then they take out a card at the bottom of the house and the whole thing collapses. It’s almost like, if I believe you can be gay and a Christian then I can’t believe in this Christianity thing at all beacuse nothing makes sense anymore.
But the reality is even fundies pick and choose, it’sjust they gloss over the bits they’re not picking.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:56 am
They aren’t glossing over it Emma, they are using proper hermenmunster
rev
June 8th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
how do you mean? sorry not up with the whole munsters thing.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Hello again everyone, been awhile since I posted.
Curkpatrick’s words are very timely and quite important. They are also not terribly new. The idea of the Bible being the sole authority by which God speaks to us through the Spirit is something that Christians have accepted for centuries (and is continually being denied by various denominations throughout that time). For example, The Westminster Confession (1646) says:
The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. (1.4)
it also says this:
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. (1.6)
So Curkpatrick has essentially said exactly what these people 450 years said. This is not to criticise him at all, but to affirm that what he has said is not some new teaching, but one that has been around since the beginning of the church.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
OSO
good to have you back
stick around a little while longer this time
June 15th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
will do. i’ve bookmarked the site this time