The Book That Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology

3. Biblical Authority and the Church’s Task of Interpretation

Biblical฀Authority฀and฀ the฀Church’s฀Task฀ of฀Interpretation I The฀church’s฀discussion฀about฀the฀authority฀of฀scripture฀takes฀place฀between฀ the฀factors฀of฀normativeness฀and฀the฀problematic. 1.฀The฀matter฀of฀the฀authority฀of฀scripture฀is฀normatively฀settled฀in฀the฀ church,฀and฀at฀the฀same฀time฀endlessly฀problematic.฀It฀is฀normatively฀settled ฀because฀we฀are฀agreed฀that฀the฀Bible฀is฀indeed฀God’s฀live฀word฀which฀ addresses฀us฀as฀the฀only฀rule฀for฀life฀and฀faith.฀We฀will฀use฀various฀languages ฀about฀inspiration฀and฀revelation฀and฀“Word฀of฀God,”฀but฀all฀this฀ language฀intends฀to฀attest฀to฀that฀decision฀about฀the฀normative฀character฀ of฀scripture.฀Without฀that฀consensus฀it฀is฀not฀likely฀that฀the฀church฀will฀ have฀either฀unity฀or฀fidelity฀to฀its฀mission.฀Some฀may฀not฀attest฀to฀that฀ claim,฀but฀my฀judgment฀is฀that฀such฀voices฀are฀definitionally฀precluded฀ from฀this฀particular฀conversation. That฀normative฀claim,฀however,฀is฀endlessly฀problematic฀because฀every฀ generation฀in฀the฀church฀(including฀our฀own)฀has฀found฀it฀difficult฀to฀agree฀ on฀what฀is฀heard฀in฀the฀Bible฀as฀God’s฀live฀word,฀or฀how฀indeed฀it฀is฀to฀be฀ heard.฀It฀is฀problematic฀because฀we฀are฀dealing฀with฀a฀very฀ancient฀document ฀that฀did฀not฀have฀in฀mind฀our฀particular฀set฀of฀issues,฀nor฀the฀linguistic ฀and฀epistemological฀modes฀in฀which฀our฀issues฀are฀presented฀to฀us.฀But฀ the฀problematic฀is฀not฀only฀because฀of฀antiquity.฀It฀is฀also฀because฀we฀do฀not฀ agree฀among฀ourselves฀on฀our฀context฀and฀our฀situation฀in฀which฀we฀seek฀to฀ receive,฀hear,฀and฀respond฀to฀the฀word฀of฀scripture.฀Our฀discernment฀of฀our฀ life-world฀causes฀us฀to฀hear฀and฀discern฀the฀voice฀of฀the฀text฀differently. 2.฀It฀is฀self-evident฀that฀interpretation฀of฀scripture฀is฀unavoidable.฀David฀ Tracy฀has฀nicely฀said฀that฀in฀order฀for฀a฀classic฀document฀that฀is฀timeless฀ 37 chapter฀three BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 37 10/5/04 5:22:43 PM 38฀฀฀The฀Book฀That฀Breathes฀New฀Life to฀be฀timely,฀it฀must฀be฀interpreted.1 ฀It฀is฀for฀that฀reason฀that฀a฀claim฀about฀ the฀authority฀of฀scripture฀is฀not฀the฀end฀of฀our฀trouble,฀but฀only฀the฀beginning .฀When฀we฀have฀accepted฀the฀Bible฀as฀normative,฀then฀we฀must฀ask฀ how,฀in฀what฀way,฀to฀what฀end,฀for฀what฀claim.฀To฀answer฀those฀questions,฀ we฀must฀interpret.฀When฀we฀interpret฀we฀render฀judgments,฀and฀those฀ judgments฀rarely฀claim฀universal฀assent.฀(To฀be฀sure,฀in฀the฀church’s฀long฀ history฀of฀interpretation฀there฀are฀interpretations,฀as฀in฀the฀great฀creeds,฀ which฀claim฀such฀assent.฀But฀the฀problem฀is฀that฀even฀the฀creeds฀about฀ which฀there฀is฀general฀consensus฀are฀remote฀from฀us฀and฀in฀turn฀require฀ interpretation.)฀Any฀serious฀engagement฀with฀scripture฀requires฀interpretation .฀And฀interpretation฀is฀always฀advocacy฀about฀which฀there฀is฀dispute.฀ The฀interpretation฀may฀be฀as฀explicit฀as฀exegesis฀and฀proclamation,฀or฀it฀ may฀be฀as฀seemingly฀innocent฀as฀the฀selection฀of฀one฀text฀and฀not฀another฀ (as฀with฀a฀lectionary฀committee),฀or฀a฀public฀reading฀that฀intones,฀inflects,฀ and฀accents฀certain฀ways.฀The฀fact฀of฀interpretation฀means฀that฀the฀Bible฀ never฀fully฀has฀its฀own฀say,฀but฀is฀always฀in฀part฀acted฀upon฀by฀the฀interpreter .฀The฀Bible฀in฀practice฀is฀therefore฀open฀to฀various฀significations. 3.฀Interpretation฀is฀never฀objective฀but฀is฀always฀mediated฀through฀the฀ voice,฀perceptions,฀hopes,฀fears,฀interest,฀and฀hurts฀of฀the฀interpreter.฀If฀ interpretation฀is฀not฀objective,฀it฀is฀likely฀to฀be฀less฀than฀fully฀adequate,฀ however฀well฀intended฀and฀true฀it฀may฀be.฀Every฀interpretation฀then฀must฀ be฀kept฀open฀to฀the฀review฀of฀the฀whole฀church,฀which฀is฀bound฀to฀listen฀as฀ a฀whole฀community฀to฀what฀God฀seems฀to฀be฀saying฀in฀scripture. We฀are฀mostly฀clear฀that฀advocates฀of฀a฀liberation฀hermeneutic,฀that฀is,฀ the฀interpretive฀voices฀of฀the฀third฀world,฀are฀advocates฀who฀speak฀from฀ and฀for฀a฀certain฀context฀and฀interest.฀They฀are฀voices฀of฀the฀poor฀and฀ oppressed฀who฀read฀scripture฀in฀terms฀of฀a฀“preferential฀option฀for฀the฀ poor.”2 ฀These฀interpreters฀themselves฀readily฀acknowledge฀their฀contextualization ฀and฀how฀it฀governs฀their฀interpretation. We฀are฀now฀coming฀to฀see฀that฀Euro-American฀theology฀done฀in฀classic฀ historical-critical฀ways,฀done฀in฀the฀academy,฀done฀by฀white,฀established฀ males฀is฀also฀contextualized฀and฀speaks฀from฀and฀for฀a฀certain฀context฀and฀ interest.3 ฀This฀is฀true฀for฀those฀who฀speak฀through฀scientific฀methods฀and฀ for฀those฀who฀speak฀primarily฀out฀of฀a฀dogmatic฀tradition.฀This฀does...