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Biblical฀Authority A฀Personal฀Reflection The฀issue฀of฀the฀authority฀of฀the฀Bible฀is฀a฀perennial฀and฀urgent฀one฀for฀ those฀of฀us฀who฀claim฀and฀intend฀to฀stake฀our฀lives฀on฀its฀attestation.฀ But฀for฀all฀of฀the฀perennial฀and฀urgent฀qualities฀of฀the฀question,฀the฀issue฀ of฀biblical฀authority฀is฀bound,฀in฀any฀case,฀to฀remain฀endlessly฀unsettled฀ and฀therefore,฀I฀believe,฀perpetually฀disputatious.฀It฀cannot฀be฀otherwise,฀ and฀so฀we฀need฀not฀hope฀for฀a฀“settlement”฀of฀the฀issue.฀The฀unsettling฀ and฀disputatious฀quality฀of฀the฀question฀is,฀I฀believe,฀given฀in฀the฀text฀itself,฀ because฀the฀Bible฀is฀ever฀so฀endlessly฀“strange฀and฀new.”1 ฀It฀always,฀inescapably ,฀outdistances฀our฀categories฀of฀understanding฀and฀explanation,฀of฀ interpretation฀and฀control.฀Because฀the฀Bible฀is,฀as฀we฀confess,฀“the฀live฀ word฀of฀the฀living฀God,”฀it฀will฀not฀submit฀in฀any฀compliant฀way฀to฀the฀ accounts฀we฀prefer฀to฀give฀of฀it.฀There฀is฀something฀intrinsically฀unfamiliar฀ about฀the฀book,฀and฀when฀we฀seek฀to฀override฀that฀unfamiliarity฀we฀are฀on฀ the฀hazardous฀ground฀of฀idolatry. Because฀I฀am฀not฀well฀schooled฀in฀the฀long,฀formal฀discussions฀and฀ considerations฀concerning฀“the฀authority฀of฀scripture”฀(perhaps฀better฀left฀ to฀theologians),฀I฀offer฀here฀a฀quite฀personal฀reflection฀on฀the฀authority฀of฀ scripture,฀to฀consider฀how฀it฀is฀that฀I฀work฀with,฀relate฀to,฀and฀submit฀to฀the฀ Bible.฀I฀do฀not฀suggest฀that฀my฀way฀is฀in฀any฀sense฀commendable฀or฀normative .฀Nor฀do฀I฀know฀if฀my฀ruminations฀will฀particularly฀serve฀the฀current฀ crisis฀in฀the฀church,฀and฀I฀do฀not฀intend฀my฀statement฀to฀be฀particularly฀ attentive฀to฀the฀“culture฀wars”฀in฀which฀we฀are฀engaged. Thus,฀I฀offer฀a฀more฀or฀less฀innocent฀personal฀account,฀though฀of฀course฀ none฀of฀our฀personal฀accounts฀is฀very฀innocent.฀Your฀invitation฀has฀provided ฀an฀opportunity฀for฀me฀to฀think฀clearly฀about฀my฀own฀practice.฀In฀the฀ process,฀moreover,฀I฀have฀become฀convinced฀that฀we฀will฀be฀well฀served฀ if฀we฀can฀be฀in฀some฀way฀honest฀about฀the฀intimate฀foundations฀of฀our฀ 20 chapter฀two BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 20 10/5/04 5:22:36 PM Biblical฀Authority:฀A฀Personal฀Reflection฀฀฀21 personal฀stance฀on฀these฀questions.฀Indeed,฀rather฀than฀loud,฀settled฀slogans ฀about฀the฀Bible,฀we฀might฀do฀better฀to฀consider฀the฀odd฀and฀intimate฀ ways฀in฀which฀we฀have฀each,฀alike฀and฀differently,฀been฀led฀to฀where฀we฀are฀ about฀the฀Bible.฀In฀setting฀out฀such฀a฀statement,฀I฀say฀at฀the฀outset฀that฀you฀ do฀me฀a฀great฀privilege฀by฀inviting฀me฀here,฀a฀non-Presbyterian,฀though฀ I฀hope฀when฀I฀have฀finished฀you฀will฀judge฀me฀to฀be฀reliably,฀if฀not฀with฀ excessive฀intensity,฀Reformed.  I฀begin฀by฀telling฀you฀about฀what฀I฀take฀to฀be฀the฀defining฀moment฀in฀ my฀attachment฀to฀the฀Bible.฀In฀my฀German฀Evangelical฀upbringing,฀con- firmation฀was฀a฀very฀big฀deal.฀In฀that฀act฀of฀confirmation,฀the฀pastor฀(in฀ my฀case,฀my฀father)฀selected฀a฀“confirmation฀verse”฀for฀each฀confirmand,฀ a฀verse฀to฀mark฀one’s฀life—read฀while฀hands฀were฀laid฀on฀in฀confirmation,฀ read฀at฀one’s฀funeral,฀and฀read฀many฀times฀in฀between.฀My฀father,฀on฀that฀ occasion฀of฀confirmation,฀read฀over฀me฀Psalm฀119:105: Your฀word฀is฀a฀lamp฀to฀my฀feet and฀a฀light฀to฀my฀path. He฀did,฀in฀that฀act,฀more฀than฀he฀knew.฀Providentially,฀I฀have฀no฀doubt,฀he฀ marked฀my฀life฀by฀this฀book฀that฀would฀be฀lamp฀and฀light,฀to฀illumine฀a฀ way฀to฀obedience,฀to฀mark฀a฀way฀to฀fullness,฀joy,฀and฀well-being.฀The฀more฀ I฀reflect฀on฀that฀moment,฀the฀more฀I฀am฀sure฀that฀I฀have฀been฀bound฀more฀ than฀I฀knew฀to฀this฀book. Before฀that฀moment฀of฀confirmation฀in฀baptismal฀vows,฀in฀my฀nurture฀ in฀the฀church,฀my฀church฀prepared฀me฀to฀attend฀to฀the฀Bible฀in฀a฀certain฀ way.฀I฀am฀a฀child฀of฀the฀Prussian฀Union,฀a฀church฀body฀created฀in฀1817,฀on฀ the฀300th฀anniversary฀of฀Luther’s฀theses.฀The฀Prussian฀king฀was฀weary฀of฀ Calvinists฀and฀Lutherans฀arguing฀about฀the฀Eucharist฀and฀so฀decreed฀an฀ ecumenical฀church฀that฀was฀in฀its฀very฀founding฀to฀be฀ecumenical฀and฀not฀ confessional,฀open฀to฀diversity,฀and฀aimed฀not฀at฀any฀agreement฀beyond฀ a฀broad฀consensus฀of฀evangelical฀faith฀that฀intended฀to฀protect฀liberty฀of฀ conscience.฀This฀is฀the฀church฀body฀that฀brought฀to฀the฀United฀States฀a฀ deep฀German฀church...

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