Back in August I wrote two posts based on a lecture given by noted theologian N.T. Wright. Unfortunately, these posts were completely misunderstood and I now am being accused of denying the “authority of scripture.” I believe that most of the criticism has come from individuals who only read the title of the first post, Authority of Scripture?, which is a play on the title of Wright’s lecture, and wrongly assumed that I was questioning the nature of scripture. If some had taken the time to actually read my posts and had taken care to read Wright’s words on the subject this misunderstanding might have been resolved. There is no way that someone could conclude that I or Wright disregard scripture as the Word of God based on my two posts and his lecture. N.T. Wright is a well respected and highly regarded New Testament theologian. He is no fly-by-night snake oil salesman of half-cracked ideas. Members of the Jesus Seminar quake at the mentioning of his name. He is nothing but a defender of the faith. The lecture was asking us to rethink what the word authority means. To strip-off our ideas of control and get back to what the authority of God truly is. Wright argues that God has vested His authority in scripture. Scripture, therefore, is “designed to liberate human beings, to judge and condemn evil and sin in the world in order to set people free to be fully human.”
Wright believes this and so do I.
Let me write that again: I believe that God’s authority is vested in scripture making it designed to liberate humanity, to judge and condemn evil and sin in the world in order to set people free to be fully human.
Having a blog has made me realize a couple of things. First, I need to continue working on my writing skills. This was the reason I began blogging in the first place. A blog forced me to write and to write well. Writing forces me to slow down and to choose my words carefully and thoughtfully. Part of this misunderstanding could have been resolved had I stated my thoughts more clearly. I need to continue working on my writing.
I also realized a hard truth: Some people choose to misunderstand. There are some people who loved to hate my posts on this subject because they believe that I gave them some sort of ammunition with which they in turn can use against me.
A friend once told me that it wasn’t a coincidence that both Jesus and the Pharisees ended up in the same grain field on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-11). The Pharisses were following Jesus, watching his every move so that they could catch him “messing up.” They wanted to trap him in something that he did or said.
The same goes for this site. There are some visitors here that are looking to hurt me. It doesn’t matter what I say or do. If my beliefs don’t line up 200% behind theirs then I am condemned. There are those that are furious with what I wrote and with what I do so they talk among themselves about what to do with me.
I don’t hold anything against these people who wish to do me harm or who try and twist my words against me. Please take my tunic. It is yours. I am offering you the other side of my face. I will take your rumor and conjecture with good nature. I will try harder to communicate more clearly. Thank you.
I have sat on this post for a few weeks now. I thought that this misunderstanding would just go away but it hasn’t. And it may never go away. I’m ok with that because I know where my hope lies and I know whom I have believed. I could have gone back and deleted the posts or doctored their content but I have not nor will I do that. I wrote what I wrote for better or worse. All I can do is try harder to communicate more fully.
I still plan on writing another article on the subject of the “authority of scripture” after I read Wright’s book, The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture . The book will not be published until December so that article will be a long time in coming. I still plan on maintaining the blog. I still plan on writing about the same things: U2, God, Theology, Ministry, Books, Popular Culture. I will still continue kicking at the darkness. I am even more resolved and I remain undaunted in this task.
And I still believe that scripture is authoritative and that we are called to follow God’s Word.
Do You?
