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Ohio pastor presents a helpful look at how our Confessions guide us in
interpreting scripture.
[published here 1-20-01]
The PC(USA) web site has published a paper presented
by Harry W. Eberts Jr., a retired Presbyterian pastor, to the January
9th meeting of the Eastminster Presbytery. He offers a quick survey of
the evolving guidelines our forebears have set forth for the
interpreting of scripture. It might offer some help in our current
debates.
From his survey he draws these conclusions (but you
really should look
at the whole thing!):
So I suggest: Let's read the Scriptures in the
manner that our Book of Confessions directs us to do. I hope that we in
the church can be drawn closer together as we approach the Scriptures in
this manner. Here, again, are the principles our Book gives us:
 | If, as we read Scriptures, we deepen our love
for one another, and especially for each other in the church, then
we are reading the Scriptures in the way that the Scots Confession
suggests. |
| If, in our approach to Scriptures, we use the
best tools of scholarship available to us and are not content with
superficial and shallow approaches, then we are reading Scriptures
as the Second Helvetic Confession would have us do. |
| If we seek the whole counsel of God for our
salvation, and seek it in the fellowship of the whole church, then
we are following Westminster in its approach to Scriptures. |
| If the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
point to the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, and we
hear, trust, and obey him, they we are reading Scriptures along the
lines of the Barmen Confession. |
| If, as we read Scriptures, we reach out to one
another and are not satisfied with our reading until we have been
reconciled to God and to each other, then we are reading Scriptures
as the Confession of 1967 directs us to do. |
For the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments
alike point to Jesus Christ, the word made flesh, full of grace and
truth, and they ask us, you and me, in life and in death, to hear,
trust, and obey him.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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