No New Thing

Sure -It may take the better part of a weekend to get an extended discussion project of this magnitude off the ground, especially since we want to build a solid foundation for any ensuing discussion. Shalom and I also wanted to make sure that we were on the same page before setting forth certain concepts for further discussion.

However, I will make one preliminary comment: Much of what will be discussed will deal with semantics in a very intense way. Words communicate thoughts, concepts, and ideas, and we will not be content to merely use them. We must intensely investigate how we use them, and understand what they mean and how we perceive those meanings, often in ways different from each other. When dealing with spiritual concepts presented in God’s written revelation, we often perceive the meanings of words in ways very different from the way in which God designed them to be understood, which can produce serious consequences when we build our lives on those misunderstandings.

As Shalom stated, we do not profess to have a sole monopoly on truth, nor do we have complete understandings of words that God uses to convey truth. Often, you will find us using “working definitions,” which we will revise as we tweak our understanding of them. A definition is much like a scientific hypothesis, which we test in the theatres of specific Biblical usages and in real-life experiences, and revise as we learn what God was communicating in a fuller way.

It has been said that we should not determine truth, or that we should not interpret Scripture, according to our human experience. We accept the validity of that statement. However, was once wisely suggested by one of my teachers that if our interpretation of scripture directly contradicts human experience, we should recheck our exegesis and refine our interpretation and analysis of both Scripture and our experience to see if we have made any errors in interpretation.

Given the fact that God is both the Author of scripture and the Creator of the reality which humans experience; we expect to find consistency between the laws which govern the universe and the laws which govern human behavior. Although humans are deeply flawed, with sin affecting the core of their beings, their nature has fallen no lower than God has permitted it. Consequently, certain aspects of human nature remain the same as when God created it, and the aspects of human nature which are tainted by sin are affected by that corrupting force in predictable ways.

Human societies seek to control this corrupting force for the survival and prosperity of their citizens, and often aspire to higher values which reflect the Image of God which has been marred in their own souls. Although humans have a tendency toward their own corruption, the force of society and weight of human law serve to restrain the influence of personal corruption for the sake of a greater good and the preservation of humanity. Hence, there is also a measure of predictability guiding man’s opposition to the corrupting and destructive nature of sin, as the influence of conscience, human government, religion, ethics, and divine revelation contribute to the control, regulation, and punishment of the more destructive aspects of human behavior.

On the basis of these observable predictabilities in human behavior, which form spiritually, morally, religiously, ethically, and socially acceptable codes of conduct governing human behavior; and based on the predictability of the corrupting force of sin on individual human beings; we find it possible to observe various aspects human behavior and their effects, and find recognizable patterns which merit discussion. These cause-and-effect relationships which exist because of the interaction between individual humans, their cultures, their social structures, their beliefs, and the tension between their sin-corrupt natures and their innate desire to reclaim some measure of the lost glory that remains in a humanity created in the Image of God; create dynamics which can be observed and understood in the light of God’s written revelation.

This then, is the grand attempt to which we aspire: not only to stimulate thought, but to intensively investigate factors governing the dynamics of human relationships in ways which are true to real-world life experience and simultaneously true to a literal, contextual, literary, historical, and grammatical interpretation of Scripture.