Our understanding does not seamlessly conform to God's reality, and instruction that suggests otherwise inevitably distorts the truth. The explanatory power such instruction generates is a mark of propaganda, not faithful Christian witness. Good teachers do not make Christianity easier for students by providing them with counterfeit clarity. If anything, they "jack up the price" by leading students more deeply into the subject matter, which in turn generates even more profound questions. - Adam Neder, Theology as a Way of Life
Walking with God - Dr. Cyndi Parker | 6.16.24
Interpretations of Scripture are not just right and wrong, although at times such categories are useful and necessary. But perhaps ultimately a more adequate way of judging our readings is the way we judge works of art - according to the standards of beauty. To what extent do our readings reveal the intricacy, the wondrous quality of what the biblical writers call ma'asei Adonai, "the works of the LORD"? To what extent do they draw us toward something, a way of being that is - to use Paul's language - more "lovely," more "gracious," more "excellent," "noble," "worthy of praise" (Phil 4:8)? - Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays, The Art of Reading Scripture
The Garden Temptation - Paul Burkhart | 6.9.24
Biblical authority is tied inseparably to the author's intention. God vested his authority in a human author, so we must consider what the human author intended to communicate if we want to understand what God's message is. Two voices speak: the human author is our doorway into the room of God's meaning and message. Thus, when we read Genesis, we are reading an ancient document and should begin by using only the assumptions that would be appropriate for the ancient world. We must understand how the ancients thought and what ideas underlay their communication. - Tremper Longman III and John H. Walton, The Lost World of the Flood