The Liberation of Truth - An Introduction
Here is something that I have begun. It's liable to never be finished, but my hope is that this is the first installment of however many entries it may take for me to get this finished. enjoy.
INTRODUCTION - Culture Shock
In a world in which the notion of absolutism is being berated from all directions, how is it possible that religious belief can maintain its’ veracity when it seems that the rules of the game have changed around us? As a believer I must ask myself how the contemporary postmodern situation has affected the Church’s, and my, ability to proclaim truth and to effect the world for the better? For a long while, Christian belief has been grounded in the notion of the absolute. Due to recent trends within evangelical Christianity, the Bible has been hoisted to the position of being the one true inerrant, infallible, incorruptible, indestructible, unlimited, almighty, (it’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s…) and downright most complete revelation of everything that God is and all that he has said. Now, while I do take issue with any group that holds such a “fantastic” elevation of the Bible, I believe that such a discussion would better be suited for another time.
Furthermore, biblical inerrancy should not be seen as the singular point of contention in the arising postmodern world. For that matter, as far as I know, the issue has flown quietly under the radar of the social arena and has been left largely for us theological/philosophical church mice to mince words over. All that being said, the issue of biblical interpretation is more than relevant for our present discussion. Our current troubles instigated by the creation of the theory of inerrancy are symptomatic of a greater point of friction taking place between the Church, which presents itself as the sole bearer of absolute truth, and a society that is utterly unimpressed by such far-reaching claims that would insist we place sole authority in a singular organization often regarded as corrupt and obsolete. Thus, we would be morally and academically remiss if we did not take a moment to examine the issue at hand: how does the Church emit truth in our postmodern era the way it was created to?
INTRODUCTION - Culture Shock
In a world in which the notion of absolutism is being berated from all directions, how is it possible that religious belief can maintain its’ veracity when it seems that the rules of the game have changed around us? As a believer I must ask myself how the contemporary postmodern situation has affected the Church’s, and my, ability to proclaim truth and to effect the world for the better? For a long while, Christian belief has been grounded in the notion of the absolute. Due to recent trends within evangelical Christianity, the Bible has been hoisted to the position of being the one true inerrant, infallible, incorruptible, indestructible, unlimited, almighty, (it’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s…) and downright most complete revelation of everything that God is and all that he has said. Now, while I do take issue with any group that holds such a “fantastic” elevation of the Bible, I believe that such a discussion would better be suited for another time.
Furthermore, biblical inerrancy should not be seen as the singular point of contention in the arising postmodern world. For that matter, as far as I know, the issue has flown quietly under the radar of the social arena and has been left largely for us theological/philosophical church mice to mince words over. All that being said, the issue of biblical interpretation is more than relevant for our present discussion. Our current troubles instigated by the creation of the theory of inerrancy are symptomatic of a greater point of friction taking place between the Church, which presents itself as the sole bearer of absolute truth, and a society that is utterly unimpressed by such far-reaching claims that would insist we place sole authority in a singular organization often regarded as corrupt and obsolete. Thus, we would be morally and academically remiss if we did not take a moment to examine the issue at hand: how does the Church emit truth in our postmodern era the way it was created to?
in a relative, post-modern era yu are right to sat that claiming absolutes is not only futile but is seen as ignorant. Yet...I would venture to say that no matter what 'era' we find ourselves in, the idea of redemption and hope will never be relative. So, at the risk of sounding trite, that is where we start - connecting at the place of our desire for hope. Isn't that what the Gospel is?
- Stroud
Posted by
Anonymous |
9:57 AM
i agree with you. I think anyone can say that redemption and hope are the place to begin. I would hope that all churches felt this same way. I know they do. The problem is not with the realities of redemption and hope in the least.
Until recently those realities have been smothered by attempts to ground them in a very modernistic theory of knowledge in which those truths have to be founded upon a certain theory of the bible that justifies them absolutely. Rather than let those truths be known because they are true in and of themselves, we feel that we have to creae a theory to back them up. Our need for redemption and hope don't have be backed up like an economic or political theory has to. we must agree on that before we can go forward. These truths are woven into the very fabric of what it means to be human and that's where the absolute enters the scene.
All of the theorizing has created a stalemate between the church and society. The church must rethink the way that it expresses redemption and hope to the world.
Posted by
jared slack |
1:23 PM