Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Graham Ward on revelation and interpretation...

"... Christian doxa has never held that the Scriptures gave direct access to the revelation of the divine and were themselves divine. The Scriptures bear witness to but are not themselves the Word of God. [Note: There has been a minority view which regards the Bible as verbally inspired, but even this is not quite the same.]

However, neither has orthodox teaching simply held that the revelation of Jesus Christ is a past event attested in the Scriptures. The Christian tradition maintains that Christ reveals Himself today, in and through the work of the Church...

Revelation is an ongoing activity, unfolding with the world. The coming to an understanding of what is 'revealed'... is inseparable then from a triple hermeneutical activity. First, with respect to interpreting the Scriptures; secondly with respect to the teaching of the Church; and thirdly, with a discernment of the contemporary work of Christ in the context of any activity undertaken."

(from Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice)

No comments: