Scripture in the postmodern shift
There are numerous schemas that map out differing views of Scripture. One of the most straightforward suggests everyone believes the Bible is either: fully divine, or
Divinely Inspired
I grew up in a church where 2 Timothy 3:16 was almost as important as John 3:16. It declares, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This verse was quoted regularly to defend the divine authority of every word in our Bible. The obvious problem here is the author was not referring to the…
Is the Bible Reliable?
When I was eighteen I participated in a “street evangelism” campaign at the Boston University campus as part of a Bible course I was enrolled in. A few of the BU grad students decided to have a little fun and interrogate us with some questions of their own. We were steamrolled by their merciless intellectual…
Shedding Sola Scriptura
I grew up in a church where everything was painted “Sola Scriptura.” I’m not referring to some chic Greco-Roman inspired hue from Benjamin Moore, but a Latin phrase meaning “Scripture Alone” which coloured the way we saw everything under the sun. “Sola Scriptura” was the primary pillar and doctrinal gatekeeper of Protestant faith. Scripture alone,…
A profound reading
I once heard a story about the influential biblical scholar Brevard Childs. A student asked him how to become a better interpreter of the Bible. Childs’s response, as it was told to me, was become a more profound person. Now perhaps some arrogance could be read into that statement but I think there is an…
The Bible and Holy Spirit in tension
Update: In October 2020, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada announced the termination of the ministerial credentials of John D. Rempel, on the basis of ministerial sexual misconduct. To learn more, see ‘Credentials terminated for theologian-academic-pastor.’ The heart of the Christian life is aligning ourselves with God’s love. We squander love and then turn to the Spirit to…
A Bible meant to be read with your ears
Have you heard the Bible recently? Not read it, but listened to it—heard the words of Scripture, not just seen them on the page. We don’t hear the Word of God much anymore. The public reading of multiple texts and longer passages of Scripture is not a key part of many worship services these days.…
