“Epistemology” is the
issue of how we know. While we can know something
about God from Creation and introspection and even reason – something of
the “image of God” remains after the Fall – it’s not much! Fortunately, God has kept in touch! In ancient times, He would literally speak
to leaders (such as Abraham or Moses) or through Prophets (such as Isaiah or
Micah) but He also has spoken to us in enduring ways via writing – the first
example of Scripture being the Ten Commandments written by God on two tablets
of stone, which immediately became the Rule (“straight edge”) or Canon
(measuring stick) for morality. This is
how we know about God – right from God, whom we affirm as the Author of
Scripture.
We believe that that
written word is God’s very word to us (1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Corinthians
2:13, 2 Peter 1:21). God used various
penmen as His instruments (some known, most not) – and seemed to have often
used their personalities and such in the process, but the final result, we
believe, is His. We thus believe that
Scripture is reliable and dependable in its purpose, embracing it as indeed
“infallible” (John 17:17, John 10:35).
We use it to learn about God, His promises and counsel, and to provide a
“rule” for Christian teachings and claims.
And we believe that God’s Scripture is “authoritative” because of its
Author, whom we believe is God.
What is the Bible?
The word literally means
“books” or “library” and it is the collection of all the books regarded as
God’s holy written word – God’s Scriptures.
It contains 66 books in two main sections: 39 in the Old Testament (all before Christ,
written roughly 1400-400 BC) and 27 in the New Testament (all after Christ,
written roughly 45 – 90 AD).
Of course, these books
were written over 1500 years and by dozens of different authors! Their collection together, their recognition
as God’s Scriptures, was a process we believe was guided by God.
Orthodox and Catholics
have a larger Bible. The additional
books are controversial Old Testament books around which there has never been a
historic and ecumenical consensus. These
extra controversial books are known as Deuterocanonical or the Apocrypha. It’s mostly a irrelevant issue since
virtually nothing in them has ever been of any consequence or importance – and
thus little attention has been given to them and whether they are or are not
God’s Scripture. The Oriental Orthodox
Churches have more of them than the Eastern Orthodox which, in turn, has more
than the Roman Catholic Church. Luther
included the Catholic’s “set” in his German translation (and Lutheran tomes
continued this practice well into the 20th Century), but generally
Lutherans (like Protestants in general) don’t regard them equally with the 66
books that have the universal and historic embrace of all Christians. Technically, we neither affirm OR reject them
(we have no formal stance on them at all – leaving them in the “disputed”
category). Lutherans don’t read from
them in the Sunday Readings and rarely quote them in sermons. Since none of the “sets” of them contains
anything of consequence, it’s never been
much of an issue.
The Old Testament was
originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament in koine Greek. Scholars and
pastors study them in those originals, but since most Christians are not
trained in those ancient languages, translations (versions) are needed. These became popular after the printing
press (15th Century) made books far more accessible. The King James was an English ecumenical
translation from the 17th Century that served well for centuries,
but in the 20th Century, many other translations became
available. Most are reliable enough for
general reading. The English Standard
Version and the New International Version are the most commonly used
translations today among Lutheran congregations in the USA, but there is no
“official” or even especially recommended translation. “The Lutheran Study Bible” (Concordia
Publishing House) contains the ESV and very excellent notes and resources.
Using the Bible
The Bible (which is a
collection or type of library of Scripture) contains two sections, the Old and
New Testament (before and after Jesus).
The Old Testament contains 39 books, the New Testament 27 books. Each book has a title and has been divided
into chapters and verses to make it easier to study (all supplied by us). A verse might be written as Mark 4:38. Mark is the book (the second book of the New
Testament), 4 is the chapter and 38 is the verse.
Roughly speaking, the Old
Testament is organized as: History
(Genesis – Esther), Wisdom Sayings (Job – Song of Songs), Major Prophets
(Isaiah – Daniel) and the Minor Prophets (Hosea – Malachi).
The New Testament is
organized as: Life and Teachings of
Jesus (Matthew – John, the first three called “synoptic”), History (Acts),
Letters of Paul (Romans – Philemon, going from longer to shorter), General
Letters (Hebrews – Revelation).
Sola Scriptura
The words mean “Scripture
Alone” and it affirms that God’s written word is the final “Rule” (straight
edge) or “Canon” (measuring stick) for the evaluation of Christian teachings
(especially disputed doctrines). It
affirms that God’s words are above our words, that our teachings are accountable
to God’s teachings (and not the other way around). The practice goes all
the way back to the first Scriptures as Moses directed the people’s attention
to the supreme Authority of the Ten Commandments of God. Jesus used the Rule of Scripture (Sola
Scriptura) some 50 times during His ministry, as just recorded in the Bible (no
doubt there where MANY examples not so recorded),
Lutherans reject that a
teacher or denomination may self-claim to be the sole authority or to
functionally be above God and His written word.
We reject that any teacher among us is unaccountable and “above”
examination. This idea that the teacher
or institution is unaccountable and that it itself is the final Authority is
known as “Sola Eccelsia” and is embraced by Catholics and Mormons and to a
lesser extent by Orthodox Christians.
This is one of the key differences between Lutheranism and Catholicism.
Tradition
Of course, God’s written
words usually need to be interpreted and applied! There may be honest disagreements about
that. Lutherans would STRESS that the
actual words of the text must be supreme and the norm, and
usually that resolves much. We’d also
stress the context of the verse – both immediate (the chapter, for example) and
greater (the whole of Scripture). This
concept of embracing context is sometimes referred to as “Scripture
interpreting Scripture” (“clarifying” might be a more accurate verb
there). But again, valid differences of
interpretation might be possible.
“Tradition” (big “T”)
refers to the historic, ecumenical, universal consensus of God’s people,
especially in terms of interpretation of Scripture. In nearly all the important areas, Christians
struggled with these verses and issues – intensely and prayerfully looking at
the Scriptures, debating and discussing and praying and studying, often for
centuries – and eventually, a consensus developed that was textual and
ecumenical. Lutherans take this very
seriously. Lutherans see no reason to
“reinvent the wheel” in every generation as if no one has thought or studied
about this things before (the Bible is 3400-2000 years old!). We respectfully embrace the “wisdom of the
past.” We call this Tradition.
However, Lutherans
consider such “Tradition” as under Scripture and not equal to or above it. Catholics consider the Tradition of The
Catholic Church as at least equal in Authority and normative function
with God’s Scripture, but Lutherans place ecumenical consensus just a notch
below that. This consensus or Tradition
– however wise – is OUR “stuff” and not equal to God’s Scripture anymore than
we are equal to God. Our interpretation and application is not equal
with the text itself, we believe.
Lutherans tend to embrace Tradition more than other Protestants but less
than Catholics. Lutherans study the
Church Fathers and Christian history, we look to the true Ecumenical Councils
and we regard highly the greats of our past – we just don’t consider them as
equal to or above God and God’s writings.
Luther is credited with
saying, “We must be bold where God’s Scripture is bold and silent where God’s
Scripture is silent.” The second is just
as important as the first. Lutherans
approach Scripture with firm embrace but with awe and humility. We are comfortable with tensions and balances
and admitting that we just don’t have all the answers. Lutherans call this “mystery” and note that
we are called to be “stewards of the mysteries of God.” While Catholics are more eager to apply
Tradition and human philosophy, and whereas some other Protestants are more
eager to apply human logic or reason, Lutherans are more comfortable with just
embracing the mystery and leaving it as Scripture leaves it. “Letting God have the last word.”
Footnotes and
discussions….
1. Do
you see a similarity between the Rule of Scripture (Sola Scriptura) and the
Rule of Law in civil societies? How do
both embrace accountability for all and embrace a knowable, unalterable,
written Rule/Canon?
2. Whereas
it seems that in a sense God “wrote” morality in the hearts of humanity,
eventually He (literally) wrote down a summery of such in the Ten
Commandments. Why do you think He
did? What is the value of writing it
down (Scripture)?
3. In
the embrace of Tradition, Lutherans are stressing a sense of community and a
rejection of individualism (whether of an individual person or
denomination). This is OUR collective,
historic conclusion. There’s always been
a tendency in Christianity for self to think that God only leads or speaks to
ME (whether that “ME” be a person or denomination) and to appoint self as the
sole authoritative interpreter.
Tradition (in the Lutheran sense) rejects that and embraces that God
speaks to US, God gave His Scriptures to US collectively.
4. Lutherans
have a strong sense of “mystery.” People
can often “over-think” things or impose human logic or philosophy or
speculations upon God as if our “job” is to make God’s teachings “logical” or
make them “make sense” to people. While
Luther saw value in philosophy, reason, etc. – he was also suspicious of such,
especially the over application of such.
“We are stewards of the mysteries of God,” we stress. We don’t have all the answers, nor do we
think we need to.
No comments:
Post a Comment