Balance to Reason, Inspiration and Understanding
There is a tendency in the Church to throw the baby out with the bathwater as they say, to an all academic, or all only relying on revelation and emotion, all tradition and what the Church says, wont read the Bible too complicated, or other extreme, only read the bible, nothing else. All of these have innate problems, they will make you wonky, think wonky, act wonky and deny the holistic truth of the key points and cornerstones of the Bible.
We find these summed up in the Apostles Creed, expanded upon in the Nicene Creed, and then the Theology therein, Doctrine, holistically of the Bible put forth in the Catechism, doctrines of the Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church including women saints. When we read the bible it has to be taken into account, as God would also have taken that into account even when inspiring and giving revelation, meeting the person where they were at culturally, emotionally etc.. How did these all come together? It all began with Moses receiving his inspired revelation of how the creation of the world occurred, the introduction of the Sin Nature, how it corrupted the entirety of creation, the redemption plan, all the way to the Book of Revelation. There are those who would say that the Bible, each passage has layers upon layers upon layers of varied meaning to be endlessly discovered and devised according to that individual life etc...according to divine revelation, but this leaves out any taking into account the historical and cultural context of the writer of the Biblical text. Some took this divine revelation to the extent of it was only to a select group that things were revealed and could be understood by, the hierarchy of the Church, so people wouldn't look to scripture for the answer, often not even reading the Bible at all. Then, there are those read the Bible only as how it relates to their personal life, and nothing more, a guide to how to live my life life book or some great mystical secret code to be constantly deciphered and new code to be uncovered of great prophetic new revelation. On the other end of it, you have those who would say that the authors of the Bible were just secretaries who just sat down and took dictation, that their lives, experiences etc... had no bearing, nothing to contribute, no insight also to provide, and that they had no interaction with the Holy Spirit etc.., but were mere secretaries taking notes. As if the Holy Spirit forcibly takes hold of them and channels through them and they have no choice but to relay the info, period. That doesn't jive with free will, so don't think so.
How is one to understand respect for theological tradition, Sola Scriptura and Inspired? There is a term for it "complex univalence", which says that when you are in doubt about a scripture, a revelation or such, it must be known by other places to speak more clearly. Understanding of the Bible requires cross biblical references, a concordance, a good study bible, and understanding, seeking an ongoing understanding of the context of the culture, history of those times, the persons of the Bible. It's a lifelong process of learning, prayer and understanding. A paraphrase, a summary, just prayer and revelation on the Bible, without any seeking of solid theological foundation, strong and solid, is going to harm a minister's ability long term to Pastor, Minister, Lead. God, by what Christ did at Calvary, made it possible for the Holy Spirit to dwell with us always, for us to have a direct communication with the Trinity, but that communication also has responsibility and we are expected to be witnesses and watchmen of truth, of God's truth, of his Word, but if we have not the knowledge, we perish and others perish, so we must have not only the inspiration to understand the Bible, the Creeds, Confessions that are a summary of the Bible, but the cultural and historical background that goes with all that. I myself am terrible at memorizing and remembering, so I have to constantly go over things again and again, so I will be on a lifelong study journey and I love it. To know and understand God, Christ, Holy Spirit, from a reason and revelation prospective is wonderful on every level. I am blessed to be a Christian each and every day more and more.
When Atheists and such accuse Christians of being mindless brainwashed robots, they are speaking gibberish and rubbish, because there is a well thought out theology, process that goes into being a true Christian. One never stops studying, learning, understanding and one seeks this understanding and growth of understanding their whole life out of love and joy of being in Christ. It's a wonderful thing and brings true wisdom, freedom and so much more.
Shalom and Amen
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