Truth

Here at PTS for the month of January you take a three week course. The class meets from 9-12 everyday and provides students with a concentrated study of the material. The class I took was on the issues of the theology of scripture. The purpose of the class was to explore the various issues that arise regarding interpreting the Bible. As well we discussed the role of the Bible in life and church.

While I found the course to bring forth many of the issues surrounding scripture, I think it attempted to do too much leaving many loose ends. Now to be fair the topic that we were tackling is one that has more questions than answers and is not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

What I did find exceptionally useful was the question around which the course was structured. It is a question that at first for some might appear to have an easy or simple answer, but upon careful consideration of the question what one comes to realize is that not a single aspect of the question is simple or easy. It is a very complicated question that requires a careful consideration of every assumption that we dare to make. It is also a question that requires one to constantly question and revise the answer one comes up with.

Frankly it is a question I think every church, believer, non-believer, and secularist should spend some serious time processing as it is a question that is central to many of the issues that become hotly debated.

What is the question?

"What do we mean when we say the Bible is true, and what methods of interpretation help us to appreciate its truthfulness?"

It is at least something worth pondering for a little bit.

Amanda