what makes a preacher or preaching authoritative?
"there is a certain authority vest in the teaching office in the church. the authority is not that of the teacher but that of the Scripture which is to be taught. That distinction is often lost on the congregation."
so is scripture the authority or is Christ the authority. we have to be careful not to replace scripture with the WORD. They are not the same. I agree with the Lutherans, that scripture is the authoritative norm of life, proclamation, and faith. Scripture is the only authoritative text we have but the reality is the authority is in the trinity, the Word of God, not the words on the page itself. Lets get to more Mohler....
Do you consider yourself a mouthpiece for God?
I am certainly supposed to be a mouthpiece for Scripture, a human instrument through which Scripture is heard and received by God's People....
I once again would argue that he is replacing God with scripture which cannot be the same thing.
Is there any room for doubt or uncertainty in the preacher?
I can honestly say that the answer is no. that is not to say that i have never struggled with certain issues, but by the time i've preached them, they're settled... when it comes to what has been revealed in scripture, I don't think there is room for doubt.
are you kidding me. the arrogance is palpable! Of course i doubt, but i am submitting myself to the confession of the church, the history of those who have come before me. I trust in god's sovereignty not in the sovereignty of the scriptures.
first we all must realize that we come to the text with baggage. this baggage is not able to be removed no matter how much historical-critical method you use, you still bring with you the realities of your interpretation. no doubt.!?!? who are you Gwen Stephani. Pastors and Christians need to come clean with their doubt, and if there are no doubts i'm curious to whether they are being realistic about the power and mystery of god.
for me scripture is the authoritative source and norm for life faith and proclamation. It is interpreted using the best methods i have come to learn and will continue to learn form this point forward. I will always have doubts yet i will do my best to walk forward in the courage that christ provides and the humility of knowing that my perspective is just that, a perspective to which god is bigger and more profound than i could ever grasp, yet must continue to strive to grasp for the rest of my life.
1 comment:
one of the beautiful aspects of scripture is that as I move through different parts of my own journey, the scripture speaks to me in new and fresh ways. The comments by Mohler tend to suggest that that is not his experience, that once he has settled on the truth of a passage, then it is fixed as such. Yikes.
I think I said this to you before, too, that I think the infallibility of scripture is moot at best, a smokescreen at worst. It is moot because even in our best moments, we see through a glass darkly, so even while scripture is holy, it is not understood clearly. At worst, we use it to give ourselves interpretative authority: "the infallible word of God says this, so I'm right and you are not!" Those who hold to infallibility over against authority have a tough row to hoe, in my mind, but even if infallibility is proven, one interpretation is not necessarily better than another.
No room for doubt? I doubt it. I am sure at some point someone said, Galileo, what if you are wrong? But in a quiet, darkened corner of the church, someone was whispering the question, what if Galileo is right? The consequence was not that the scripture fell apart, just our understanding of certain passages.
Without doubt, we stop seeking.
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