God is Still Speaking
Friday, August 03, 2007
By Rev. Hart Inlow via the UCCtruths Message Board
I, personally, would fall into the category of one who proclaims -- though hopefully I also practice -- a fairly strict literal interpretation of scripture. And I most definitely believe God is
still speaking! Of all the issues I may have with UCC positions, statements, etc., that is not one of them.
Furthermore, as someone who has a considerable amount of interaction with believers from a fairly broad spectrum of perspectives about interpretation of scripture, including VERY conservative believers, I don't think I have found a single one who does NOT believe that God is still speaking. I suppose there may be some out there...but I'm not aware of having spoken to one of them, and I've spoken to a lot of people who agree and who disagree with some of my perspectives about interpreting scripture.
I think a more relevant set of questions about this subject include questions like these:
About questions like those, we in the UCC will, on the whole, have VERY different responses to our brothers and sisters who generally use a more literal approach to the interpretation of scripture. And I also suspect we will have a wide variety of perspectives among ourselves.
But we should, in my opinion, be very cautious about suggesting our more conservative, and even fundamentalist, fellow believers do not believe God is still speaking. Because in my experience, they absolutely DO believe God is still speaking. They simply have very different ideas about how God speaks, and as a result, very different ideas about what God is saying.
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Lynn and Hart Inlow are the founders of The Lion of Judah Academy and The Lion of Judah Ministries. They have been missionaries to Tanzania since 1999, with Africa Inland Mission. Prior to going to Tanzania they lived and worked in the U.S. Lynn taught elementary school and Hart was a pastor.
I, personally, would fall into the category of one who proclaims -- though hopefully I also practice -- a fairly strict literal interpretation of scripture. And I most definitely believe God is
still speaking! Of all the issues I may have with UCC positions, statements, etc., that is not one of them.
Furthermore, as someone who has a considerable amount of interaction with believers from a fairly broad spectrum of perspectives about interpretation of scripture, including VERY conservative believers, I don't think I have found a single one who does NOT believe that God is still speaking. I suppose there may be some out there...but I'm not aware of having spoken to one of them, and I've spoken to a lot of people who agree and who disagree with some of my perspectives about interpreting scripture.
I think a more relevant set of questions about this subject include questions like these:
- how is God still speaking? what means and methods is God using to speak in 2007?
- how do we discern the voice of God in our world today?
- how do we, and do we not, find the voice of God in scripture? In culture? in history?
- how do we distinguish between the voice of God, which we should listen to and heed, from the voice of an error-prone man or woman, who may or may not be speaking on behalf of God?
About questions like those, we in the UCC will, on the whole, have VERY different responses to our brothers and sisters who generally use a more literal approach to the interpretation of scripture. And I also suspect we will have a wide variety of perspectives among ourselves.
But we should, in my opinion, be very cautious about suggesting our more conservative, and even fundamentalist, fellow believers do not believe God is still speaking. Because in my experience, they absolutely DO believe God is still speaking. They simply have very different ideas about how God speaks, and as a result, very different ideas about what God is saying.
####
Lynn and Hart Inlow are the founders of The Lion of Judah Academy and The Lion of Judah Ministries. They have been missionaries to Tanzania since 1999, with Africa Inland Mission. Prior to going to Tanzania they lived and worked in the U.S. Lynn taught elementary school and Hart was a pastor.
