Hi guys;
george murphy wrote:
> Howard -
> Hope your surgery goes well. The following comments may be
> helpful, or at least stimulate some discussion.
Howard
I add my hopes and prayers for success and speedy recovery.
George M. wrote.
>
> The Word of God is (1) the One through whom the universe was
> created and who became incarnate. The Word of God is (2) the
> proclamation of Christ. And the Word of God is (3) the Bible which
> witnesses to the Word (1) and is the basis for the Word (2).
> This does not mean that the Bible is the Word of God only in
> a secondary or tertiary sense, nor does it answer questions about the
> historical character of biblical narratives. But it does mean that if
> the Bible is not functioning as the Word of God if it is being used to
> do something other than - in the long run - witness to Christ or support
> the proclamation of Christ.
> I think that this is germane to the question of how
> Christians are to read religious texts of other faiths. It isn't simply
> a question of whose book is better but of whether or not those texts in
> some way witness to the Christ & might support the proclamation of
> Christ. That may sound strange but perhaps that's because we haven't
> really explored the question from that angle. In any case, there is
> ultimately only one Word of God, as the Barmen Declaration of 1934
> said: "Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the
> one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and
> obey in life and in death."
>
> Shalom,
> George
Amen.
I think this discussion is the key to resolving many heated debates over
biblical details.
How do you gentlemen feel about other religious texts witnessing to Christ,
however, in an implicit manner; e.g. I find the wisdom in Lau Tzu's Tau de
Ching (spelling?) is very close to many of Christ's wisdom teachings. With
Howard, I can't help but believe that God has inspired other cultures but
has chosen the Jewish nation to reveal in an explicit manner.
Sincerely
George A.
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