>I understand what you're saying, so let me clarify. Terry did not cite
>Scripture, but the WC, as "authority." Van Till cites Augustine. I would
>rather see Scripture FIRST (always). These extra-biblical sources may then be
>used as commentary, but only to the extent they do justice to Scripture. I
>don't contend that the views are NECESSARILY unscriptural, only that the
>process of formulating doctrine should flow FROM Scripture as the wellspring.
I certainly agree that the process of formulating doctrine should flow from
Scripture. Terry will have to speak for himself of course. For my part, I
consider the WC a worthwhile source to quote from because it states
Scriptural concepts concisely. It's not an inspired document, and it's not
a substitute for Scripture, but it's useful as a summary of the views of
(fallible) human theologians I resepct. I could cite the scriptural
support for the quotations I use, but if you've looked at the WC, you would
see that that would increase the size of my posts substantially, and
probably reduce the readership. That's one of two interpretation problems
that need to be addressed in using the WC or any other creedal statement.
The other one of course is ensuring that the WC itself is being applied in
a sound manner.
>
>I think Terry may be reading a tad too much into the WC for his position. I
>still haven't read the Augustine work Van Till relies upon, so I can't comment
>on that. I have read other sections of Augustine that seem to contradict the
>view, but until I read everything I must withhold judgment.
I have heard that Augustine expressed several different, not necessarily
compatible views on origins during the course of his life, so that's not
surprising. When reading anyone's reasoning you have to decide whether
it's sound on its own merits, not on the authority of the auther (unless
we're dealing of Scripture of course.) Did I point out that The Hexaemeron
(St. Basil's nine homilies on the creation) is available from the web?) I
downloaded it a while ago and have started reading it. I would recommend
you take a look at it too, since Howard's cites from it also. It looks
fairly readable.
It may be found at
ftp://ccel.wheaton.edu/ebooks/HTML/fathers/ECF31.TXT
Bill Hamilton | Chassis & Vehicle Systems
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