Book Review: Scripture and Disernment

Last updated on: January 27, 2011 at 11:57 pm by Billy Kangas

Book Review: Scripture and Disernment 2011-01-27T23:57:00-04:00 Billy Kangas

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What is the role of the Church in interpreting the scripture today? This question Luke Timothy Johnson tackles head on in his Scripture and Discernment.

Johnson brings an emphasis on ecclesiology which is badly needed in the discussion on scripture. Johnson belives, scripture is compiled and delivered by the church, but also is a guide and source for the church. Scripture communicates a story that informs and reforms. It tells a story about how church should make decisions. Johnson sees this in Acts 15 where, although he is skeptical of the historicity of the account, he believes it is a prophetic witness of how the church should make decisions, (pg 71-79) and by it’s inclusion into the life of the church, (canonization pg 35-38), it’s voice is heard as authoritative (pg 75).

Johnson believes scripture is not the only authority. In examining other passages in Acts (4:23-31; 6:1-6; 9:26-30; 10:1-48;11:1-18;14:26-15-35) Johnson makes it clear that he believes that the decisions made in a church are rooted in Holy Scripture AND in a community of faith that is led by God’s Spirit where issues that are not addressed in the scriptures, are attended to. In Acts the Apostles reinterpret the Hebrew Scriptures in ways that were never meant by the original authors in order to address a previously unforeseen situation (pg 85). Johnson believes that new ways forward should be done in obedience to the Holy Spirit as the community of faith tends to the story of faith (pg. 26) together.

Johnson thinks that this approach to scripture can find a possible way forward in the issue of homosexuality in the church. Although historically the Church has not seen homosexuality as a permissible Christian ethic, Johnson believes that this conviction was based on some assumptions that may not be true today. Although the scriptures clearly teach that Homosexuality is wrong, one can still move forward without abandoning scripture (pg 145). Johnson believes many homosexual relationships today are not grounded in a rebellion against natural law, but could be a genuine and natural expression of who indeviduals were created as (pg 146). Those who wish to explore this must be willing to bear a great burden of holiness (pg 126), which is a mark of God’s Spirit.

I really like most of what Johnson has to say in this work. I love that it finds a way to uphold scripture and give a framework in which the Church and the Holy Spirit are still needed for the church to exist and move forward. I find no major disagreements on his basic idea on how scripture and church are to live out the life of Faith in the Holy Spirit together. However when he gets into specifics sometimes he reads motives into biblical authors that I don’t think are sufficient. For example I think the issue of homosexuality has more nuance then Johnson makes it out to have (pg 145-146) it’s possible Paul was not only looking at natural order, but a spiritual order sanctified by God.

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