Hermeneutic of Humility?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:11 pm by Tony Jones

Hermeneutic of Humility? 2015-03-13T17:11:28-05:00 Tony Jones

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Daniel Henderson, “Keys to a Fruitful Life,” preached at Grace Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, November 5, 2006. Available here:

“Friends, it’s not an easy world in which to stand up for truth, is it? We’re in a society that doesn’t even believe that truth exists: ‘Ah, well, if it works for you, it’s true for you; if it works for me, it’s true for me. Let’s just all find our own way’…Within Christianity today there’s a big movement—it has some good and some bad to it—called the ‘emergent movement.’ One of the great dangers of this movement is what they call a ‘hermeneutic of humility.’ ‘Hermeneutic’ is the science of interpreting scripture, and, of course, the idea of humility. And the basic idea is, ‘Let’s not be too clear, too dogmatic, too strong about what we believe. I mean, how do we know we’re really right, you know?’ And in a sense, it’s giving into the conflict of society, giving in to the pressure of the culture to say, ‘Well, you know, absolute truth, we’re not sure, so let’s just be really humble about the way we communicate it.’

“That is a complete, dramatic antithesis to what you read in this passage.[1]

“Friends, I wanna tell you, how many of you raised successful kids by telling them only what they wanted to hear their entire life? Anybody? I didn’t think so. It doesn’t work that way, does it? ‘I want Lucky Charms for dinner!’ ‘No, you’ve got to eat your spinach,’ you know. ‘I don’t feel like going to school.’ ‘Well, just stay home, it’s no big deal; you know, education’s overblown…’

“You know, that’s not how you raise successful kids, is it? You tell them not what they want to hear but what they [pause] need to hear.”

“Friends, it’s the same in all of our lives…If you wanna to be a person of influence, you’ve got to stand for something.”

[1] He’s talking, at this stage in the sermon, about 1 Thessalonians 2:2b, “but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.”

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