adrianwarnock.com Adrian Warnock
This Site:

Favorite Sites:



Thursday, June 23, 2005

A call for humble disagreements on theology


Eternal Perspectives: speaks of the ESV and admits his ignorance of the issues that translators consider carefully. He goes on to mention a specific case from Moo-

"Moo is saying, in essence, that he has made a choice about this particular passage but he understands that others see it differently. He stands by his choice and believes it to be the best approach when all the factors are taken into consideration. But he is not so presumptuous or arrogant to be dogmatic or to dismiss opposing views. He, an exegete of the first-order, understands the difficulties with the passage and respects those who come to different conclusions (e.g., C.E.B. Cranfield in this instance).

There is a valuable lesson for us all in Moo�s humility. Certainly we can choose to disagree, but we must be honest with ourselves and admit our ignorance and limitations. We must be cautious in passing judgment or presenting our opinions as though they are the final word in the matter.

Few of us could carry on a meaningful conversation with scholars such as Moo, the ESV translation committee, or other experts in this narrow discipline. That does not mean that we are not entitled to an opinion; it does mean that our opinions likely do not carry as much weight as those of the experts."


What our writer is calling for is some humility. It is our arrogance and pride that gets in the way of our listening correctly to insights from others studying the bible.

Sadly we are all too often like a group of four blind men who have come accross an elephant. "It is a tree!" crys one as he feels the leg. "Nonsense man it is a snake says the other feeling the trunk", "Nonsense man it is a fly flitting around says the other being gently brushed by the tail".

We may not be blind, but we do see in part and as such can gain from the insights of others who approach the elephant of Gods word from a different angle and thus describe what they see in very different terms from us. Some theological arguments are very much like that, and becoming entrenched and over systemising out view can lead us into division and heresy. I will speak some more of this tomorrow God willing.

Wayne of better bibles has a similar call

Labels:

More Headlines From This Blog
Back to homepage or visit the archive pages April 2003  May 2003  June 2003  July 2003  August 2003  September 2003  October 2003  November 2003  December 2003  January 2004  February 2004  March 2004  April 2004  May 2004  June 2004  July 2004  August 2004  September 2004  October 2004  November 2004  December 2004  January 2005  February 2005  March 2005  April 2005  May 2005  June 2005  July 2005  August 2005  September 2005  October 2005  November 2005  December 2005  January 2006  February 2006  March 2006  April 2006  May 2006  June 2006  July 2006  August 2006  September 2006  October 2006  November 2006  December 2006  January 2007  February 2007  March 2007  April 2007  May 2007  June 2007  July 2007  August 2007  September 2007  October 2007  November 2007  December 2007  January 2008  February 2008  March 2008  April 2008  May 2008  June 2008  July 2008 

25% Off Logos Bible Software

Add to Google Reader / Homepage

Subscribe via RSS feed or enter your email address here:

My Library

ADRIAN'S LINKS

In partnership with the Jollyblogger


WARNIE AWARD WINNERS


Reformed Charismatic Blogs

Other Links


BUY the Electronic Edition

YOUR ADVERT HERE


MY INTERVIEWS


Sermons on the Web


Previous Posts

Associated with

Small print

Opinions expressed in this blog are Adrian Warnock's alone, and do not represent the views of his church, employer or anyone else for that matter!

Material is often provided for your research purposes rather than as an endorsement. We ask you to report anything you see here or on a linked site that you feel may be inappropriate or may inadvertently breach copyright to adrian.warnock@gmail.com.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivs 2.0 England & Wales License.

ESV
Unless otherwise indicated, all bible quotations are from The English Standard Version © 2001, Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved. See my ESV Interview for more information

Services by:

Christianity Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

Powered by Blogger