All Scripture Equal
HT Allen wrote, "If all scripture is equally scripture there would seem to be no problem. But 'all scripture' cannot be read at Sunday eucharistic celebration, if only because of time constraints, ... The question then becomes one of selectivity. And then the 'canon within the canon' looms."
All Scripture may be equal, but people do not treat all scripture equally. People are very selective in the parts of scripture which they read and accept. Some people disregard geneologies or comments on the construction of Temple or Tabernacle. Others disregard complete sections of the Bible as being old or no longer valid.
All Scripture may be equal, but people do not hear it equally. What people hear on Sunday mornings is a limited canon based on Texts. But it is also a limited canon based on Preaching. What do most preachers preach on? What is the text for the Sermon on Sunday mornings? Generally speaking it comes from the Gospel lesson.
Both these situations lead to different theological problems. Some limit the scope of the Bible and therefore, do not recognize all scripture as Scripture. Others limit the scope of teaching of the Bible and therefore, do not teach all scripture as Teachable Scripture. Thus, we need to look not only at what we say about scripture, but also we need to look at from which lections or texts we teach.
The more we can be cognitive of our own canon, the more we can be cognitive of our churches canon. All Scripture is Equal. This means that a geneology is just as important as Jesus raising from the dead. This means that Jesus healing of the bleeding woman is just as important as how many pools the tabernacle was made with. All Scripture is Equal. Right? Thank you.
All Scripture may be equal, but people do not treat all scripture equally. People are very selective in the parts of scripture which they read and accept. Some people disregard geneologies or comments on the construction of Temple or Tabernacle. Others disregard complete sections of the Bible as being old or no longer valid.
All Scripture may be equal, but people do not hear it equally. What people hear on Sunday mornings is a limited canon based on Texts. But it is also a limited canon based on Preaching. What do most preachers preach on? What is the text for the Sermon on Sunday mornings? Generally speaking it comes from the Gospel lesson.
Both these situations lead to different theological problems. Some limit the scope of the Bible and therefore, do not recognize all scripture as Scripture. Others limit the scope of teaching of the Bible and therefore, do not teach all scripture as Teachable Scripture. Thus, we need to look not only at what we say about scripture, but also we need to look at from which lections or texts we teach.
The more we can be cognitive of our own canon, the more we can be cognitive of our churches canon. All Scripture is Equal. This means that a geneology is just as important as Jesus raising from the dead. This means that Jesus healing of the bleeding woman is just as important as how many pools the tabernacle was made with. All Scripture is Equal. Right? Thank you.
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