Non-Negotiables…
What are the non-negotiables of orthodox Christian faith? Are there any? This is a question I feel is of extreme importance for any important theological discussion. It also has huge ramifications for someone like myself, who would adhere to the New Perspective on Paul. Is the classic lutheran view of justification by faith a non-negotiable doctrine (definition) as John Piper would say, even John McArthur. It is this kind of thinking that leads to books (one awaiting publishing from Piper) and a current one from John McArthur.
In McArthur’s book, which I have read twice, he attacks primariliy the emergent church, also throwing pot-shots at anyone who would be open for discussion of classic historical doctrines. I find Mcarthur to be an ignorant fool with modernity leaking out of every orafice in his body. It’s also extremely ironic that the same man who argues that many theologians and new Christians are too affected by postmodernity (culture) is the spokesmodel for the intellectual culture he grew up in. Which leads me back to the original question: Are there any non-negotiables in our faith?
It’s one thing to re-define justification, but what about re-examining Christ’s diety? Or the doctrine of the Trinity? Or should we even avoid the Third Quest for Jesus?? This was something that drove me insane for a couple of days before a talk with a good friend of mine. He holds to the belief that the Creeds of the Church hold the non-negotiables of the faith, particularly the Nicene-Constantinople Creed. When I pushed him on this issue he explained that it was because the same people who wrote the creeds to establish orthodoxy are the same ones who gave us Scripture; so in the same breath of faith that we trust the Holy Spirit through them for Scripture, we must trust them for orthodoxy. I read this yesterday and it caught my eye on this whole issue of interpretation :
“Every once in a while you’ll think, Wow! This was so brilliant it must be what the author of the Bible was thinking about. So you’ll take that idea, you’ll throw in an idea from over here, and ultimately emphasize the things you’re interested in. You’ll do what a long list of people before you have done, but you’ll do it today, in today’s thinking, society, culture, and circumstances… It’s a question of modesty. Why do religious people act the way they do? A lack of modesty. It’s what happened in Jerusalem with Christian cults planning to blow up the temple mount. It’s what happened in Israel with the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Some people read the text and suffer from a lack of modesty. They really believe they have all the answers. I know I don’t have all the answers, so I will try to understand the text, the commentaries, and will know that I will never have it completely right… If you’ll be modest, you’ll probably understand the text better, and there’s much less chance that you’ll do awful things in the name of God.” – Bruce Feiler, “Abraham”
Recommended Reading: N.T. Wright’s The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture
Love in Christ,
Mike
