I have been wanting to write an article about how “the Reformed and literal hermeneutic proved inadequate to address the injustice of chattel slavery in America,” which is a sobering example of how a “‘flat’ or literalist reading of the Bible, and Paul’s letters in particular, can be wielded by the powerful to harm and/or preserve the status quo.” Then I discovered that my friend Jane Anne Tucker had already done so, better than I could.
Great Article. Thanks so much for sharing this. I continue to learn more and more about the American Interpretation of the Bible and it is scary how things never change. We lean into verses that justify what we want to believe. I appreciate the writings of those who are debunking this approach to interpreting the Bible.
I have been working on flat readings of texts in the Reformed tradition that buttress the authority and prestige of the "special office." Just as flat readings can incline us to demean our neighbor, they can also be used to elevate us to godlike status. Take, for example, the Reformed reading of Matthew 16:19 expounded in the Westminster Confession of Faith 30.2:
"To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require." The power claimed by ordained "officers" over their neighbor reaches to the heavens. I believe Janet is so right --- "We lean into verses that justify what we want to believe," verses that degrade the ones we are called to love as ourselves and to esteem as better than ourselves as well as verses that exalt us.
Great Article. Thanks so much for sharing this. I continue to learn more and more about the American Interpretation of the Bible and it is scary how things never change. We lean into verses that justify what we want to believe. I appreciate the writings of those who are debunking this approach to interpreting the Bible.
Thankful for the guest article….great work!!
Thank you so much for sharing this article with us.
Excellent and heartbreaking 💔 Thank you for sharing.
I have been working on flat readings of texts in the Reformed tradition that buttress the authority and prestige of the "special office." Just as flat readings can incline us to demean our neighbor, they can also be used to elevate us to godlike status. Take, for example, the Reformed reading of Matthew 16:19 expounded in the Westminster Confession of Faith 30.2:
"To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require." The power claimed by ordained "officers" over their neighbor reaches to the heavens. I believe Janet is so right --- "We lean into verses that justify what we want to believe," verses that degrade the ones we are called to love as ourselves and to esteem as better than ourselves as well as verses that exalt us.
Yeah, a minister could use that statement to justify all kinds of abuse and power-tripping. Good point.