Theologian has pessimistic opinion about denomination
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, February 21, 2001
LOUISVILLE, Ky.– Shirley Guthrie, a Presbyterian professor of theology, says the Presbyterian Church (USA) is “falling apart” over “these little trivial debates.” That conclusion was part of Guthrie’s response to a question that was asked after he spoke Feb. 19 to a joint meeting of the Committee of the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council.
William Maloney, moderator of the Committee of the Office of the General Assembly, asked Guthrie at the end of a question-answer session, ” What do you see the living God doing here and now?”
“We’re falling apart,” Guthrie said. “Maybe God is saying no to what we are doing in these little trivial debates in the church while hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death.
“Could it just be that our issues are a way of escaping what the issues are? What did God say to Israel? I’m sick and tired of you and I’m not even going to listen to your prayers any more. Do justice and then come around.
“I don’t have a great deal of hope for our church. In a way, I never have. It’s been one crisis after another. But I do have a lot of hope in the God we confess. And so there may even be hope for us.”
Rules of interpretation
Guthrie’s pessimism was a departure from the tone of his presentation to the denomination’s elected and staff leadership. He spoke on Biblical interpretation, citing what he identified as the “rules of interpretation” that he had gleaned from the denomination’s confessional and the Reformed tradition.
He said he fully expected to raise the hackles of both liberals and conservatives, and he earned his keep.
Without specificity, at one point Guthrie, long-time member of the faculty at Columbia Theological Seminary, identified as one of the interpretive taboos any discrimination against people of different “sexual orientation.” But he also stressed an evangelical emphasis: that the first rule of Scriptural interpretation should be to use Scripture itself.
“I believe that if we’re going to be faithful to our Reformed tradition, here is where we have to begin: with faith in our living Triune God. We cannot begin with the unquestioned acceptance of orthodox theology or moral absolutes … or with moral or spiritual renewal. … or with the ideals of justice, compassion and inclusiveness in the world.”
Guthrie’s rules for interpretation were:
1. “Scripture interprets itself. It is the very central rule for interpretation. When we encounter a difficult passage, we must compare it with other passages that throw more light or different light on the matter. This rule is a safeguard against the tendency of all of us – that we ought not to only quote passages of Scripture that confirm what we already think and want the Bible to say. It is also a warning that it is the Word of God we want to hear and not just the echo of our own opinions.”
2. “Scripture is to be interpreted in light of God’s central revelation in Jesus Christ. This is especially helpful in light of interpretation of the role of women in society or justice. How did Jesus do it?”
3. “Follow the law of love. This is mentioned in all of the confessions in the 16th century, but by the time you get to confessions in the 17th century, when people were fighting, the rule of love lost out. No interpretation with hostility, contempt or indifference toward any person can be a right interpretation.”
4. “The rule of faith with respect for the church’s essential tenets.” He warned against “confusing interpretation by the Holy Spirit with our own biases.”
5. “Respect for literary and historical context. This encourages us to discern the Word and work of God for our time in a book written by and for ancient Mideastern people. This rule also invites Reformed Christians, as we have done in dealing with the ordination of women, to distinguish the will of God for all people in all times from what may have been God’s will in another time but no longer applies to us.”
Christians ‘not called to take Jesus … to the world’
Guthrie said faithful interpretation of Scripture “is to ask not just what God did say and do a long time ago, but to ask what the living God is saying or doing even now. God did not just speak a long time ago and then retire.
“All Reformed confessions agree that it is the living Triune God. Faith in the living Triune God gives us the most fundamental guideline we should use, not only in our conversations in the church but also outside the church.”
Guthrie said Christians are “not called to take Jesus or package or sell Jesus to the world. We are called to go out and meet the Lord who is already there. Faithful Christians will recognize the work of our Lord wherever we see the work of our Lord going on, including among people who do know our Lord.”
The way, the truth and the life
Peter Pizor, chairman of the General Assembly Council, asked Guthrie what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” The question reflected the essence of an issue before the council: how to respond to a peacemaking conference speaker who suggested there are many valid paths to God.
Guthrie said, “The biggest problem the church faces in our time is how we’re going to be faithful in a pluralistic society – faithful without being arrogant, intolerant, we’re right and you’re wrong.
“We Christians believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. I like to say it as good news, and not lay down a gauntlet. Jesus did not say that Christianity, the Christian religion or Christians are the way, the truth or the life. How can any of us say that in light of the inquisition? The God we believe in is not the possession of us Christians.
“The very narrow gate is this man Jesus … He is our entrée to who God is. There is that scandal of particularity about the Christian faith. Once you see that particular particularity, it opens wide the faith.”