by
VOW
When the VOW Board met in April, we reviewed carefully the Horizons Bible Study for 2004-2005, entitled What She Said: Quotable Women in Scripture, by Dale Lindsay Morgan. We reflected on the lessons in light of the evaluative questions that appeared in our March newsletter.
1. Does the author take the scriptural “context” seriously? That is to say, does she carefully note when the passage was written, why it was written, and to whom it was written? Further, does she set forth the clear and plain sense of the passage before she attempts to apply its meaning to the lives of women today?
2. Is there a contemporary political, philosophical or theological “agenda” that the author “reads into” her understanding of the text, or is the text allowed to speak for itself?
3. What speaks with the most authority to the author – the plain meaning of scripture itself, or other, extra-biblical sources?
4. Does the writer consistently write from a Trinitarian perspective, lifting up the one God who has been revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
5. What is the mission emphasis of the study? Does it hold up the person and work of Christ, and his power to transform individual lives, as of equal importance to political, social and economic change?
6. When you have finished studying each lesson, do you have a deeper understanding of what it means to be an obedient disciple of Jesus Christ?
We also considered the needs and concerns of the various women in our constituency. As a result we adopted the following statement:
On the whole, we are encouraged at the direction toward faithfulness to the biblical witness in this year’s study. Yet we are mindful that some things do need to be said to help women decide about using it. We know, for instance, that some women’s groups have not used Horizons in several years. This set of lessons will likely not change your minds. Some of you would like to study the same material as the rest of the PC(USA) women. Some of you are still trying to work with your pastors and Christian Education committees of Session toward a decision about which curriculum to use. We hope that the following suggestions will help you make a good decision.
We believe that the Horizons Bible Study, with some modifications, will be acceptable for use by many Presbyterian Women. We invite and encourage everyone to use the questions posted above as you engage in your own evaluative process.
For those who wish to use the Horizons study, we will post some suggestions for your consideration on our website, as well as some supplemental questions for each lesson.
For those who wish to study the same scripture lessons as the Horizons study, but prefer an alternative approach, we will also post lessons written by the Rev. Steve Bryant, as we have this year. These supplemental materials and alternative options should be available in early fall.
As always, we encourage those who use the Horizons material to voice their concerns directly to PW Horizons staff at 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY, 40202.