Mapless Journeys and a Faith that has Lost its Nerve

Today a quote via Andrew Perriman from a great little essay by William Stacy Johnson. Indeed, the whole collection of essays is well worth a read. I got the book on my birthday in 2003. It’s a great addition to some excellent books and collections of essays on reading scripture and hermeneutics

“…It is time that we recognized this foundationalist way of thinking for what it is. In its Christian guise, it represents not the strength of faith but the result of a faith that has lost its nerve. The Christian Scriptures set themselves up not so much as truth claims to be defended by philosophical foundations but as witnesses to the transforming power that no truth claim itself can contain. The gospel is not a “foundation” to render our traditional notions of rationality secure but a remaking of everything, including rationality itself…”

William Stacy Johnson, "Reading the Scriptures Faithfully in a Postmodern Age", in Davis, E.F. and Hays, R.B. (eds.), The Art of Reading Scripture, 112.

 

Comments

[Bob Carlton]

what a great quote, Paul - imagine the impact in our faith communities if we all looked at Scripture as "a witnesses to the transforming power that no truth claim itself can contain"

[steve]

Great book. I use is a core text in a course I run called "Living the text." I find it most useful in helping folk work with the difficult texts of Scripture,

steve taylor