Listening to the Religion Report last week I heard Jewish ethicist Avraham Steinberg say...
we approach the issue case by case, and will build up towards the principles, rather than having a principled approach which is the current secular approach. In the Western society at large, they look on four or five principles and they apply it almost automatically on each case. Whereas the Jewish approach looks at the case specifically with its nuances and special characteristics, and builds up towards the principles. This can cause a lot of differences in the end outcome
Working from cases towards a principal is something I think Xy doesn't do much of. Although there are times when Jesus & Paul espoused ethical principals there are many more times when Jesus & Paul dealt with issues purely on a case by case basis, and perhaps we have quickly assumed that these are general principals rather than one of many cases from which we might start to derive a general principals. Paul's lack of condemnation of slavery in Ephesians is one example.
With many Xns obsession with proof texts perhaps we miss what the Bible is saying and only hear one persons understanding of just one text.
5 comments:
This is the only I can reconcile some of Paul's words, such as "I do not allow women to speak" vs. his obvious respect for women he had worked with in the Church.
It is definately a major outcome for me from my studies this trimester. I've been doing a unit on the 'Pauline Literature' and what has DEFINATELY stood out to me is that it really looks like he treated each church, each situation, afresh. He looked at what the surrounding stuff was, what the issues were, and worked it out based on that case.
Very interesting indeed!
Hey Chris I heard the same interview and thought immediately of the idea of 'binding and loosing', the practice of ethical discernment which Jesus called us to and gave us authority to. We became too Greek somewhere along the line.
Hey Guys thanks for the comments.
Jimmie, I did a post about Women and Church and Paul a few years a go if you are interested - its a bit long winded see.
Middo, where abouts are you studying.
Everyone else but Nathan, If you're lost to what 'binding and loosing' means check out Nathan's excellent summary of Body Politics and The Politics of Jesus.
Hey Chris
I have just completed my bachelor at the Australian College of Ministries (and boy am I glad to finish:D)
The Pauline Literature unit was definately very interesting!
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