On one hand, these efforts are well meaning as we struggle to work out our faith. Yet, the danger in these efforts is that we come to believe in our own truths instead of beginning with thee truth.
As a Wesleyan, we acknowledge that when we read scripture we do so using the tools of tradition, experience, and reason.
If I could add one more side to the quadrilateral it would be humility.
At one time in my life I thought that I could fully understand any and all scripture through diligent study and fervent prayer. Today I recognize that I understand very little. I went to seminary hoping to find the secret answers, I graduated with deeper questions.
Barth writes of the greatest limitation we face when reading scripture—ourselves:
Our concept of God and His Word can only be an indication of the limits of our conceiving… We cannot utter even a wretched syllable about the how of God’s Word unless the Word of God is spoken to us as God’s Word… It is for this reason and in this sense that we finally speak of the Word of God as the mystery of God.
May we embrace the mystery, live in humility, and begin all things upon the foundation of God’s Word.
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