I'm in Good Company

Andrew Wilson is doing an interesting series over at the NewFrontiers thelogy website on one of the paradoxes in the Church, namely: if Christians really believe in the authority and clarity of the Bible, why do they disagree (and fall out) so much about what they think it's really saying?

It's a good question.

As he writes, he cites examples of things he has publicly taught in the past which have turned out to be plain wrong...

I, for example, have already believed, and taught, lots of things that I have since discovered were based on wrong or very unreliable evidence, ranging from the trivial (the rope around the high priest’s leg when he went into the Most Holy Place), to the potentially quite important (Gehenna was a rubbish dump in Jesus’ day, which explains the language he uses about it), as well as several interpretations of texts that I would never advance now (Hebrews 10:26-31 is threatening Christians with a loss of reward). It’s not just me: DA Carson cited a whole bunch of his own blunders in his book Exegetical Fallacies, and one friend of mine tells me that in Terry Virgo’s early days, he preached that when we worship God, “we literally make him bigger”, so I’m in good company. Following Tom Wright, then, I now tell people on training courses I run that some chunks of what I teach them will be false – it’s just that I don’t know which chunks they are, or I would change them.

I can think of a few of my own and sympathize with his pain, no doubt there are others I haven't seen yet and so ask for your continued patience! :-S

Most of all, I'm glad that my standing before God is not based on my theological correctness (perceived or otherwise), but on Christ's compassionate and indestructible righteousness.

Full article and food for thought here.