Peter Leithart writing at First Things writes, "Treating Scripture as a directory of moral lessons or compendium of
moral rules assumes a constricted view of moral practice and reasoning.
We don’t pursue virtue simply by applying general principles to
particular situations, and true morality is never simply
obedience to commandments. Practical morality requires the ability to
assess situations accurately, memory of our own past patterns of action
and of others’ inspiring examples, and enough moral imagination to see
how a potential tragedy might become the birthplace of unforeseen
comedy.
"Scripture is ethical paedeia, not an ethics
manual. All Scripture is practical because God breathed all of it to
form people, both individuals and community. God tells stories to stock
our memory with a common moral past that projects his people into the
future. God’s word expands our imagination to grasp more of what’s
really there and to envision what might be there in the future. The
Bible is useful because it opens our eyes, and because it’s highly
impractical to walk through life with our eyes closed."
May we all learn to understand Scripture from a historical-redemptive viewpoint, rather than a series of unrelated tales of adventure teaching us how to be better people.
Read the rest here.
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