“Without proper hermeneutical context, it’s very easy for a modern American, for example, to read Scripture eisegetically”. This is an enormous chunk of teaching that the IFB movement, especially, is lacking. My belief is that they avoid cultural context and language origins so as not to look too closely at the KJV, and even begin to consider (God forbid 🫢) that the KJV may not be the only inspired Word.
“all things necessary for salvation are taught in the Bible sufficiently clearly for believers to find it and understand it and that the church (not an individual or even a particular group of individuals) is its interpreter.” The disconnect here, at least for fundamentalists, is one’s definition of ‘church’. The IFB (at least the IFB churches I have attended), defines the Church as only fundamentalists who have the same “standards and convictions” that they have. Even different factions of fundamentalists are not in agreement and would not consider each other part of the Church.
“Without proper hermeneutical context, it’s very easy for a modern American, for example, to read Scripture eisegetically”. This is an enormous chunk of teaching that the IFB movement, especially, is lacking. My belief is that they avoid cultural context and language origins so as not to look too closely at the KJV, and even begin to consider (God forbid 🫢) that the KJV may not be the only inspired Word.
“all things necessary for salvation are taught in the Bible sufficiently clearly for believers to find it and understand it and that the church (not an individual or even a particular group of individuals) is its interpreter.” The disconnect here, at least for fundamentalists, is one’s definition of ‘church’. The IFB (at least the IFB churches I have attended), defines the Church as only fundamentalists who have the same “standards and convictions” that they have. Even different factions of fundamentalists are not in agreement and would not consider each other part of the Church.
Very helpful overview of the issues involved. My MA thesis looked at how the Reformers valued the writings of the church fathers and the ecumenical creeds. Important for us to remember: https://repository.up.ac.za/items/5bba1891-7fec-4c06-b8ea-3b65e649d7f0
Very good post. Well expressed.