Tendency: To outline one solid full-truth interpretation of the Bible and God (AKA Having a narrow, simple and rigid hermeneutic)
Result: By Making Christianity based on one all encompassing true hermeneutic that is seeped in heavy theological/Biblical concepts, the unwritten unconscious message is “There really is no hermeneutic so enjoy life!”
Which seems contradictory but let me explain:
If you have a rigid set of rules to follow and very singular beliefs to possess in order to be a Christian or to belong to a certain denomination, then that also means you are free to not worry about anything else in life.
You see, when people are free to choose their own destiny, they go mad. It’s hard to choose a set of rules to follow for one self. Life can’t be enjoyed because there are so many ramifications for one’s own choice. So it’s easier to just abide by a few simple rules that really have no bearing on much of life given by a church than to choose for one’s self. People act like giving up standards or a theological position is a compromise or an easy way out. No, it’s much harder. Because when one gives up a religious standard they must face what they were avoiding when they were part of a particular religious belief system: You are responsible for yourself and what you do.
So if Christianity speaks to itself only about a holy lifestyle and what you need to do to go to heaven then it let’s everything else go unhinged…..It’s easier have a Christianity that only deals with Biblical issues and leaves the other fields of interaction that we live out on a daily basis free to do whatever we want with (e.g. family, politics, psychology, work, etc…). Because if Christianity became that robust to speak to the other ways of interaction then it would “profane” the Truth.
So instead the church sticks to narrow issues and gives the rest of life outside of church a free pass from inspection and interrogation under the radicality of Christianity which should truly encompass every facet of our lives.
We need a Christianity that speaks to abstract/concrete reality in every element of our life.
This of course is a difficult and threatening task. It means we have to risk translation. It means we have to get past the standard “is it in the Bible?” minimalist Christianity that only lives on a few rules and has a theology of some sort…… We have to be extrabiblical and this is scary.
But I should mention… the whole “is it in the Bible” nonsense is an extrabiblical construction as is. Just one more narrow hermeneutic to live by so we don’t have to engage with the more difficult things in life: Like taking responsibility for your own life.
Theology of Dunces 