PRACTICAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Through engaging in the process of practical biblical interpretation, we seek understanding — of God, of ourselves, of God’s world, and of God’s will for our present lives. We cannot wait to act until we have perfect understanding. We are already acting in one way or another. We are already disciples on the way. The issue before us is only whether we are being faithful or not to the One who created and called us. Act we must, and we cannot wait for perfect understanding because such perfection never comes in this life. “For now we see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12). So we attend together as best we can to our present situation, to the Scriptures, and to the voices of tradition and others. And we act on the basis of the best understanding we can discern, praying that the Holy Spirit might illumine our minds and hearts. © 1993, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.