wfn.org | LWI 2009-024 Marginal Readings of Bible Help Discern New Way of Being Church

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Marginal Readings of Bible Help Discern New Way of Being Church
Diversity in the Bible Is Great Treasure for Lutheran Communion

AUGSBURG/GENEVA, 30 March 2009 (LWI) – "In our day-to-day work
of theologizing we hardly take seriously the concerns of our
partners from different contexts," emphasized Dr Monica J.
Melanchthon, professor at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College in
Chennai, India, on 27 March in Augsburg, Germany. 

Speaking to some 120 participants at the Lutheran World
Foundation (LWF) consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran
Churches – Transformative Perspectives and Practices,"
Melanchthon explored the topic "Marginal Readings: Implications
for the Lutheran Communion." 

"The first and foremost issue that is central to marginal
readings of the Bible is the context of the interpreter,"
Melanchthon claimed. "These readings challenge the community to
discern a new way of being church," she added. It is important to
realize that "theologians are called to see the revelation of God
shining in the faces of others, those who are different."

How biblical theology can be made more relevant for the life of
Lutheran churches all over the world was the issue taken up by
Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the United
Evangelical Mission (VEM) in Wuppertal, Germany, in a lecture on
27 March. 

In Mwombeki's opinion, the hermeneutic of resonance is the best
way of making biblical theology relevant worldwide. "But biblical
theology can be relevant only if it is resonant with the text,
with the confessions, with the aspirations and identity of the
church as well as with the sociocultural situation of the
readers," the Tanzanian theologian stated. 

In a keynote lecture, Rev. Dr Dean Zweck from the Australian
Lutheran College in Adelaide, Australia, asserted that "in the
light of the gospel, our theology and practice, our faith and
life, can be deeply enriched and made more relevant as we hear
one another interpret the Bible in our different contexts in the
unique global communion of faith in which we as Lutherans
belong." 

At the same time, Zweck insisted, this will mean encountering
not only "affirmation and appropriation, but sometimes also
refutation. This calls for wisdom, for discerning what God wants
to give us not only in God’s word, but also in God’s world."

In her presentation on the topic "Diversity in the Bible as a
Model for Lutheran Hermeneutics," Dr Barbara Rossing from the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Illinois, USA, argued
that "diversity in the Bible is a great treasure that we very
much need for mission and ministry today." 

Rossing stressed that "when responsible biblical scholars
disagree" perhaps the crucial question was "whether and on what
issues diversity must be church-dividing." She claimed that
scholars "have not been persuasive in making the case that
canonical diversity can be a blessing for people in the pews." 

Over 120 theologians from more than 30 countries are taking part
in the consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches:
Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today" in Augsburg,
Germany, under the auspices of the LWF Department for Theology
and Studies (DTS). The 25 to 31 March meeting, held in
collaboration with the Institute of Protestant Theology of the
University of Augsburg, is the culmination of the DTS study
program "Theology in the Life of the Church," which has been
ongoing since 2004.

The main lectures are available in English as PDF files on the
LWF website:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DTS/TLC_Augsburg/Presentations.html

>*        *          *

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