Kim in Christ's Body in Corinth is critical of modern biblical study's 'search for for pure or absolute truth' (page 12).
This raises a question for me; why do we expect to find absolute truth in scripture? For me it has always been about being challenged by scripture. I don't expect to find truths but questions; questions that help me be accountable.
My father and I used to argue about unity. My father was a Zen Buddhist and a Unitarian. He also fell in love with John's Gospel. Unity was very important to him. It was important that God is one and that all things are one. I could never get this, how can you have a conversation if there is only one?
The doctrine of the Trinity does not say God is really three, it says God is three in one. This means that somehow diversity can be found in the one God. We know 'it all started with a conversation' because we know that in the beginning there was the word. If there is only one, there is no need for words.
What do we mean when we say the Spirit has replaced the law? If we believe this, why do we seek law in scripture?
It seems to me this is a modern obsession with absolute truth. At one time scientists believed that soon they would know everything there is to know. Scientists no longer believe this, but it seems every religious faith does.
This modern insistence on absolute truth was challenged theologically by liberation theology and then by numerous contextual theologies. The churches have been led down a blind alley by both liberal theologians and fundamentalists. Both believe there is one truth out there, both would call me a relativist.
They would be wrong. Next time, I'll try to explain why.
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