Waiting for Gospel, by Douglas John Hall

Chapter 3 – Who Can Say It as It Is?

1.  This chapter is devoted to Karl Barth’s understanding of the Bible, which flows out of Tillich’s Protestant principle of God’s sovereignty.  After several pages of posturing and reminiscing (rambling) over his “Who’s Who” list of theological heavy-weights, Hall eventually arrives at Luther…who aptly voiced his opinion of the Bible by noting, “The Bible has a wax nose; you can twist it to whatever may be your preference…in noses!”  Hall adds, “Not the letter, but only the divine Spirit, acting upon the letter of Scripture, can establish the practical authority of the Bible in the church.”

So, let’s talk about noses a bit.  What does the wax nose on your Bible look like?  How is it different in shape, size, and function from those of other denominational schnozzles?  Are you satisfied with your nose?  Why or why not?

2.  In, The Bible as Word of God, Hall notes that Barth “would certainly have agreed with Luther who said, ‘Abandon Scripture, and you abandon yourself to the lies of men.’”  God’s Word, he says, is addressed to us in a threefold form: the word preached, the word written, and the word revealed or incarnate.  All three forms are required to hear the gospel and receive faith.  Like the Trinity, each of these forms needs the other.

How do you understand & experience the interaction of this threefold form of God’s Word?  Describe specific experiences.

3.  Zeroing in, Hall says, “If we want to state the matter straightforwardly, then we must say that the Bible is the primary and indispensable witness to God’s living Word, and therefore not to be treated as though it were the reality to which it bore witness.”  Then, quoting Barth, “And the direction in which it looks is to the living Jesus Christ.”  “Therefore, the Bible must remain something like the medium through which the sovereignty of the Christ is communicated to the body of Christ.”

If worship of the Bible itself (bibliolatry) is a flagrant misappropriation and abuse of Scripture and its authority, then why is it so prevalent among evangelical and fundamentalist branches of the church?  Why is it imperative that Christ alone remains the focus of our worship?

4.  Hall emphasizes that the Bible is a very human book, containing the words of human beings.  In other words, “What the Bible wants to say and tries to say cannot be said, not even by this highest authority concretely accessible to humankind.”  “The Bible denies us, in short, the quintessential religious temptation and quest…namely, for mastery through proximity to, or even control over, the master of the universe.” 

Citing a young Billy Graham’s self-righteous and demeaning sermonic declaration, “I’ve got it right here in the Bible,” Hall warns of the delusion of claiming any such thing for ourselves.  “For the Truth to which this book is pointing to infinitely transcends its own words.”  “The Bible is a sign whose function is to point to this living sign, Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection point us to the God by whom he is sent.”

And finally, “The Bible is to be taken with great seriousness, and studied, and made the basis of our preaching, and the guide to the church’s ongoing reformation of itself; but in the knowledge that it is a human book, however transcendent the message that it wants to convey to us.”

So…given these crucial parameters, what value is the Bible to you personally?  What value is the Bible in further shaping our faith communities?  How is the Bible evermore poised in our time to witness to the uncertainty/ambiguity of life and serve as a true companion along our spiritual journeys?