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AR 24:39 - Who Says You're Dead?
In this issue:
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION - the "watershed choice" and the Golden Rule
BIOETHICS - this accessible collection of real-life medical dilemmas "provides plenty of food for thought"
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - "a reasoned, balanced, gospel-centered approach"
Apologia Report 24:39 (1,447)
October 4, 2019
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
"Whose Interpretation Is It Anyway?" by Donald T. Williams (Professor of English, Toccoa Falls College, Georgia) <donaldtwilliams.com> -- succinct and sharp.
"Students will say things to an English professor in the cafeteria that they would not say on their hermeneutics exam to their Bible professor. This student maintained that the doctrine of inerrancy of Scripture *was meaningless* because once revelation is inscripturated, it becomes language, which is open to interpretation." [In other words, this is what college students are picking up from secular educators.]
Williams responds: "Just because it isn't always easy to tell what a text means, it doesn't follow that it has no objectively determinable meaning. ... In inspiration, the Holy Spirit guided the human authors [of Scripture] to choose ... particular words, in those particular grammatical constructions, in those specific literary and historical contexts, as those that could convey His message accurately. Therefore, when we interpret the biblical writings accurately by those specific clues, we can have confidence that we know what God says, and that it is true."
A key issue that's in the background: "an influence is not a determinism." In this case, for this student "and many of her contemporaries, *a text has no meaning until it is interpreted.* None. The meaning is not in the text waiting for the reader to discover it; rather it is up to the reader to confer the meaning onto the text. ...
"This girl had not read any postmodern theory, but she had absorbed its radical subjectivism from her culture so thoroughly that she didn't need to. [W]e can be erudite and question with American literary theorist Stanley Fish whether there is a text in this class; or we can be naive and object, 'Well, that's just *your* interpretation!' It makes no difference. ... Does the text, through its diction, grammar, structure, and contexts, make demands on the interpreter to which he is obligated to submit, or is it just a convenient playing field for his own intellectual gymnastics? That is the watershed choice that faces us. ...
"This is the choice we all must make. But our students increasingly have already made it without knowing or understanding why. ...
"How can we overcome it? First, we must not become discouraged about making logical arguments." Because we can use logic to "reflect our partner's statements back in ways that are obviously inaccurate." Examples are provided. "They cannot live by their subjectivist hermeneutic without painting themselves into an intolerable corner. They may want to put you in such a corner, but they will not be willing to live there themselves.
"From this realization may come an appreciation for the hermeneutical Golden Rule: interpret others as you would have them interpret you. ... We may not have to reduce meaning to authorial intention, but we had better make it foundational to whatever meaning we find, or else we should just keep quiet.
"At least, that's *my* interpretation." Christian Research Journal, 42:2 - 2019, pp6-7.
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BIOETHICS
Who Says You're Dead? Medical & Ethical Dilemmas for the Curious & Concerned, by Jacob M. Appel [1] -- Kirkus reports that "in a series of 79 short takes drawn from news headlines, medical literature, and his own background as a psychiatrist, professor of bioethics, and director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry at Mount Sinai <www.bit.ly/2pFj5Op> ... The author presents each scenario in a succinct paragraph ... followed by a discussion that includes current laws, regulations, or policies, which, he is quick to point out, may be nonexistent or vary from state to state." In doing so, Appel illustrates that "bioethical issues have only gotten more complex as technology accelerates."
The publisher's description helps here: "What would you do? A daughter gets tested to see if she's a match to donate a kidney to her father. The test reveals that she is not the man's biological daughter. Should the doctor tell the father? Or the daughter? A deaf couple prefers a deaf baby. Should they be allowed to use medical technology to ensure they have a child who can't hear? Who should get custody of an embryo created through IVF when a couple divorces? Or, when you or a loved one is on life support, Who says you're dead? ...
"Appel unpacks each hypothetical with a brief reflection drawing from science, philosophy, and history, explaining how others have approached these controversies in real-world cases. Who Says You're Dead? is designed to defy easy answers and to stimulate thought and even debate among professionals and armchair ethicists alike."
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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America, by Luke W. Goodrich [2] -- Publishers Weekly: "Goodrich - attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty <becketlaw.org> who has argued and won multiple cases at the Supreme Court, including the 2014 case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby - explains the current state of religious liberty in his instructive debut. For Goodrich, American openness to all religious practice, founded on the principle that 'the government, within reasonable limits, leaves religion alone as much as possible,' promotes good works while protecting the rights of dissenters. Drawing on both legal doctrine and biblical lessons, he provides analysis of five divisive issues - religious discrimination, abortion rights, gay rights, the unfounded fear of Islam, and use of the public square - and encourages readers to look for ways to protect all sides of any deeply held moral question. For instance, he explains how Christians should embrace the religious freedom of Muslims as a sign of a free culture of evangelism. American society should also, Goodrich argues, 'aim for a public square that neither promotes religion nor suppresses it, but instead welcomes religion as an essential part of human culture.' Christian Supreme Court watchers will get the most out of Goodrich's lucid exploration of American religious freedoms."
WaterBrook Press adds that "younger Christians in particular, are tired of the culture wars, and they wonder whether courtroom battles are truly worthwhile, or even in line with the teachings of Jesus. Luke Goodrich offers a reasoned, balanced, gospel-centered approach to religious freedom. He applies biblical understanding to a number of the most hot-button cultural issues of our day. He also offers practical steps Christians can take to respond to religious freedom conflicts in an informed, responsible, and graceful way."
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Who Says You're Dead? Medical & Ethical Dilemmas for the Curious & Concerned, by Jacob M. Appel (Algonquin, 2019, hardcover, 352 pages) <www.amzn.to/2nAkrsG>
2 - Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America, by Luke W. Goodrich (Multnomah, 2019, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.amzn.to/2o6WNEv>
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