Your answer is really interesting, but I think that it’s avoiding the question.
It’s undoubtedly true that the Gospel speaks to people in all cultures, but do you actually believe that there are no transcendent truths that apply to all cultures? The epistles of Paul constantly warn the early church of false believers who appear to be true children of light. And we can tell that these people are false believers, Paul says, because we have the law, the Word of God, which contains transcendent (TRANSCENDENT!) truths.
The Gospel can be translated into all languages, but doesn’t the essential message stay the same? Again, your answer was interesting, but I think it could lead to a kind of “I’m ok, you’re ok” Christianity. You can’t just let cultures interact with the ideas of the Gospel without some kind of absolute truth as a guide. That’s why seminary students learn to read the languages in which the Bible was originally written—to fully understand the truths of the Bible, you must understand the culture for which it was originally written.
Andrew
Jul 26 2003
08:01 am
Your answer is really interesting, but I think that it’s avoiding the question.
It’s undoubtedly true that the Gospel speaks to people in all cultures, but do you actually believe that there are no transcendent truths that apply to all cultures? The epistles of Paul constantly warn the early church of false believers who appear to be true children of light. And we can tell that these people are false believers, Paul says, because we have the law, the Word of God, which contains transcendent (TRANSCENDENT!) truths.
The Gospel can be translated into all languages, but doesn’t the essential message stay the same? Again, your answer was interesting, but I think it could lead to a kind of “I’m ok, you’re ok” Christianity. You can’t just let cultures interact with the ideas of the Gospel without some kind of absolute truth as a guide. That’s why seminary students learn to read the languages in which the Bible was originally written—to fully understand the truths of the Bible, you must understand the culture for which it was originally written.