AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:10:00 PM ----- BODY:

I just finished reading almost 80 different journal entries from the students in my Romans/Galatians classes as they reflected on an article that NT Wright wrote on biblical authority. Here's a great quote from one of my students, "As Wright suggested, no list of rules or facts about the Universe is authoritative. Something is made authoritative by how it works, how it functions. John Deer is authoritative not because farmers read its statistics on paper, but because their machines work. Sherpas that climb Mt. Everest and carry others packs are in a sense authoritative not because they passed medical tests and training, but because they have actively proved their worth. I think it is the same with scripture. Scripture's worth and authority is proved through its readers. God has shown his willingness to make a human book by investing the writing and reading in fallible humans. So we, as fallible humans, see the poetic impact of an imperfect Bible starring an imperfect cast. Moreover, we share in the narrative struggle of that cast by largely struggling with their overarching delimma-we are in bondage, we need to be set free. Authority is also given to those who change things. A boss has authority because they can change the rules. A leader has authority because they can change a vision. A parent has authority because they can change bedtime, desert priveliges and dirty diapers. The authority of scripture and of a living God comes through the daily life, lived out in story, of people who are changed. The greatest authority of the Bible is in its changed readers. So here is my question for NT Wright and for myself. What evidence is there that scripture and life with a living God have changed my life?" Good huh? If only we spent more time asking how the power of scripture has changed lives versus how many facts can be defended scientifically or how many propositional truths/timeless principles we can glean out of it - we would be in much better shape as Christ-followers. A couple of other quotes of interest: "Is it possible to be so sound that you are sound asleep?" NT Wright "My experience is that the bible is used to tidy people up" Student comment "The point of the Bible is that it is one way that God is inviting us into Him" Student comment "The bible wasn't written just to make us feel good...was it? Student comment "People use of the bible is similar to a 14 year old with dad's corvette - we know how to open it up and make it run but we are immature and uneducated users of something designed to be truly amazing" Student comment The issue of scripture is God. The ultimate reality in life is God. The ultimate authority is God. The only truth is God. Get the point? It's all about God...all the rest is just conversation! Important conversation, but conversation nonetheless!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West COMMENT-DATE:6:19 PM COMMENT-BODY:wow. I'm stunned and slightly envious. What a wise student. And what great questions. I think really often, we look at the bible as this thing to figure out so that we can find the right formula to live by, but I like this idea that it is bigger-- like i just keep getting this sense in my own life that I am just way too small to wrap my mind around this book of God's, but i think its more effective if we just let go and allow God to penetrate our hearts with what he is saying-- and then it will penentrate our lives. What great stuff. I agree with Ashley-- how cool it would be to be in one of your classes, but I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of your far-away lives from here. Thanks for letting me a be a part!

Heidi --------