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“We Want to Do What Is Right in the Eyes of God”
Rev. Dr Robin Steinke
Voices from the Communion on Reading the Bible Together
The LWF Department for Theology and Studies has launched a consultation series to promote common, communion-building approaches to biblical interpretation ahead of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017.
Rev. Dr Robin Steinke, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, took part in the first consultation in Nairobi, Kenya.Lutheran World Information talked to her about the challenges of hermeneutics and her expectations of the meeting.
How are you contributing to this meeting?
I am part of a group of listeners “crafting” a statement reflecting the ideas arising from the discussions.
I am trying to take fairly careful notes so that we can get a sense of how the conversation is unfolding.
What challenges does this topic face in today’s world?
The whole idea of a Lutheran hermeneutics attends the way in which we read the Bible, interpret the texts and the contexts and live in God’s grace for the sake of the world.
We would not need this kind of consultation if the interpretation of the Bible were straightforward and simple.
This consultation brings scholars together from around the globe, some of whom have very carefully presented papers that identify ways the biblical witness translates to the work of the communion and the member churches.
We have started to work on a definition of hermeneutics that is intelligible and easily understood beyond the academic community.
What criteria or issues must we be attentive to when asking how the Bible informs our common service and action in the world? I think we need a plan for how to continue that conversation and build capacity around the communion for continuing to engage in that conversation.
It is not something we are going to solve in three days, but I think neither can it be something that ends here.
What are your expectations of this meeting?
What I am hoping for and envisioning is a kind of interactive process that might even begin on the LWF Web site, where we can continue to add resources suitable for different audiences.
We need concrete ways to engage in this conversation, to think carefully beyond our own contexts, and to take seriously and honor with humility how other traditions read and interpret the Bible, because I think everybody around the table wants to do what is right in the eyes of God.
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