Brueggemann: Biblical Authority

Biblical Authority Essay The six facets that Brueggemann identifies in Biblical Authority are, inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration and importance. What Brueggemann says about inherency is no matter how many times you read or re read the bible you can always come up with a different way of thinking about a scripture. He says, “The bible is not a fixed, frozen, readily exhausted read; rather it is a script that you can always reread and the spirit makes things new.” There is not only one-way to think or interpret the bible, which makes it a very hot topic to talk about because there are so many views out in the world. When talking about the bible it is not important to reach the conclusion on the conversation it is important to start the conversation. Interpretation of the bible needs to be an open mind. Some people are going to think differently of the bible than you; but you have to keep an open mind because there is no right or wrong answer. You also have to forget what everyone else is telling you about the bible to be able to have your view and interpret what you think of it with the opinion of other people. The bible does not only have one view and as Brueggemann states, “The Bible requires human interpretation which is inescapably subjective.”

When using your imagination on the Bible it makes people nervous because you have to think about the fantasy and go in different directions nobody has heard of. He says that “Imagination is not a fantasy but, good-faith extrapolation.” I like when Brueggemann states, “That every serious teacher or preacher invites people to have an imagination. Without imagination we would have nothing to say.” To be able to understand something we have to take risks and be daring to push open that envelope and open up something we have never known