Two of the spiritual giants of the early church were Tertullian and Augustine. Tertullian was regarded as one of the best Christian thinkers of his day (c.160 – c225), just as Augustine was for his (354 – 430). Both were serious students of the scriptures, who exerted tremendous influence on the church’s beliefs and practices. And they didn’t agree.
Tertullian read his Bible, and concluded that a Christian couldn’t possibly be a soldier and go to war. Augustine read his Bible, and concluded that a Christian clearly could. And we would be hard-pressed to accuse either man of unfaithfulness.
Neither Tertullian nor Augustine were insensitive to the Holy Spirit. So, here we have two of the brightest Christians the world has ever known, reading the same Bible in the same place at roughly the same time in history, and winding up in complete opposite places. Personally, I find that reassuring.
It is been my experience through some years of ministry that equally committed and competent Christians can read their Bibles, and wind up in dramatically different places.
This has little or nothing to do with bad intensions or faulty interpretations, and almost everything to do with how the Bible characteristically teaches its truths. It was Dorothy Sayers who said that the Bible draws the lines on the field between which game of theology gets played. Tertullian and Augustine may have stood on opposite ends of that field, but both were still in the game because they played within the lines. And this means that we had better get ready for complexity and diversity rather than simplicity and uniformity when it comes to what the Bible has to teach us. The church must appreciate the complexity of Biblical truth, and respect this diversity of faithful conviction.
Theologian Gabriel Fackre has suggested that the two most important theological virtues for the church today are “modesty” and “mystery”. Debates about matters of faith and practice in the church too often are diminished by participants who think they alone have the right answer, and so refuse to enter into honest conversations with those with whom they disagree. We must be part of a church that has as one of its stated rules for the debates of issues in meetings that “the texts of resolutions must be phrased so as not to bring into question the Christian commitment of those who do not agree”.
An important part of what it means to be a disciple is the appreciation of this fact that equally committed believers reading the very same Bible with the very same intent of faithfulness can arrive at very different conclusions. And so, we must learn to accord to one another the “good faith assumption” that understands and appreciates the fact that those with whom we disagree on the most urgent questions of the day are just as serious and passionate about their faith as we are about ours. We must be a church that is big enough to include both a Tertullian and Augustine.
Therefore, the Bible is the book of authority as it teaches, instructs, charges and counsels people into a specific direction and/or lifestyle. This is a call not to be an authority unto yourself, but learn to submit to Biblical authority and to re-imagine as a united diverse church which is willing to confront the contemporary challenges society faces.