Don, thank you for taking
the time to respond. (To Brian’s
article about the River East Borderland proposal.) I think the way
you interpreted my metaphor (which, admittedly, has shortcomings) reveals a
basic difference between our two different approaches to theological
reflection. In my thinking, there is only one conductor. There can be only one
conductor—Jesus.
All members of the metaphorical choir are subject
to the direction of the Great Conductor, and he is the one who calls the tune.
Our work is concerned with the task of playing our parts faithfully.
However presumptuous or arrogant it may seem for
me to insist that the established position represents what we believe to be the
direction of Jesus, in my view it is more problematic to consider the
implications of participating in a choir with multiple conductors, all of whom
are presuming to give leadership to the group.
It would be truly arrogant to insist on a
theological direction that originated in the ruminations of a group wielding
its own authority.
What MBs confess is the product of group reflection on what Scripture leads us to agree together. What has changed has changed for specific reasons, not because of the presumed inevitability of change itself.
On a related note, my working assumption about the nature of theology itself is that it is secondary reflection on God's self-revelation. It is not ultimately the product of human ingenuity, however sophisticated or well-intended.
So what I have argued is not a truth I presume to have invented or mastered. Rather, it is a truth to which I am bound to be subject, and I do not pretend to have any advantage over anyone else.
Brian Cooper is Associate Professor of theology at MB
Seminary.
