Stephen a Beale

Both-And Stephen a Beale

"The truth is that we all have different sets of 'clear' and 'unclear' passages."All Christian denominations use an exegetical principle which is most often described as "use the clear verses of Scripture to interpret the unclear verses." Unfortunately, that always leaves them in the position of having to "spin" the verses that don't seem to agree with their theology on the surface. This produces the sad state affairs that all of Christendom is founded on spin control. This book offers a different perspective. We seek, first of all, to understand our brothers and sisters by recognizing their bedrock principles. We then move beyond the clear/unclear exegetical principle to a new and more Biblical model: allowing the Bible to say what it says. And then rejoice and learn at the new wonders this attitude brings us. This new principle can often be summed up as "Both-And." It is not a call to a politically correct "acceptance." Rather it is a call to a difficult and sometimes perplexing challenge to simply allow the Bible to say what it says - even when it seems to contradict our ideas or even itself. This book takes a practical approach to examining several key doctrines. We hope that it re-opens the Bible's key messages to you in new and personal ways.