However, in [trusting and following God] we are not taking part in a grand ‘unfinished story’ in the same way that Israel was before Christ. Rather, we are proclaiming and living out the consequences of God’s finished story in Jesus Christ, and we await his return when the implications of what he has done will be obvious to all. In terms of the ‘story’ of the Bible, the New Testament does not merely continue the Old Testament; it completes it.
In the end, despite a promising start, Wright’s vision of the Bible’s authority is too open-ended, too ambiguous, and too intertwined with the vagaries of whatever we might want to identify as ‘the church’ on earth or ‘the people of God’ to be of proper help.
Last week we drew your attention to Bishop Tom Wright’s address “The Bible and Tomorrow’s World”, where Wright summarised his main argument from his 2006 book, “Scripture and the Authority of God”.
At the time I promised a more detailed response. I’m pleased, now, to provide that. “The Authoritative Word” [pdf] is a review of “Scripture and the Authority of God” from Lionel Windsor, assistant minister at St. Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong, Sydney.
This article was first published in The Briefing #330 March 2006 and reproduced with kind permission. Find The Briefing online at http://www.thebriefing.com.au.