Epistemology of Biblical Truth: Adventist Ordination Discussions as a Case Study

Seminary Room N310

Biblical epistemology reveals that truth knowing is possible, not based solely on human reason, but because God is faithful, and He has promised to lead all sincere minds into all truth through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are the revelation of God’s will in human language. They contain propositional truth statements, and reveal to us the person of Jesus. The Scriptures must be understood in light of the truth of the cross. When faith in Christ as personal Savior is combined with a diligent searching of the Bible through prayer, we are promised that we will know truth, “and the truth will set you free.” Yet when strong disagreements about truth appear in the Church and divisions threaten the unity and mission of the Church body, we must ask why this is so. It’s not enough to know “what is written in the law,” we must also be aware of “how we read it.” The way we apply hermeneutical principles to our reading of Scripture will affect our conclusions. The current Adventist discussions over ordination is a case study on how strong held presuppositions that have nothing to do with the text of Scripture influence our interpretation.