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"The Relationship of Theological Method and Cultural Engagement: A Biblical and Theological Overview of Dating"By Dr. David MappesNovember 14, 2014IntroductionTheological method is simply the framework or model for how to interpret and apply Scripture. While not everyone consciously identifies his or her model, everyone does employ a theological method. Since no one topic is fully addressed by any one biblical author in any one time era, believers must collect, properly interpret, and synthesize Scripture so as to bring the full weight of Scripture to bear on any given subject that the Scripture addresses and then apply that truth. This faculty forum overviews the practice of theological method to engage issues not directly addressed in the Scripture. The forum also provides an example of analyzing and theologizing the cultural practice of dating.Part 1 Theological MethodI. Using Scripture to Critique Topics that Do Not Have Direct Biblical-Textual Identifiers. A. Identify the topic for study 1. Maintain an awareness doctrinal taxonomy (Christian beliefs are weighted in their importance): die, divide, discuss, decide, dismiss. 2. Learn how to discern the doctrinal weight of an issue.Determining the weight of each doctrine or doctrinal nuance entails a number of considerations: (1) biblical clarity and repetition of the truth. Direct, repetitious Scripture addressing the same subject always caries the greatest weight in determining the degree of importance and authority; (2) The weight the Scripture author associates with the truth is also crucial. What are the textually stated or implied consequences of misunderstanding or denying the truth as well as obeying the truth?; (3) The relevance of the truth to the character God. Will confusing or minimizing the truth minimize or distort the character of God?; (4) The relevance of the truth to the character of the gospel; (5) The relationship of the truth to other doctrines as well as to orthodox Christianity itself; (6) The degree of consensus of other Christians (including both past and present); (7) The current as well as past cultural pressures to deny or accept the truth. While the full weight of all these criteria is important, the first two criteria provide the priority in determining doctrinal taxonomy.3. First Order Scriptural Priority Our first level priority is to always address what the biblical authors have revealed and theologized for us so we can live a life of godliness. These authors repeatedly directed believers to focus on what was revealed and to avoid speculation or worse, divination to acquire what was not revealed. The NT writers present that the true gospel and true gospel living is discernible from counterfeit, false gospels. The gospel and gospel living have doctrinal parameters and boundaries. Scripture repeatedly commends to its readers a basic framework of doctrinal truths and apostolic traditions, which entails doctrinal content of this first-order. Sound doctrine denotes a fixed body of doctrine—a fixed, orthodox confession of faith that believers have received and that believers are responsible to preserve and obey. While we can theologize topics not directly addressed in Scripture, our first priority is always to the topics that Scripture does address. B. Identify your own pre-understanding. Write down your own views, opinions, and related experiences, etc. This process helps surface and address our own pre-understanding. Pay special attention to emotionally related subjects and popular personalities. Scholars have identified three categories of presuppositions for the interpreter to examine: 1. Theological presuppositions-doctrinal beliefs that affect interpretation of individual passages of Scripture.2. Philosophical presuppositions-beliefs about reality, about the nature of truth, the nature and direction of history, etc.3. Methodological presuppositions, the use of logic, deduction, inferences, etc.C. Unpack and define the real issue(s) of your topic. 1. Breakdown the subject into manageable, identifiable and accurate components. 2. Begin to define the real question and issues of the problem so you can identify key salient arguments. Ask the “who, what, where, why” type questions for definitions and views. 3. Identify the various cultural and sub-cultural expressions of the components and topic. 4. Begin to note any proponents, detractors, cultural trends related to the issues including simplistic comments, clichés, etc.5. Begin to separate popular expressions and popular personalities from substantive arguments. D. Structure the topic theologically1. Bombard the broad subject and each component of the subject with the seven-worldview questions to help surface key theological issues. 2. Break each component into subsidiary questions that relate to theological/ biblical concepts through worldview questions and the biblical meta-narrative. Inquire what the Scripture teach about each component of the topic. Your goal is to frame the topic and all the components in a theological and biblical framework. Once this accomplished then you can begin a theological and biblical analysis. Seven basic worldview questions and theological/ focal pointsWhat is real?focus on the nature of God and His creative actsfocus on God’s sovereigntyfocus on what is evil/ sin focus on the origination of evil and entrance of sin into the world 2. What does it mean to be human?focus on the nature of humanity (body and spirit)focus on being in the Image of GodTo glorify God and enjoy Him foreverTo be rational, emotional, and volitionalTo be called to represent God in the extension of His rule on earth 3. What is important (moral value)?focus on ultimate truthfocus on the source of truthfocus on ultimate worth and value4. What is wrong with the world including humanity?focus on effects of sin in the worldfocus on effects of sin in mankind (our nature) and on human institutions (marriage, family, government, etc.)5. How should the world (including humanity) be fixedidentify and focus on failed attempts to fix the sin problemfocus on how God acted to fix the sin problemfocus on biblical instruction to live beyond the sinful impact on all human institutions.focus on the future sinless/ curse-less kingdom age6. Where is history going?focus on God’s initial promise of deliverance in Gen 3:15 and followingfocus on specific examples of God developing and expanding His promise of deliverancefocus on God administrating judgment on evil and blessing upon His childrenfocus on examples of God using evil for His purpose and gloryfocus on God’s sovereignty How do we know truth is absolutely true?focus on examples of how God’s revelation corresponds to reality and factuality (not simple correspondence to one’s experience or perspective).focus on how truth is objective, universal, consistent, authoritative, and true to fact regardless of one’s perspective or personal views (e.g., Adam and Eve died when they disobeyed God; what God said would happen actually occurred).E. Locate and match biblical texts (and theological truths) that address each of the components and subsidiary issues. 1. Use Bible study programs with lexical and topical aids2. Use Bible Dictionaries and Bible Encyclopedias 3. Use Systematic Theologies that are well indexed 4. Use specialized books that address Christian ethical and cultural issues, blogs, etc. (e.g., Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics). Utilize all the different sub-disciplines of theology to help discern and define issues: Exegetical TheologyThe process of studying of a single portion of Scripture using an historical, grammatical hermeneutic without any necessary organization of doctrines. Biblical TheologyThe process of discovering the particular viewpoint of a biblical author (e.g., Pauline theology) or the study of revelation in particular historical time-period (e.g., theology of wisdom literature). Systematic TheologyA cumulative and comprehensive answer and defense to what the Bible in entirety teaches on a given subject.Historical TheologyThe study of how the church throughout history has understood various doctrines and how those doctrines were developed.Practical theologyThe process of taking truths primarily from systematic theology and integrating them into ministries of the church such as preaching, counseling, evangelism, worship, Christian education, etc.ApologeticsThe process of studying and presenting theology to defend the teaching of Christianity and Scripture against critics, cults, and cynics while providing evidence of credibility. F. Critique each component and subsidiary issue with properly interpreted biblical texts. 1. Prioritize the Scriptures that you believe best address each of the components of your topic in order of clarity. 2. Note the difference between direct pronouncements, patterns, and principles of truth along with the degree of transfer. The degree of transfer is the extent to which the current reader is similar to or different from the originally intended recipients. Carefully distinguish between what the authors of Scripture are prescribing and what they are describing. Try to determine if these accounts are normative truth assertions. Hermeneutically we prioritize direct pronouncements, then patterns, and then principles. In general, pronouncements contain propositional value and have a high degree of transfer. Patterns are historical events, objects, and persons designed by God to illustrate a Spiritual truth and should have some essential features which correspond to the target audience. Principles are broader theological truths and appear repeatedly. When appealing to patterns or to principles we need to always evaluate them with direct pronouncements. Principles should not serve as the final weight of a truth or an application but rather be used to illustrate a truth taught elsewhere in Scripture.3. Validate the meaning of various passages for each component of your subject (no simple proof texting). G. Identify and examine other directly relevant biblical subjects H. Synthesize your analysis into tentative conclusions I. Examine your argument for logical consistency to avoid common logical fallacies. As you interact with detractors, also note fallacies in their rejoinder. 1. Begging the Question—does the evidence really support the position or does the evidence merely restate or reword the conclusion or premise. This is a form of circular reasoning. One merely assumes the truth that he is supposed to prove though no relevant evidence is proffered. The appearance of evidential support is really just part of the conclusion. Pay careful attention to if values, judgments (not evidence) are presented as factual evidence. 2. Irrelevance—does the evidence really support the position or does the evidence support a different truth (often called non-sequiturs)? This fallacy of irrelevance presents evidence that is not logically relevant to the truth of the conclusion. It portrays an argument without using support that is relevant to the point at issue so the arguments are irrelevant to the point being defended. Many times the relationship between the premise and conclusion is provided largely by the psychological impression created by jokes, anecdotal comments and clichés rather than by relevant information. There is little direct relationship between the evidence proffered and the conclusion. The evidence may be correct though it does directly support the conclusion. 3. Special Pleading—is all the evidence presented or is there a deliberate selection of evidence that is favorable to a position while concealing unfavorable evidence to the premise; hence, the evidence presented is one-sided. This creates an ethos to only win an argument and not establish a truth of matter. Many times over-simplification or hypothetical extremism is used in this fallacy.4. Dubious Authority—the appeal to an expert who is not in fact an expert in the area of concern. Authorities are cited who are not authorities in the field of investigation. Always check to ensure sources have the requisite knowledge base to serve as experts. No belief is true merely because someone says it is so; the acceptance of competent authority is never a substitute for proof. Does the authority have evidence to prove his statement? Many times an authority in one area is cited to make comment outside the field of expertise (this is particularly prominent when famous people are portrayed as supporting a position). Do other qualified authorities agree on the general soundness of the type of proof offered? Many times statistical fallacies are used to create a kind of dubious authority (insufficient sampling, over generalizations, undocumented or unrepresented data, etc.).5. Presenting a Straw Man (misrepresentation or diversion)—misstating an issue of your opponent so it can be easily refuted. The opponent’s view is presented in a distorted form so it can be easily disproved. Has the issue been clearly and fairly defined (would your opponent agree with how the position has been stated)? Generally a person misstates his opponent’s position because he does not truly understand his opponent's position or worse the real arguments are too difficult to refute. Since the real issue is not discussed, the truth is not really established. In rebuttal it is best to initially assume your opponent simply misunderstands so ask your opponent to summarize your view and position or restate your own argument though do not defend the distorted expression of your position. One very popular expression of diversion is to use humor or ridicule as a substitute for evidence or to create an inference from labeling your opponent. 6. False Dichotomy— stating an argument to force your opponent into an extreme position by making the assumption that there are only two mutually exclusive positions; many times false dichotomy is employed through the use of “either” and “or” categories without discussing other options thus creating false alternatives. Complex forms of this fallacy entail the fallacy of syllogistic reasoning and the fallacy of hypothetical reasoning. 7. Ad hominem—attacking an opponent in a personal and abusive manner rather than responding to the real issue of disagreement. This kind of fallacy is directed against persons, behavior, character, or other personal characteristics (e.g. belief system, political affiliation, etc.) even though those characteristics are often irrelevant to the merit of one’s claim. One helpful way to prevent this fallacy from occurring is to correctly represent the position and person you are arguing against. One special form of this fallacy is when an opponent makes special pleading for a unique circumstances thereby creating a kind moral dilemma to accept the his/her view or be considered immoral or outside the norms of community, etc.8. Equivocation—changing the meaning of a key term or concept in the middle of an argument to prove a conclusion. A valid argument requires that words or concepts retain the same sense meaning throughout its structure unless one clearly indicates a shift in meaning. Many times vague expressions are exchanged for more precise terminology. J. Test your tentative conclusion over time; Confer with the Christian community that has a high view of Scripture. Check with historical theology texts, quality theologies and commentaries and look at Christian practices in other cultures, etc. K. Life integration and application statements. Thoughtfully engage life-application type questions. How does my study affect who I should be as a Christian, my values, etc. Application is the final and most critical step of your study, yet it is often the most neglected. Ezra set an example of being one who studied and practiced the law of the Lord (Ezra 7:10). Christ warned of the inevitable defeat of the one who fails to act upon the truth of God’s Word (Matt. 7:24-27). James commands believers to be “doers” of the Word and not “forgetful hearers,” for it is the “doer” of the Word that is blessed (James 1:22-25). Make several specific application statements to your life based upon specific truths understood in the context of your study (no simple answers). Each Application statement must be SMART thus avoiding generalities. 2795270143510Based upon the this truth: 1) what must I add, subtract, think, etc. . . .?2) when and how will this be accomplished?3) when and how will this application to my life be evaluated?00Based upon the this truth: 1) what must I add, subtract, think, etc. . . .?2) when and how will this be accomplished?3) when and how will this application to my life be evaluated?Specific Measurable Realistic Attainable Time-limited Part Two A Biblical/ Theological Overview of DatingI. Summary: Analyzing a Topic not Directly Addressed in Scripture?A. Surface, unpack and critique your own presuppositions of dating1. “Dating is wrong because it led me to into immorality”2. “I met my wife through dating so it is okay”3. The Bible provides no mention of dating so it is fineB. Unpack and critique Christian cultural clichés so you can address the real issues1. “Paul was single” 2. “Jesus is all you need” 3. “Just wait” 4. “God will lead you to a guy or gal when you are godly enough” C. Identify the components of “dating” for evaluation1. Ask worldview type questions2. Ask the “why, what, why, how, where” type questionsD. Identify biblical pronouncements that directly address each of the components of dating E. Critique the cultural components and sub-points of dating with ScriptureF. Examine other directly relevant biblical topics (e.g., biblical marriage; authority of parents; church leader’s recommendations, etc.)II. Dating (focus on the “what” and “why” question)A. Cultural definitions (underlined items have a direct biblical corollary):Dating is a form of courtship consisting of social activities done by two people with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse. While the term has several meanings, it usually refers to the act of meeting and engaging in some mutually agreed upon social activity in public, together, as a couple. . . . Another meaning of the term dating is to describe a stage in a person's life when he or she is actively pursuing romantic relationships with different people. . . . One of the main purposes of dating is for two or more people to evaluate one another’s suitability as a long term companion or spouse. Often physical characteristics, personality, financial status, and other aspects of the involved persons are judged and as a result feelings can be hurt, and confidence shaken (underlined emphasis mine). B. Surface cultural components of dating by applying the “why” question to dating (why do people date?). The following generalizes why people date. 1. Mitigate loneliness2. Explore sexuality3. Enjoy closeness4. Look for life-partner or look for a life partner in marriageC. Theological critique of why people date with summary responses?1. Mitigate loneliness (we cannot mitigate loneliness through serial dating, denial of personal loneliness, through materialism, or only through career pursuit, etc.). Loneliness is addressed through a balance of:a. close moment-by-moment fellowship with God (1 Jn 1:3-10)b. biblical marriage w/ godly person or embrace and celebrate the gift of celibacy (Gen 2:18-25; Eph 5:22-25; 1 Cor 7:7)c. family (1 Tim 5:4; Proverbs)d. friends (Prov 17:17; 18:24; 27:6, 9)e. local body of Christ and ministry (1 Cor 12:12-27)2. Explore sexuality (we must not explore sexuality through premarital sex, pornography, or course jesting, etc.)a. sexual love is exclusive to the marriage-union (Prov 5:15-23; Eccl 9:9; 1 Cor 7:3-5; Song of Songs)b. premarital purity is commanded (1 Thess 4:3; Proverbs 2; 5; 7)c. develop and desire the inner person (Eph 4:1-32) beyond only developing external appearance (1 Peter 3:1-7; Proverbs 11:22) 3. Enjoy closeness (we cannot enjoy real closeness through sexually dominated relationships, number of Facebook friends, virtual relationships, sinful or unrealistic fantasies). a. prioritize brother/ sister Christian relationship (1 Cor 3; Rom 14)b. work at honesty, acceptance, and transparency (Col 3:12-17)c. bless one another and others through your close relationships d. maintain friendships while making new friends (Proverbs)e. apply principles of Christian liberty (glorify God, act in faith/confidence without violating/ searing your conscience or being a stumbling block, etc. (1 Cor 8-10; Rom 14)4. Look for life-partner in marriage. Biblical marriage or gift of celibacy is God’s gift for aloneness; note the following priorities: a. Spirit controlled Christian consistently showing fruit of the Spirit (commitment to authority of Scripture; Eph 5; Gal 5) b. consider future ministry partner (vocational or lay-ministry)c. consider future abilities to parent children d. wisdom to help navigate the trials of life (look for patters to how a person responds to disappointments, trials, finances, ability to compromise, integrity, realistic life views, etc.) III. Summary Comments Regarding a Biblical View of Marriage and Other First Order Scripture Priorities (such as authority of parents, church leadership, etc.)A. Marriage is only between a biological male and biological femaleB. Marriage involves sexual union that is sanctified by God1. Sexual union before marriage or with someone other than spouse is referred to as adultery or fornication and is prohibited (Ex 19:14-17; 1 Thess 4:1-5). Sexual union within marriage is both commanded and celebrated in Scripture (Prov 5:18-19; 1 Cor 7:2-9; Song of Solomon). 2. God created and He Himself brought the woman to the man3. God excluded all shame and censure of their nakedness and unionC. Marriage involves a mutual covenant of relationship to one another before God1. Mutual covenant of companionship before God (Mal 2:14; Prov 2:17)2. God instituted marriage and He serves as the witness (Matt 19:6; Heb 13:4). Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; ??for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Heb 13:4)D. Marriage is a lifelong commitment though not eternal (or celestial) relationship (Mat 19:6; 22:28-30)E. Marriage is monogamous (1 Cor 7:2; 1 Tim 3:2). A one-man to one-woman relationship1. Each man is to have his own wife and each woman is to have her own husband (1 Cor 7:2).2. Summary regarding OT polygamya) Bible records events but does not always endorse eventsb) Polygamy is prohibited by creational precedent (initial one-man to one-woman); curse/ moral principal of judgment upon Lamech who introduced polygamy (Gen 4:19) and principle of moral punishment upon plurality of wives (1 Kings 11:4; Deut 17:17) IV. Exploring Honest Questions and Suggestions as You Move Closer to MarriageA. Do you see marriage and your future home as a platform for ministry (lay or vocational)? B. Can we as a couple glorify God better together in marriage than separately?C. Can we glorify God more through vocational ministry and/or through serving as a highly committed couple in non-vocational ministry?D. Am I working hard at maintaining absolute moral purity (1 Thess 4:3; 1 Tim 5:2) including thought and speech (Eph 4:29-30).E. Express outward display of affection in a cautious and kind manner. F. Learn to subtly and kindly communicate your interest or lack of interest in pursuing a friend-relationship without unnecessarily hurting someone.G. Develop some short-term companion ministry tasks together.H. Honestly discuss ministry expectations, geographical locations, financial expectations, parenting expectations, respective family expectations, etc. I. Continue to retool yourself with applied biblical truth (communication skills, identify your own defense mechanisms, levels of assertiveness, stewardship issues, etc.). J. Discern the difference between loving someone vs. expressing your nature to nurture or nature to protect. K. Move from dependency to inter-dependency. L. Be patient, honest, kind (and if necessary firm) and personal with break-ups. M. Delight in spiritual disciplines together. N. During your engagement, spend more time preparing for a life of marriage than for the wedding day celebration. ................
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