Dash of Thought October 2024

Way to Heaven
"Let me be a man of one book." - John Wesley, who wrote this sentence in the "Preface" to the Standard Sermons, knew that the "way to heaven" can be found in this one book, the Holy Scriptures. That is why he read it. In prayer, he asked God for wisdom and knowledge. He thought about what he had read, interpreted and meditated on it "with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable". When uncertain, he consulted the experience of others and the Christian tradition. - In this way, Wesley studied and interpreted the Bible.
Wesley's impulses help us to go beyond subjective reading on an individual level. Subjective, because we read the Bible with our very own glasses. So, we each have our own way of thinking. We bring our personal experiences of life and faith with us. Our family of origin, our social environment and other things have shaped us. In addition, many of us are connected to a very specific branch of church tradition. Our self, therefore, helps to shape our interpretation.
We read the Bible as people with limitations, and that is allowed. If we are aware of this, we will not make our understanding absolute. This opens up the opportunity for us to listen to our brothers and sisters in faith in order to recognize the "way to heaven" more and more clearly. To people who think differently from us and have different experiences. And also to different voices from the Christian tradition. It is certainly good to be convinced of what we have recognized. However, we should do this with an attitude of humility and expect that God may one day send someone our way who will guide us further in our understanding.
Our way of thinking, our experience, our view of tradition are part of our humanity. However, Wesley did not regard these as simply limitations that are the cause of our piecemeal cognition. On the contrary, he saw them as God-given resources and tools that need to be used consciously and purposefully in order to read the "book of God" and understand it better and better. When we work with it, we do so as part of a community with other - and also very differently shaped - believers, as part of a community of experience, prayer, interpretation and learning. This sometimes really challenges us! But shouldn't we accept this challenge in order to recognize the "way to heaven" for this world more clearly and to witness to it more clearly?
 
Bishop Stefan Zürcher
 
 
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