: Listening for God in our lives.

WHITEHEAD’s MODEL FOR THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

Scripture and Tradition                                                                     Cultural

tradition influences interpretation                                                            Information

of scripture                                                                                           data from culture i.e. science                                                                                                                       

                                                            Personal Experience

                                                            of individual and community

Goal is to live in the middle, informed by all three approaches to truth. All three are involved in serious reflection on life, God, and the world we live in. All three are like the legs of a stool. If you take one away, the stool is unbalanced.

Focusing only on one is dangerous:

Focus on scripture: high emphasis on scripture and their understanding of it. Emphasis on God’s transcendence and God’s control. Human experience and cultural information are all forced into understanding of scripture.

Focus on Experience. Interpret God based only on personal experience. Very individualistic. Allows many forms of expression but looks down on anything authoritative - especially scripture.

Focus on Cultural Information. Contrary to what Albert Einstein said, The most beautiful things we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science, This approach denies the mysterious in life. Knowledge becomes power and control. Everything has an explanation. Scripture is trivialized. Experience is rationalized.