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Homosexuality and the Bible
191
man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”
(n i v ) .
All
Scripture—not just part— is inspired by God.
In the current debate, those who claim that one part of Scripture,
for example, the passage that in Christ “there is neither male nor fe
male” (Gal. 3:28,
n a s b ) ,
is the key passage, or one principle, such as
love, is the overarching norm, in effect make this passage or principle
a “canon within a canon,” in order to dismiss or totally ignore other
evidence that is relevant to the issue. By dismissing and ignoring such
evidence, the very concept of love is taken out of its scriptural con
text, and its meaning is distorted. Others in the debate explicitly set
aside certain data as irrelevant or outmoded in terms of the current
discussion. What is at stake here? The
tota Scriptura
principle—the
totality of Scripture.
THE UNITY AND HARMONY OF SCRIPTURE
A third foundational, biblically derived, hermeneutical principle
that is at stake in this discussion is “the Analogy (or Harmony) of
Scripture”
(analogia Scripturae
).
Since all Scripture is inspired by the same Spirit, and all of it is the
Word of God, there is a fundamental unity and harmony among its
various parts. The parts of Old Testament Scripture are considered
by the New Testament writers as harmonious and of equal divine
authority. New Testament writers may thus support their point by
citing several Old Testament sources as of equal and harmonious
weight. For example, in Romans 3:10-18 we have scriptural cita
tions from Ecclesiastes (see 7:20), Psalms (see 14:2-3; 5:10; 140:4;
10:7; 36:2), and Isaiah (see 59:7-8). Scripture is regarded as an insep
arable, coherent whole. Because there is an underlying unity among
the various parts of Scripture, one portion of Scripture interprets an
other, becoming the key for understanding related passages. Scrip
ture is its own expositor
(Scriptura sui ipsius interpres).
Or as Mar
tin Luther put it, “Scripture is its own light.” Jesus demonstrated
this principle on the way to Kmmaus when, “beginning with Moses