Re The Question is Coming, November 2013
“I, the Lord, do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
The Rev. Blair Bertrand wrote: “… need to acknowledge that change is a reality, even in the ways that we understand marriage.” Maybe the question we all need to ask is, “Has the way God understands marriage changed?” As Christians, shouldn’t the answer to that question dictate our understanding of marriage?
The Editor responds:
Indeed, it is a definition of God that God does not change per se. However, our understanding about God and about what God calls us to in life does change. As Jesus said, the Spirit is present to guide us into truth because we can’t absorb it all at once.
A few words of scripture can always be quoted to justify just about anything, which is why interpretation is so challenging. Context, different understandings of words and concepts through the ages, etc., all come into play. As does the community of believers, in whom the Spirit moves. Unfortunately, some people think that their understanding of God based, albeit honestly, on their understanding of scripture is what doesn’t change. And that is to confuse our understanding with God or to confuse scripture with God.
Since Jesus’ ascension we can’t put these questions to God directly anymore; we have to ask them in the community of faith. Which I think is essentially what the author was saying.
