Musings: Notes From My Daybook

A note on a book that recently crossed my desk:

Charles Cosgrove’s book, Appealing to Scripture in Moral Debate (Eerdmans, 2002), offers some helpful, hopeful perspectives for hermeneutics and ethics. He presents five “hermeneutical assumptions.” These assumptions are foundational statements that he believes are commonly at work for people in moral argument.

Cosgrove suggests that these rules or principles are necessarily in play in our conversation about ethics. They are:
1. The Rule of Purpose. The reason behind the rule is of greater significance than the rule itself.
2. The Rule of Analogy. Analogical reasoning is appropriate for working from Scripture to contemporary issues.
3. The Rule of Countercultural Witness. Anytime Scripture offers a countercultural move—a move away from the usual self-seeking impulses of society, then there is a moral strength present.
4. The Rule of the Nonscientific Scope of Scripture. The Bibl isn’t a science book.
5. The Rule of Moral-Theological Adjudication. Theological reflection should guide hermeneutical choices between conflicting outcomes.

Obviously, more would need to be said about Cosgrove’s intent and direction with these “rules” to draw any conclusions. However, it does raise this question: How does Scripture shape our moral voice in contemporary culture?