Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

297
Christian preachers generally begin with that
presupposition. If God supremely reveals himself in his
Son, it is in that divine self—communication that we find
the optimum source of preaching.
Likewise, God's second (in logical priority, not
verity) means of communicating his Word is the Bible. In
the Bible's faithful testimony to Jesus Christ, men learn
of God. Again, this is a statement of 'faith'. But, if
Christianity finds its basis in Jesus Christ, God's
primary self—revelation, it follows that knowledge of
Jesus comes from those with whom God interacted in
preparation for Jesus' coming (i.e., the Old Testament
nation of Israel), Jesus' actual contemporaries, and the
early members of the church he established.
2 The
Bible gives us this 'first—hand' information.
Disagreements over Scripture's interpretation frequently
arise. Few, however, question the premise that the Bible
is the book that Christians must interpret.
And, as Barth wrote, God reveals himself through
persons who preach his Word as it appears in Scripture's
testimony to Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ supremely
reveals God, and Scripture offers the adequate portrayal
of Jesus, the next step follows clearly. God himself
speaks through those who build their testimony on his
previous self—communication.
While all four theologians whose positions were
first presented in this chapter would agree with that
last statement, major disagreements would arise in its