What was the gist of his message for his own tlme?”^

After these exegetical questions are answered, then one is to compose a "textual proposition: a statement, in a sentence or a short paragraph, of the author’s confident assertion of the Word of God as it is found

o in the author’s environment, in the setting in which he lived."

From these questions, it is clear that this type of exegesis requires the use of a good many scholarly exegetical methods. It would include textual, historical, literary, form, and theological critical methodolo­ gies. Also, it is centered upon the objective aspects of exegesis. The assumption here is that this first stage of reflection does not include subjective influences.

^Ibid.

The second stage of reflection, Cleland calls interpretation or exposition. As he notes:

"interpretation is the second step: a proving to our­ selves for the sake of our congregations that the textual proposition has within it a valid message for all times.... For this stage we must need know the whole history of the church, especially that aspect which is called syste­ matic theology."!

Within this stage, one’s denomination and its heritage become important components in determining "if the textual proposition - the ancient, local, particular Word of God - had a continuing echo and a recurrent

2

message within the ongoing church down the centuries." A preacher needs to ask: "Was the textual Word reiterated, modified, stifled,

o

denied?" "Such a study should result in a refined formulation of the textual proposition which is transformed, in our studied judgment, into an eternal proposition: a statement of our ecclesiastical tradition’s interpretation of the eternal Good News lying in the text, true for all times and all places."^

It is within this second stage of reflection that the subjective influences become a factor, and he cautions his audience regarding their effects. Cleland states:

"There will be some modesty connected with this part of our inquiry, because we are aware that a certain amount of personal bias, due to our ecclesiastical heritage andr our hermeneutical preference, will affect our decision."

^Ibid., pp. 74-75. ^Ibid., p. 75. ^Ibid.

'^Ibid.

Ibid. By hermeneutical preference, he means whether one is a literalist, conservative, liberal, neoorthodox, or the like. See Ibid., p. 72.

At an earlier point, he also talks of how even one’s ’’personal, spiritual hopes and fears would affect how one approaches the task of exposition.’’^

It appears that in Cleland’s assessment, the subjective influences do not affect exegesis, but they do affect this second stage of reflection.

The third step is application. The eternal truth derived from the second phase of reflection must now be applied to the contemporary situa­ tion. ’’Application is the relating of the truth, discovered by

investigation and elucidated by interpretation to the environment of the

2

congregation in front of us.’’ As he further argues:

’’it is when a minister sees the Good News penetrating an inmediately Contemporary Situation that a Word of God is spoken. Then he is able to write his final proposition, which is the eternal proposition once again incarnate in

the seething, surging life of his own day.’’-^

For Cleland, ’’investigation, or exegesis, deals with the then; interpre­ tation, or exposition, deals with the always ; application deals with the now. And the result? The Word of God is preached.’’"^

Cleland then proceeds to show how his method works by giving an example. He chooses the Book of Ruth. By the findings of exegesis, he asserts that the aim of the book was to criticize the official ruling

5

regarding the putting away of foreign wives. Derived from this and other findings, ’’The textual proposition is that the judgments of the

Lbid., p. 72. ^Ibid., p. 75 ^Ibld., p. 77 ^Ibid.

Jewish officials were not necessarily in accord with the will of God."^ The question is then asked whether this is a transitory or eternal propo­

sition. Other parallel situations are drawn from the Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, and the modem day church. By interpretation, "the eternal proposition may well be that God’s ways are not necessarily those of the worshippers in any day or generation." Looking at the contemporary situa­

tion, where national, racial, and denominational loyalties erect barriers between people and the inclusive grace of God, he concludes that the "final proposition is that God’s ways are not necessarily those of his

3

ecclesiastical spokesman."

In the closing of his second lecture, Cleland summarizes his interpre­ tative method by saying;

"If we think of the Good News as a diamond, then we have a threefold task before us. First, we chisel the diamond out of the rock in which it was found; that is investiga­ tion. Second, we polish the diamond and cut it to reveal all its glory ; that is interpretation. Third, we place it in a contemporary setting, as in a ring, for all to see in this day and generation; this is application.’’^

By using this method, he believes that one will avoid the homiletical sin of eisegesis and permit a Word of God to do what it will honestly with us.

As regards his theological slant, Gleland believes that there exists a central core of normative factors which assist the preacher in deter­ mining what is and what is not the Word of God. He affirms that the

^Ibid., p. 78. ^Ibid.

^Ibid., p. 79. ^Ibid.

Bible contains the Word, but then he asks: "What is the word of God? How do we find it? How do we recognize it? It is within the Bible, but where?"^

In reply to these questions, he states: "Some of us know where the answer is to be found: Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the Word made flesh,... The Word is the Gospel of God concerning His Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through

o

the Spirit who sanctifies.... The Bible houses the Christ," This he Q

posits is "the affirmed answer of orthodoxy,"

To further clarify and support this answer, he draws upon some of the tenets of recent Evangelical Liberalism.^ The claim is that the historical Jesus, rediscovered through contemporary historical research, and the living Christ, experienced as an intimate presence within the soul, are one and the same. Quoting from Van Dusen, he argues:

"But, for normative Evangelical Liberals, the Jesus of History and the Living Christ are a single organic, indissoluble personal reality. That reality is defined in the life, words, deeds, mind, spirit, faith of Jesus of Nazareth; it is known in present power in the Living Christ."^

^Ibid,, p. 18. 2

Ibid. The second sentence of this quotation is taken from Martin Luther, Three Treatises (Philadelphia, The Muhlenberg Press, 1943), p. 254,

^Ibid.

It is curious to note that Cleland refers to the recent work of Evangelical Liberals not as contemporary authorities but in a way that is apologetic. He states that Evangelical Liberalism is "so underrated, if not despised, in our day." See Ibid., pp. 18-19.

5

Ibid., p. 19. Here he is quoting from H. P. Van Dusen, The Vindi­ cation of Liberal Theology (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1% 3 ) , p. 41. He further adds that "Donald Bail lie was in sympathy with this view point." See Ibid., p. 20.

Since this is so, both are central and authoritative when attempting to establish the Word of God.

For Cleland, "the quest of the Jesus of history is and will be a recurring question and problem and solution. Therefore, there is an essential duty laid upon us to read, study, and inwardly digest the gospels until we know and have the mind of Christ."^ Even so, "the norm for the Word of God" is "not merely the life, death, and

2

resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth." It must also include the living Christ.

Because this is so, Cleland contends that "we must make a place for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit when we seek to find the authentic, authoritative Word." Although he does not delineate in full his con­ cept of this doctrine, he does argue that "the Spirit of God and the person of Jesus the Christ are brought into an inseparable connection."^ Moreover, quoting Romans 8:9-11, he further claims that the Spirit

and the indwelling Christ are in essence "synonymous terms.

Even though one must make a place for the Holy Spirit, the need still exists for a norm by which to test its activity. He states:

^Ibid., p. 20 ^Ibid., p. 22 ^Ibid.

hbid., p. 23. ^Ibid.

"it was seen that there must be a norm to test the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit and to define the specific content of Christian thought and action. The testing norm was the mind of Christ known in Jesus the Son and constantly measured by the gospel portrayals."^

For Cleland, in order to establish the authentic and authoritative Word, one must make a place for both the historical Jesus and the living

Christ. Each serves to inform and test the other.

In addition to these, Cleland claims that there is yet another norm. He contends;

"But the Word of Scripture, tested by the indwelling Christ, is not the only norm for the churches in the Reformed heri­ tage. Such a standard is an open sesame to an individualis­ tic, atomistic interpretation of the Word of God. There is surely a place for ecclesiastical, denominational interpre­ tation and definition of the Word revealed in Holy Scripture and tested by the living Spirit of the Christ which became flesh in Jesus.

This claim opens up a discussion of tradition and its role as a norm in establishing the Word.

For him, tradition is a necessary component if one is to truly discover God’s Word, but it should entail "a lively interpretation of the Word rather than the dead hand of the past. Tradition is necessary. But it is true only when it is the church's best corporate thinking under the guidance of the eternal Spirit seriously considering God’s Word for us today." Even including tradition and the other norms as

^Ibid., p. 24. ^Ibid.

well, one has not yet come to the end of the matter. One still has the problem of finding "an accepted norm, a norm which is found in Scripture and in the Word become flesh and in the tradition, but which sits in judgment, through the activity of the Holy Spirit, upon both Testaments and upon the decisions of the church made in solemn assembly."^

This norm or "unambiguous, central recurring fact upon which the Bible and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the tradition fundamentally

2

agree," Cleland believes, goes something like this;

"God of his own free will is constantly seeking to bring man into right relations with him, not because of any merit on man's part, but because of God's own nature. He created man

for himself and, despite man's blundering and 'cussedness' and sin, God makes recurring efforts to bridge the gulf which man has made between himself and God. God is, there­

fore, not only Creator and Sustainer - He is redeemer."3

This, he argues, is the "refrain of the Old Testament," and "the chorus of the New Testament," and "the sum and substance" of the doctrine of Atonement.

To further support this norm, Cleland cites the work of P. T. Forsyth. He argues that;

"Our job as preachers is not only to establish a canon within the canon but, in P. T. Forsyth's words, to find a gospel within the Scriptures; "Remember that Christ did not come

to bring a Bible but to bring a Gospel. The Bible arose afterwards from the Gospel to serve the Gospel... The

Gospel was there before the Bible, and it created the Bible, as it creates the true preacher and the true sermon every­ where.

^Ibid., p. 28. ^Ibid.

^Ibid., pp. 28-29. ^Ibid., pp. 29-30.

^Ibid., p. 31. This quote is taken from P. T. Forsyth, Positive Preaching and Modem Mind (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, [1907]), pp. 9-10,

It is by the use of this "canon within the canon" and the other norms as well that a preacher is able to discern whether this passage rather than that passage is truly the Word of God.^

Surrming up his theological hermeneutic very neatly, Cleland says: "The Word of God is the activity of the living personal Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer made known in the Bible, in the Spirit, and in the tradition of the church. This is a valid point of reference for preaching."^

In a significant way, these norms by which to establish and test the Word of God would affect his approach to the interpretation of any particular

3