NCC translator says Bible ‘pluriform,’ not authoritative By Mark Tooley Volume 33, Number 1 Posted March 27, 2000 God’s revelation is found through various interpretations of the Bible and not directly in the Bible itself, according to the former head of Bible translation for the National Council of Churches (NCC). David Lull, director of Bible Translation and Utilization for the NCC through the end of 1999, admitted he came of age during the 1960s and accordingly viewed “authority” suspiciously. From this perspective, Lull rejected a Bible whose text is viewed as the authoritative Word of God. The Bible is “pluriform,” or contains many meanings, Lull said. He disagreed with the traditional understanding of Scripture as containing “univocal” propositions called “doctrines.” The Bible does not focus on literal events but on remembrances in idealized forms, he claimed. Lull distinguished between the Jesus of “history” and the Jesus of the Scripture. He also discerned a distance between the historical Paul and the letters that the Bible assigns to Paul. Virgin birth disputed Lull implied that traditional understandings of the Virgin Birth or the Atonement theory of Christ’s death are based, at least in part, on possibly faulty translations of the Bible. For example, he said Isaiah 7:14, which is traditionally used as a prophecy of Christ’s birth, in its original Hebrew speaks of a young woman, not necessarily a virgin, conceiving a child. He complained that too often pre-conceived notions about Christian doctrine have corrupted the subsequent translation of key texts. [The Hebrew word amah in Isaiah 7:14, which is translated “young woman” by the Revised Standard Version, can also be translated “virgin.” In fact, the Septuagint, the first translation of the Old Testament by Jewish scholars, uses the Greek word parthenos, which means “virgin.” Matthew 1:23 also uses parthenos to emphasize the virgin birth.] Lull tried to make a case that the Biblical text does not uniformly condemn homosexual practice but instead targets male prostitution or other forms of exploitative sex. He said the Scriptures are silent about “same-sex relationships based on mutual love and a life-long monogamous commitment.” A broad concept of God’s “revelation” will embrace most if not all the opinions on controversial issues dividing the church today, Lull said. Appeals to the authority of Scripture to settle disputes will not work because there is no “one true answer” as to what’s God’s revelation is. Overriding the Scripture Lull said he believes tradition, reason and experience can override Scripture. “Revelation” is found in Jesus Christ. The text of the Bible, which he said is a product of church tradition, should be judged on that basis. “God didn’t write the Bible and then die,” he noted as he urged openness to new understandings of revelation as guided by the Holy Spirit. He claimed that persons who spoke of God as “Sophia” were more Biblical than their critics, as the “wisdom” literature of the Old Testament and some Apocryphal books would justify it. Sophia is a Greek word for wisdom. Lull also defended the participation of clergy in the Jesus Seminar. Mark Tooley is director of United Methodist Action for the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

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