A response to the narrow-minded and phobic ‘Nashville Statement’ recently released by a group of fundamental American Christians:

ARTICLE 1
WE AFFIRM that God, having created us with minds, rejoices when we actually use them.

WE DENY that God intended single interpretation of Scripture to relieve any of us of this responsibility.

ARTICLE 2
WE AFFIRM that Scripture, by God’s wisdom, was written by real and diverse people in authentic historical contexts for specific cultural reasons, and that such contexts are central to proper biblical understanding and application.

WE DENY that Scripture, which reflects the wisdom of the Creator, is only true if it is in English and comes from the King James Version of the Bible without any understanding of context, culture or original language.

ARTICLE 3
WE AFFIRM that all human beings are created in God’s image, and are endowed with rational thought, powers of reason, analytical capability, and the capability to ask questions. Consequently, humanity has made significant strides in understanding the cosmos, the world, the nature of humanity, and the wonders of everything around us.

WE DENY that Scripture, when willfully handled in isolation from or dismissal of, scientific, medical, or psychological progress is either a faithful application of biblical data, or pleasing to the Creator/Father God.

ARTICLE 4
WE AFFIRM that the Christian faith, while having a broadly unified and distinct tradition, is yet both historically and globally non-monolithic in its expression, and thus true Godly wisdom is found in humility and dialogue among the varied and numerous voices of the Christian faith.

WE DENY that (while they are welcome to their opinion) a small number of mainly white, middle class men of conservative evangelical status, have the authority to make statements claiming abiding normativity for all Christians, everywhere, for all time.

ARTICLE 5
WE AFFIRM that all our theological insights and utterances, because we are finite humans and not God, are limited by their context and bounded by the culture within which they are generated.  

WE DENY that any of our theological insights and utterances can ever claim to be clear fact, or reside in neutrality, and therefore reflect perfectly the Divine mind.

ARTICLE 6
WE AFFIRM that human experience is rich and multifaceted, presenting us with copious ambiguities and abundant shades of grey, and therefore defies simple black and white classification.

WE DENY that the Creator has authorized us to undertake the task of sorting out and simplifying the rich complexities of human drama.

ARTICLE 7
WE AFFIRM that the zoology and physiology of Genesis 1 (restricting animals to live on the land, in the sea, or in the air) reflect, according to the will and wisdom of God, ancient, ideal conceptions of cosmic order.

WE DENY that the zoology and physiology of Genesis 1 teaches that amphibians, or mammals that fly, live in the ocean, or lay eggs, or any other creatures of God’s creation that do not fit the Genesis 1 order, are outside of God’s design.

ARTICLE 8
WE AFFIRM that God is all mystery, the infinite and unfathomable Creator, which is itself affirmed in Scripture, and therefore we should take great care in claiming to be speaking for God or knowing his mind, especially in terms of judging others.

WE DENY that we speak for God generically or have the authority to make judgements over people (especially those we personally don’t like).

ARTICLE 9
WE AFFIRM that public statements are mainly written for the already convinced, or for those easily persuaded, and are therefore cantankerous by design, passive-aggressive in tone, and thus are basically an enormous waste of time and effort, not to mention make it so much harder for others to bear witness for Jesus Christ.

WE DENY that Jesus is longing for us to write more public statements.

Signed,

Elaine Ambrose, MPhil (white British female)

My dog, Lucy

My (imaginary) cat, Mogadon

And lots of other people, I’m sure.