Scripture As a Norm of Moral Deliberation and Its Application to Homosexuality (Critical Essay‪)‬

How do we use Scripture as a norm of moral deliberation in the church? First, we recognize that Scripture is not our ultimate norm or standard of decision. Rather, our basic norm is Christ. The textbook used for systematic theology courses in many of our ELCA seminaries, Christian Dogmatics, states that "the ultimate authority in matters of faith and life must be the Word of God made flesh." It also says, "The ultimate authority of Christian theology is not the biblical canon as such, but the gospel of Jesus Christ to which the Scriptures bear witness." (1) Lutherans base this principle on the fact that Luther discovered in the Bible a standard by which the parts of the Bible could be judged. That standard was whether they presented Christ. So Luther derived the authority of Scripture from its gospel content. Because of this, the constitution of the ELCA states first in its confession of faith that "This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe" (2.02). Only later does it say, "This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life" (2.03). Christ and his gospel are the primary standard in deciding the faith and morals of our church. The Scriptures are secondary.