Not_Now.Soon,
As the hymn tells us "The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord". It does not say that the bible is the foundation. We must face up to the fact that the bible as witness to Christ requires interpretation. Otherwise we are faced with endless conundrums. To dismiss this all by talking about the unlimited power of God is a bad theological short cut. The reason we train priests and ministers for ministry by training them in biblical studies, church history and systematic theology is that faith cannot be nurtured by the individual reading the bible in a room alone. It takes the whole church to nurture faith, it is an exercise in community.

To quote Hauerwas, "In a world without foundations, the only foundation is the Church."

To Peter.

I agree what Jesus is our foundation. But so us the bible, and so is the Holy Spirit. What is unique about the bible though is that it points to Jesus, and teaches us about both Jesus and God. As Paul wrote to Timothy, all scripture is God-breathed, and good for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

It's not that I have an issue with interpretations, or with in depth theology. But they need to have a solid foundation to be their standard. I need to know Jesus's warning to the rich when He says "woe to you" so that I am not caught up in a televangelist's encouragement and persuasiveness that ends with a statement that God will bless me with riches if I give to the televangelist $50+ dollars, or $100+ or even more. There is a damaging theology in Christian perspectives that God promises us to be rich if we have faith in Him or the correct faith. I'm sure that is not the only theology out there that is not based on what the bible has written. So having the bible as the standard to test all other theology is the standard I know that can be reliable. If not that, or if there is another, please let me know. A foundation to be sure of and to steady us, and correct us when we are wrong.

Peter, you said:

[To dismiss this all by talking about the unlimited power of God is a bad theological short cut.]

I don't see how counting God as all powerful is a means to dismiss our interpretation of the bible. I don't mean to say don't interpret the bible. But I'm saying have the bible as the standard our interpretations be measured by, instead of having our interpretations be the standards that the bible must conform to.

Here is the summation of my issue. I will use myself as the example to consider for needing a solid foundation. When you encounter a person who was raised in an environment of more then one religion, but still chose Christianity, what would you offer them or advise them so they can grow in their faith and not be swept away by either Christian theology that is in error; nor by beliefs that are not Christian but of that other religion. What would you offer a younger less experienced me, as a foundation to stay steady and grow from?

Not_Now.Soon,

"But I'm saying have the bible as the standard our interpretations be measured by, instead of having our interpretations be the standards that the bible must conform to."

I think that you have locked yourself into a circle. There is no non-interpretive reading of any text. You will always bring presuppositions to the bible depending upon your theological orientation. While you may be suspicious of theology, we all have a theology even if it is not conscious. There is no neutral reading of biblical texts. So they cannot be treated as some kind of standard. What we have is a grand collection of texts with many different backgrounds that often contradict each other. It is the task of biblical studies and systematic theology to make some sense of it. This process cannot be discarded. If we try, we will end up with our own interpretations that are coloured by our own presuppositions.

As far as advice to the new believer is concerned I would suggest he or she joint a mainline denomination and investigate the theological education of the clergy. Choosing a church is a minefield, but belonging to a church is absolutely essential if there is to be any progress. The alternative is navel gazing.

To Peter.

Being involved in a church is good advise for a foundation. But again what you've written concerns me. Are you saying that the bible can not correct our prepositions? Fellowship and bible study help us understand bible verses, scriptural concepts and applying the teaching we know. All of this is good, including sharing and developing our understanding, our theology. However it is my opinion that there is false theology and false teachings.

By studying the bible our understandings can be corrected. It only can be if we trust God and don't try to choose some verses while ignoring other verses. Where we find conflict in verses I would say trust God anyways and leave the issue with the conflict as an unknown until you better understand it. So far that method has worked well for me, and has allowed scripture to take on a teaching role when it's read or studied in a bible study.

As for the topic of women in leadership. I don't see an issue with it. Women can be just as good in a leadership role as well as a teaching role as men can be. There have been women prophets in the bible, some who prophesied to Paul on his journey to Jerusalem. Esther became a strong character as a queen who through her efforts averted Isrealites from being killed by a king's permission. And one was even a Judge in the times of Judges before Israel had kings.

I don't have an issue with it, but the bible says it clearly in 1Timothy 2:11-15 that women shouldn't have that role, or at least not the traditional role as a teacher over everyone. That might sound sexist, but for whatever reason that still seems to be the standard. This is where faith come in sometimes. Not to hold on to beliefs that we understand and agree with, but even with the things that we don't understand but still trust God on it anyways.

Applying the teaching often is the issues more then understanding them in my opinion. With maturity and growth our understanding grows too. But before understanding them and after understanding them our actions matter quite a bit.