Some earlier comments by Simon on Mark Strom:

Cadevers

I am just in the process of finishing Mark Strom's Reframing Paul (IVP 2000) - very provocative analysis of the evangelical church - and in particular the way we have used Paul to justify things that he would never have endorsed. Fascinating reading - and one of the best hip and shoulder jobs on our practice as a church in forming community.

My portrait of the system behind the sermon and the service suggests that while we may think of evangelicalism as simply a set of theological beliefs, we nonetheless experience it as a complex network of cultural events and involvement. ... When evangelicals speak of being true to Paul (and other authors of the Bible) they refer to someone or something as "biblical". What they judge as out of step is "unbiblical". Exegesis, theology, church practice and experience are audited by a single question: Is it biblical or unbiblical?

This question is a key driver of the system... But the tags biblical and unbiblical indicate more than faithfulness to the Bible. They reinforce the rectitude of evangelicalism and mark a person as acceptable or otherwise within the system.

He uses the example of the debate over women in ministry. He cites an article of Tony Payne (ed of The Briefing) who in Strom's view insightfully raises the issue of whether 'ordination' is a NT practice. This is eventually swamped by the general direction taken by the magazine. Strom continues

"The issues surrounding the debates are not simply about believing or disbelieving the Bible, but about the sacrosanct nature of the system. Professional ministry is basic to the system. The seminary, the denomination, and the pulpit form a self-referential loop centred on the unquestionable conventions and values of ordination and the clerical career. The model must not change .... It is a closed loop, admitting no breach and shaping most aspects of evangelical life. Everything comes from this circle: the literature, the conferences, the publishing agendas, the orders of service, the Bible study aids, the translations, the building programs, the reforms and so forth..... Debates and decisions over women's ministry allow evangelicals to rethink their scruples and authoritarianism, clericalism and sacramentalism - but they are unlikely to act upon them - as change means breaking ranks."

The book gets going in the last 3 chapters - the remainder is the foundation based on an examination of Paul's practice in the 1st Century - looking at how he applied the gospel in various contexts.

I think an important area we need to think about. The first part will not grab most - but his conclusions are worth reviewing.

Regards

SB

PS - It's Packer you know - he will drive me to be an anabaptist by the end of the year!!! I'd better subscribe to The Briefing.

Here is a paper that Mark shared with us through Simon.
Read Tony Payne's interview with Mark Strom from The Briefing.