Theological Term of the Week

analogy of faith (or analogy of scripture)

The principle of Biblical interpretation that presumes that God is the ultimate source of all scripture, so we can view scripture as a unified whole, and thus no passage of Scripture can rightly be interpreted in a way that contradicts the rest of scripture, and clearer passages can be used in interpreting more obscure ones.

• From the London Baptist Confession 1689, chapter 1, section 9:

  The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.

• From The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, III C:
  

  Inasmuch as all Scripture is the product of a single divine mind, interpretation must stay within the bounds of the analogy of Scripture and eschew hypotheses that would correct one Biblical passage by another, whether in the name of progressive revelation or of the imperfect enlightenment of the inspired writer’s mind.

Learn more:

1. Monergism.com: What does the term “analogy of faith” mean?
2. Theopedia: Analogy of Faith
3. Bob Burridge: The Interpretation of Scripture
4. J. I. Packer: The Interpretation of Scripture
5. Thomas A Howe: The Analogy of Faith

Related terms:

• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• perspicuity of scripture

Filed under Scripture.

This week’s theological term was suggested by Kim of Hiraeth. Do you have a suggestion for a theological term of the week? Email me your idea and I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Sunday's Hymn: Reader's Choice

This hymn was chosen by Rosemary, who gave me a list of her favorite hymns. Several of her favorites have already been featured, but this one hasn’t, and it’s a good one that has a couple of affirmations of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness for our justification. Can you find them?

My Hope Is Built (The Solid Rock)

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame¹,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

 —-Edward Mote (Listen.)

¹You’ll find a discussion of the term “sweetest frame” at the old blog. 

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Give Me the Bible at Above the Clouds
  
• O Young and Fearless Prophet at joythruChrist
• The Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity at Magic Statistics
• Heavenly Sunlight at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 39, 2007 at The Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Head that Once Was Crowned at Hiraeth
• O Worship the King at Seasoning of the Heart
• Depth of Mercy! Can There Be at Lux Venit
  

Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list. If you’d like to see your favorite hymn featured as a Reader’s Choice hymn, go here and leave a comment. Just tell me your favorite hymn and a little bit about why you like it and I’ll feature your hymn when your turn comes. But you’d better do it soon, because we’re coming to an end of the list of the already suggested favorite hymns!

Saturday's Old Photo

We don’t have very many old photos from my husband’s side of the family, and the ones we do have have been reprinted from already developed photos instead of negatives, so the quality is not good. This one is of Keith’s mother and father, Albin Stark and Ann Louise Peterson, with their first child (invisible, almost) who, incidentally, grew up to be an occasional commenter on this blog.

 

One of the fun things about photos of the grandparents when they were young is that you can look for family resemblances in the grandchildren. Everyone always said that Keith looked just like his dad Albin—and he does—but with youngest son the resemblance is even stronger. Youngest son’s hair is exactly the same—dark and curly—while Keith’s was lighter brown and straighter. Youngest son’s build, nose, mouth, eyes, hands, and swarthy Mediterranean complexion—everything, really—are all very similar to his granddad’s.

 

Youngest daughter may look a little like her grandmother, and in some photos (not so much this one), oldest daughter does as well. 

 

Both grandparents were born to immigrant parents. Albin’s parents were Slovenian and Ann Louise’s were Norwegian. The only family recipe I have from that side of the family is one for pasty, which, according to Wikipedia, originated in Cornwall, United Kingdom. There is, however, a good explanation for that seemingly odd traditional food. Both grandparents grew up on Minnesota’s Cuyuna Iron Range, one of the areas world-wide where Cornish miners brought their “expertise and traditions”, including their pasty recipes.