Biblicism

I'm reading this article:

www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/Biblicism.htm

...and I'm finding I agree with a lot of it. One sharp point he draws, more than once, is here:

"...scriptural principles must be applied to situations, and to understand the situation it is legitimate to consider data from history, sociology, and other sciences. But Scripture alone provides the ultimate norms for evaluating these data."

So things like evangelism, church planting, and worship, can take notes from all fields of study, but the norms -- the rules -- the final authority -- the mandate -- comes from Scripture. To do it backwards is to have the tail wag the dog.

But we can't expect cut-and-dried rules. Scripture tends to leave a lot of wiggle-room, a lot more than human rules, and (gasp) even encourage creativity in application. That's why missionaries learn the local languages, wear local clothing, and eat local foods (I make myself a slave to everyone and what God has declared clean etc).

Another example: God chose to use human means to spread the good news. So newer forms of communication can be valid. On the other hand, 'selling' religion is clearly condemned. There's a line drawn between communication and marketing -- though marketing theorists may well have useful information for the preacher. They probably have a lot of good advice, and some of it should be listened to, but it's never on par with God's Word.