Learning to Interpret Toward Love

Different groups interpret the Bible according to their core beliefs, emphasizing some ideas while allowing others to lie dormant. In this reflection on the meaning of Scripture, Peter Fitch argues that the Bible itself gives many clues as to the appropriate lens with which to read it: love. It is not meant as a rulebook, binding for all generations; rather, it provides an atmosphere for people to meet with and be transformed by a living God. Next, Peter describes his own story of gradually realizing that this truth would lead to a new way of seeing and accepting people with different sexuality. Along the way, he shares the stories of university students and family members, and of a church that wrestled deeply with these issues. He believes that there are times that the heart can be a better theologian than the brain, and that churches would do well to learn to embrace people of different sexuality. Learning to Interpret Toward Love is a theological explanation of why this is a path to a better future.

Peter Fitch (D.Min., Fuller) has been teaching at St. Stephen’s University in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, since 1979. He is currently Dean of Ministry Studies, with courses in Religious Studies, Philosophy and Postmodern Christianity. He has also taught in college or university programs in the United States, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. A major focus in all his academic work has been the history of Christian spirituality. Peter and his wife, Mary Ellen, along with a group of friends, planted St. Croix Vineyard Church in 1992, and they continue to share in pastoral leadership there. He is also the author of Learning to Suffer Well, a devotional workbook that integrates wisdom from many streams of Christian thought in order to help people face life in a mature way.