Are Reformation hermeneutics normative?
In a word, no. Certainly it is not suggested that this approach can be privileged, even within the Lutheran denomination. Rather, I am arguing that this cluster of interpretive methods has power for resolving a series of difficult questions and achieving consensus, a power other methods cannot achieve. There are multitudes of approaches to the Bible, of course, but many can be grouped into broad categories. The fundamentalist approach is riddled with logical inconsistencies. Methods that do not place the Bible as normative lack power to sustain spiritual life. This Lutheran or Reformation hermeneutic is advanced as a middle way. There are difficulties with this that should be acknowledged. The reformers were not totally consistent in applying their own principles, and did find passages that worked against their views. Also, while terming it a Lutheran hermeneutic or Reformation hermeneutic, it must be at once admitted that the Lutheran churches turned their back on it almost within a g
