Week 8 - Bevans 8

The transcendental model reminds me of my upbringing in the pentecostal and charismatic tradition. One's theology is not based upon a scholarly hermeneutic but solely upon the authenticity of experience and personal revelation. The question is not what did the scripture mean when it was written but what does it mean now to me. Bevans makes the point that in the transcendental model, reality is not waiting to be found some where out there but is determined on an individual basis. And individuals create their own sense of what is reality and what is not. This sounds esoteric to me but I know its hard and fast truth. Bevans is right, every theologian (every Christian) does not develop their theology and worldview in a vaccum. We are all products of our circumstances, experiences and biology. It is a far gone conclusion that we form our views of God and reality from that starting point, not from some purely objective approach to the Bible. Bevans makes good use of liberation theology and hispanic culture as an example of the transcendental model in a good light. Interestingly, Latin American expressions of Christianity are highly pentecostal and charismatic, coincidental?