Few, if any, Christians choose to disobey God’s commands. Should be an obvious statement, but I hear people say, “They just don’t want to do what God says.” If someone is convinced that a command is universally and eternally applicable, they won’t deliberately disobey it.

The problem is in the determination of the scope and application of commands that we find in the New Testament. That’s where CENI (short for Commands, Examples, Necessary Inferences) fails us. It doesn’t give us any tools to make those determinations. We can say that Paul’s commands about head coverings for women were only applicable to the Corinthian situation, but we need to have some basis for saying that. We can see the stipulations of the letter in Acts 15 as being limited to the first century, but why? On what grounds? Merely chanting “direct commands, approved examples and necessary inferences” doesn’t get us there.

Another twist is the fact that not all commands are expressed as imperatives and not all imperatives are commands. Some real life examples might help on this. If I say, “Come on in, have some coffee,” I haven’t really given you a command. It’s an invitation, expressed with imperatives. “Have a good day!” is not a command. In the same way, if your company’s handbook says, “The employee will not consume caffeine during the course of the day,” that affirmation has the weight of a command. (though the Supreme Court would throw that out as cruel and unusual punishment)

When Paul describes “bishops” to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, is he giving a command within that description? Is it just for Ephesus or is that for all places? Is it just for the first century or is it for all times?

At times Paul admits that he’s writing his own ideas (1 Corinthians 7:12), while at times he passes on commands directly from God (1 Corinthians 7:10). And at times, he gives conflicting commands for different contexts. To the Corinthians, Paul writes that those who are not married should remain single if possible (1 Corinthians 7). To Timothy, Paul says that younger widows should marry and have children (1 Timothy 5:14).

Back when I posted about starting from zero, someone wrote on my Facebook page: “Silly question. There is no way to start from zero. We have commands from the God we worship regarding how He wants us to worship Him. Who are we to do anything else but follow those commands?” Oh that it were so simple.

I think everyone wants to follow God’s commands, when we are convinced that those commands apply to us. Determining the scope and application of God’s commands goes beyond the capabilities of CENI. We need a more complete hermeneutic.

[From time to time I have to repeat this disclaimer: I don’t believe in salvation by works. I do believe in grace. Read this post if you’re still confused: Created For Good Works]

Photo by Amy Aldworth

Depending on how you count them, there are between 800 and 1000 commands in the New Testament. For the sake of space, I won’t list them all. :-)

I know no one who tries to keep them all. That statement, in and of itself, is enough to doom the use of CENI (commands, examples, necessary inferences) as a hermeneutic. No one tries to keep them all, not even the staunchest advocate of the CENI hermeneutic.

Take this command for example: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13) or this one: “Go south to the road — the desert road — that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26) These are commands, but we can clearly see they aren’t for us.

Many leave out all commands found in the gospels. Why would we expect Christians to follow the teachings of Christ? No, those teachings were obviously meant for the months leading up to his death. They were recorded by Christians for Christians to read them and know what sort of things they aren’t expected to do. (I’m sorry… is my sarcasm showing?)

Other commands are trickier. In the United States, we’ve deemed the “holy kiss” as something that was for then and not now. (That command is given five times in the New Testament!) Paul’s instructions about widows in 1 Timothy 5 are generally disregarded. Lifting holy hands in prayer? Optional. Praying in Jesus’ name? Obligatory (even if that command is from the gospels!)

I think you get the point. It’s not enough to say, “Here we have a direct command.” Even when we find that command, we have to analyze it in light of who said it, to whom, under what circumstances, etc. To say, “We just do what the Bible says to do” isn’t very helpful.

In a couple of missions classes, we were given a list of commands from the Bible and asked to tell which we felt to be “eternal” commands and which were “temporal” commands (only applicable at that time). After doing that, we were asked to write a short explanation as to the basis on which we make our decisions. It’s an interesting exercise.

Anyway, in looking at the idea of “direct commands, approved examples, and necessary inferences” being a sufficient hermeneutic, my opinion is the concept falls flat right out of the gate. What do you think?

Photo by Amy Aldworth

Most of us in the Restoration Movement are familiar with this formula. It’s often abbreviated CENI. (Though Brad used CEIe yesterday; I may have to get him to explain that one.) It’s the idea that God’s will for Christians is communicated in three ways in the New Testament: direct commands from the Lord for the church (primarily communicated through the apostles), examples from the early church that were not condemned by the apostles (therefore seen as approved), and inferences that are deemed to be necessary.

Originally, CENI was applied, along with the regulative principle, as a means of determining what was and what was not “authorized” worship. (Jay Guin gives an excellent introduction and overview on his blog) It should also be noted that CENI existed in American culture in the 1800s outside of the church; Edward Fudge notes examples of legal cases which call for “express statute, approved precedent or necessary inference.”

At some point, many came to see commands, examples and inferences as a hermeneutic model for interpreting the New Testament. (And, it should be pointed out, most who appeal to this hermeneutic would only be interested in studying the New Testament to know God’s will for Christians. Some would insist on leaving out the gospels, along with the Old Testament) CENI does not work as a hermeneutic. It is insufficient. It needs help from other concepts like context, literary genre, etc.

I want to take some time to analyze CENI as a basis for interpreting Scripture and establishing authority for Christian practices. Lots of people have done this, but I want to go through the exercise for two reasons. One is the fact that there is at this time an active group of insightful commenters; I learn much from the interaction that goes on. The second reason is that my ideas always need testing, and I find the Kitchen to be a wonderful place for critics to examine my half-baked thoughts.

So let the games begin. Tell me about your experiences, both good and bad, with the concept of direct commands, approved examples and necessary inferences.

Photo by Amy Aldworth