The Bible for me is like a conversation with my 3,000 year old faith community. It is not:
- Inerrant: it was written by flat earthers
- The actual “word” of God: Jesus is the Word of God and the Bible shows how we’ve been wrestling with God over time
- In all ways permanent: the Bible writers and Jesus change meanings, interpretations and more — all over the place. So can we. Language, culture and science advance and we cannot expect every single thought someone had back then to carry forward or make sense.
I like your hermeneutic above. Christ first. Definitely the Holy Spirit although a lot of Protestant types are afraid to listen in silence and trust what they hear. Definitely the church, we are the body of Christ and it important to help each other grow in our understanding. As the UCC says, “God is still speaking.” I especially like that you listen to the margins. Christianity is a faith of the margins, despite how Christian nationalists and prosperity gospel preachers try to pervert it.
I’m indebted to Martin Luther in many ways, but Sola Scriptura is a pair of handcuffs on many faith journeys.