insofar as they lead believers to develop out of their faith an understanding of God, the world, and human beings in their own concrete situation.”15 This is another way of saying that the NT is normative insofar as it facilitates an encounter with Christ. He then says that certain statements are more or less capable of facilitating this encounter. Some texts are clearer than others. Some texts speaks in terms that are inappropriate to the subject matter. “From this possibility,” he adds, “arises