What is a Berean?

The word "Berean" comes from Acts 17:11: "[Those in the synagogue of Berea] were more virtuous than those in Thessalonica in that they welcomed the word [Paul's interpretation of some OT passages], and discussed daily these interpretations to see if they accorded with the texts' intended meanings." (My own exposition.)

Perhaps a statement from one of my former students, the Rev. Andrea Messinger, will indicate what Bereanism is by letting her tell what being in a seminary exegesis class taught on Berean principles was like. Both at my farewell luncheon upon retiring from the faculty at Fuller Seminary in June, 1993, and at her ordination service in November, 1996, Mrs. Messinger described her experience as follows:

At times in your class I would really get upset with you because you said things which did not go along with what I believed. And when I would try and prove that I was right, you would respond by saying, "Show me from scripture where I am wrong, and I will change my view."

So I would go back and try to find in scripture how to prove I was right. But I couldn't. That was a powerful lesson in proving what it means to be a Berean and not a traditionalist.

Both Tom, my husband, and I have used that approach in working with students at our college church in St. Paul and with people in our other congregations. We always send people back to scripture.

Indeed Andrea is a seminary graduate and an ordained minister. It should be understood, however, that one does not always have to have formal training to be a Berean. People who will expend the time and effort necessary to learn the skill of reading (as illustrated with Matt. 6:24) can acquire a high degree of the skill it takes to construe a text. One major aim of this web page is to encourage lay people to develop this skill. It is hoped that the question-answer method illustrated so far in Romans, chaps. 1-3 will provide a model for how this task of interpretation is carried out. Articles are also planned to indicate how lay people can become leaders in ministry as para-pastors.

Mrs. Messinger was ordained November 3, 1996 at the Covina First Presbyterian Church, where her husband, the Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Messinger, is senior pastor. She is currently the pastor of the Community Presbyterian Church of El Monte, CA. My part in her ordination service was to give the charge.

Tom Messinger recently received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Bethel Seminary in Minneapolis. For that degree he wrote a dissertation on "A Biblical Understanding of Homosexuality. . ." This dissertation will provide much help for the essay on "Homosexuality--A Warning" appearing in a later revision of this page. He and several other pastors, once former students, have also contributed material for "Help for Homosexuals" also appearing in a later revision.

Send comments to dfuller@fuller.edu (Daniel Fuller)