The church is not tied to a text in such a way that nothing will ever be done for the first time. In new situations those who ‘indwell’ the story of which Jesus is the centre will have to make new and risky decisions about what faithfulness to the Author of the story requires. There can be no drawing of a straight line from a text of scripture to a contemporary ethical decision; there will always be the requirement of a fresh decision in responsibility to the One whose story it is.

— Lesslie Newbigin, “Truth and Authority in Modernity”