Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 3
The talk argues that the decisive question is “who is upstream from Christian doctrine,” illustrated by Parmesan cheese—what, in your experience, functions as an “upstream source” in your own theological instincts (a teacher, a tradition, a movement’s habits), even when you claim “Scripture alone”?
Another way to ask: In your life, what most shapes what you think Christianity teaches—like a teacher, tradition, or movement—even when you say “Scripture alone”?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The speaker’s “upstream/downstream” analogy challenges believers to ask whether they treat something besides Scripture as the final producer of doctrine—someone whose words feel automatically binding. The transcript implies that even groups claiming Scripture can quietly let leaders, traditions, or “systems” function like “Parma” rather than like “Pennsylvania.”
- He defines the key question: “Who is upstream from Christian doctrine… if they say it, it’s Christian doctrine?”
- Parmesan example: Pennsylvania can distribute but cannot “make” Parmesan; it must receive it from “Parma.”
- He contrasts views: Catholics/Orthodox put councils/pope “upstream,” while “only scripture is upstream” for Protestants/Anabaptists.
- He warns that others argue, “The church gave us the Bible, so it has authority over the Bible,” showing how an institution can become upstream.
- He later applies it beyond Catholicism: some “one true church” groups also act as if “some of the things that they’ve taught are also upstream from doctrine.”