NOTE: When you see (MMM) as a biblical reference, it means I know there are passages supporting or illustrating the point, but I haven’t stopped to find them. Please blog any passages you might cite. Thanks.
The idea of biblical “interpretation” is wrong by its very nature.
Our first task is not to determine what a passage “means to us,” which is how so many approach Scripture. Our initial goal is to understand what the original author had in his mind when he wrote. Once we understand that, then our task is to determine how that information impacts us in our circumstances and in this culture. Interpretation takes place then.
Our goal is to do what God wants. We can’t know what that is until we have in our minds when we’re thorough investigating what the inspired writers had in theirs when they wrote.
Understand.
Then interpret and apply.
With that in mind, let’s consider some quick litmus tests to help readers better understand and interpret Scripture.
Scripture’s Main Theme
Jesus Christ, and through him God’s offer of salvation, is Scripture’s central theme, beginning with God’s curse in Genesis (Genesis 3:13-15) and ending with Revelation’s end-times events.
The Bible presents the sin problem which mankind brought on itself and God’s plan to save mankind from its death-dealing consequences (Note: John 17:20-26). God could not offer mankind the hope of salvation unless Jesus Christ was both fully man, the Second Adam (MMM, Note: I John 4:1-3), and fully God (MMM). Interpretations inconsistent with this are likely incorrect.
Three other recurring themes dominate the New Testament. They are truth, love, and transformation. Interpretations inconsistent with them are also likely to be incorrect.
Truth
Since God is truth and the Holy Bible claims to be the Word of Truth (MMM), God’s Word, the nature of truth itself becomes the key that unlocks Scripture.
Truth is always consistent with itself. As a result, any understanding of Scripture has to be entirely consistent with all the face-value (obvious) assertions made elsewhere in Scripture, especially in the New Testament since it deals with the God’s New Covenant under which was all mankind lives today.
Any interpretation of Scripture that is at odds with the plain assertions of the New Testament is likely to be wrong.
Love
Christian love seeks the best for the other person. You can see that in action when you read about Christ’s ministry and Paul’s reasoning behind his priorities in ministry. You also can see it in God’s instructions to believers. He seeks their best long-term interests.
When a believer obeys God’s instructions, that obedience will guide the believer away from behaviors that will harm him and toward behaviors that will help him be safe. That’s true love, looking out for another’s safety. That illustrates God’s love for us. What first looks like oppressive, fun-killing demands are actually God’s loving guidelines to help us enjoy more satisfying and peaceful lives.
The earlier in life a person begins following God’s lead, the less garbage they have to deal with later on, the greater their life potential. That’s why working with kids is so important. The earlier we can help them on the safe path the better.
This love is also reciprocal because Scripture identifies man’s obedience to God as his love for Him (II John 6; I John 5:2-21 key verse 3-4). By the same token, the New Testament teaches that our love for others seeks the best for them (Acts 2:43-46; I John3:16-20. Note: I John 4:7-21). Love among Christians implies an attitude of humble servanthood among them (MMM).
Any application of a Bible interpretation that results in harm to another is likely wrong.
Transformation
The biblical term for this transformation is sanctification. It is the process of moving from thinking like the world to thinking like God.
Paul talks about it in Romans 12:1-2. It’s a lifelong process, and the direction in which one moves (toward or away from Christ, Note: James 4:7-8) is a test. Any interpretation that does not support the importance of growing in Christ is likely to be wrong.
Many New Testament passages talk about “being saved.” Salvation has a specific beginning, a point in time from our perspective before which one is not saved and after which they are. But the New Testament also treats salvation as a process (MMM).
The trials and troubles we face play a role in that, testing for us the validity of our salvation, our ongoing relationship with Christ. Our salvation becomes sure at the judgment when it actually takes place. Up until then, our ultimate salvation is only a hope and a goal.
NOTE: A person can know they are saved because of (1) what Christ did on the cross, (2) what they did in response to Christ’s sacrifice, and (3) what they are doing now, doing their level best to obey God’s instructions and persevering in the process.
NOTE: Salvation and the issues surrounding it are controversial among Christians because it is, after all, the point of this life, why God made the Creation this way. Before salvation we belonged to Satan. By accepting God’s salvation offer, we reject Satan and all he stands for, overtly becoming his enemy. That’s why I suspect Satan gets involved in salvation. Satan muddies the water and raises the emotional level, not wanting folks to be legally correct before the Lord. Salvation is on my list of things for us to discuss. Stay tuned.
Chucky Baby’s First Law
This was the first litmus test I offered years ago when I was doing Bible study workshops: “Any interpretation of Scripture that flies in the face of the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40), the New Commandment (John 13:34), or the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is likely to be wrong.”
WARNING: All of the tests above are questionable by the extent to which their application invites investigators to arrive at conclusions inconsistent with the plain assertions of Scripture. I offer them here as useful guidelines, especially for folks just getting serious about Bible study. Except for the role of Christ, none of these tests are directly taught in Scripture. They are conclusions to which I have come based upon what is directly taught in Scripture. As you study, be a Berean (Acts 17:11), check them out for yourself.
Showing posts with label rules of biblical interpretation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rules of biblical interpretation. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Big Questions
Here are some of the Big Questions for which I have found reasonable answers. By the way, if God is truth then no question is off the table. We can ask anything. We may not get direct answers, but he’s God and we’re not. Some of my answers are straight out of Scripture. Others are my conclusions drawn from what Scripture does say. In every case, the answer I suggest is fully consistent with all the face-value assertions in Scripture.
If God is all-knowing and wants us to have sound doctrine, why did he reveal himself in a book that he knew so many people would misconstrue?
If God only does perfect things, why did he create this world so filled with evil and destruction?
If all believers have the Holy Spirit and one of the Spirit’s roles is to guide men into all truth, why don’t all Christians agree about doctrine?
If God exists and really loves us, why doesn’t he come out from behind that cloud and make himself undeniably known?
If this world is the best way for God to achieve what he wants, what does he want?
In his last recorded prayer, Christ prayed for a unity among believers that would show the world that God loves it just as much as he loves Christ (John 17:20-26). Why hasn’t God answered his own Son’s prayer?
If there are almost as many interpretations of Scripture as there are people reading it, how can we know which interpretation is accurate?
If God wants believers to have sound doctrine, will only the A-students be saved?
There you have it, some of the Big Questions that have driven my studies. Blog any of the questions you have. The Bible has good answers.
If God is all-knowing and wants us to have sound doctrine, why did he reveal himself in a book that he knew so many people would misconstrue?
If God only does perfect things, why did he create this world so filled with evil and destruction?
If all believers have the Holy Spirit and one of the Spirit’s roles is to guide men into all truth, why don’t all Christians agree about doctrine?
If God exists and really loves us, why doesn’t he come out from behind that cloud and make himself undeniably known?
If this world is the best way for God to achieve what he wants, what does he want?
In his last recorded prayer, Christ prayed for a unity among believers that would show the world that God loves it just as much as he loves Christ (John 17:20-26). Why hasn’t God answered his own Son’s prayer?
If there are almost as many interpretations of Scripture as there are people reading it, how can we know which interpretation is accurate?
If God wants believers to have sound doctrine, will only the A-students be saved?
There you have it, some of the Big Questions that have driven my studies. Blog any of the questions you have. The Bible has good answers.
Bible Study - Seeking the Truth
With every question I had, my second mentor, Robert A. Lillie (Cincinnati Bible Seminary), began with, “Let’s see what the Word says.” For him, the Bible was the final authority. It was the measure against which one could measure anything. As I began my first serious pass through the New Testament, I found the same themes recurring. It made sense to capture those themes and compare what the various passages said about them.
After several attempts at a card file to contain the information, I finally chose a three-ring loose-leaf notebook with alphabetical dividers. Since I wanted to know it all, I followed every theme and idea I found. Not knowing any of the fancy Christian words for things, I identified each idea with the word or phrase that best described it for me.
As I worked on, I realized that Christ and the apostles were teaching from the same body of truth. That defined my goal, to discover the body of truth from which Christ and the apostles taught. I called it “The Apostles’ Truth.” After more than twenty passes through the New Testament and amassing seven three-inch binders of results, I figured I was ready for Bible college.
One other thing: Because my goal was accuracy, I spent all that time working hard NOT to draw conclusions, even the obvious ones. I wanted all the facts before me before I began figuring out what they meant. My allegiance was to the Word, not to any mentor, denomination, or books about the Word. I was then, and remain today, in full submission to the Word. I go where it leads (after I deal with my characteristic stubbornness).
After Bible college (where I discovered how much I didn’t know) I went to work trying to reduce the biblical message to its basics so it could easily be shared with others. My goal was to transplant the Bible college experience into the churches. I knew it was a daunting task, but I figured I could do it in a couple of years. (It’s taken 40, but that’s me. I’m a slow worker.) More than that, my goal remained accuracy in both understanding the message and then in its practical application. On the Day of Judgment I wanted God to at least be able to say, “Nice try, Chuck.”
My first task was to get the Christian message right. With over 200 different sects and denominations roaming the American landscape, lots of opinions demanded attention. Which were accurate? Which were not? So, in the midst of the muddy Christian waters, the doctrinal jungle, where was the safe place to start? I believe my answer to that question makes my results at least worth your consideration.
Realizing that one’s rules of biblical interpretation colored the interpretation, I wanted to find the best rules, God’s rules, if you will. Supported mostly by my friend, Gary Cleaveland, I spend a year and a half studying about Bible study. I went back three generations of Bible scholars trying to discover the safe ground on which to make my stand. Finally I found a book called How To Read A Book. It was written by Mortimer Adler (general editor of Encyclopedia Britannica) and Mark VanDoren (the guy who cheated on that TV quiz show). (I think it was Mark. I've since misplaced the book.) Both were well-known secular scholars and neither had a Christian bias to defend. That was important because many of the Christian books on Bible study championed rules that lead readers to draw a specific doctrinal conclusion, not necessarily God’s.
My favorite bad rule is this one: “The book of Acts is a transitional book and therefore one is unwise to base doctrine on it.”
Acts is transitional in that it documents the transition from the Old Testament to the New, from Jehovah to Christ, from the Law to Grace.
While it seems reasonable to hold that view, the Bible itself makes no such claim. Every book in the Bible, even Philemon, carries the same weight. They are all equally authoritative.
The only doctrinal distinction Scripture makes is the fact that we are now living under the New Covenant. That means the New Testament governs but it does not thereby lessen the authority of the Old Testament. The universal truths that underscore the Old Testament are the same as those that underscore the New. Weakening the authority of the Acts influences at least two controversial Christian doctrines, the role of baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit.
In any event, the How-To-Read-A-Book rules are free of Christian denominational influences. Here are some of the rules that book champions:
The goal of interpretation is to have in your mind when you’re through reading what the original writer had in his when he wrote.
The author can never mean what he never intended to mean. (Although we need to keep in mind that the Bible has two authors, God via the Holy Spirit and the individual human writers.)
One is wiser to understand a piece of writing in the context in which it was written.
One is wiser to understand a piece of writing in terms of the genre in which its author chose to present it.
When you boil down all their rules you get this: “If you can read and understand the newspaper, you can read and understand the Bible.” In Christian terms, the Bible is accessible to anyone wanting to understand it, and that appears consistent with God’s desire for it.
God didn’t give us the Bible so we couldn’t understand it. He gave it to us so we could know the truth, knowing that the truth would set us free. While the Bible is intellectually challenging at many levels—and does in fact contain and allude to various mysteries—its basic message is easily comprehended by those wanting to comprehend it. (Although for some it may take 40 years.)
After several attempts at a card file to contain the information, I finally chose a three-ring loose-leaf notebook with alphabetical dividers. Since I wanted to know it all, I followed every theme and idea I found. Not knowing any of the fancy Christian words for things, I identified each idea with the word or phrase that best described it for me.
As I worked on, I realized that Christ and the apostles were teaching from the same body of truth. That defined my goal, to discover the body of truth from which Christ and the apostles taught. I called it “The Apostles’ Truth.” After more than twenty passes through the New Testament and amassing seven three-inch binders of results, I figured I was ready for Bible college.
One other thing: Because my goal was accuracy, I spent all that time working hard NOT to draw conclusions, even the obvious ones. I wanted all the facts before me before I began figuring out what they meant. My allegiance was to the Word, not to any mentor, denomination, or books about the Word. I was then, and remain today, in full submission to the Word. I go where it leads (after I deal with my characteristic stubbornness).
After Bible college (where I discovered how much I didn’t know) I went to work trying to reduce the biblical message to its basics so it could easily be shared with others. My goal was to transplant the Bible college experience into the churches. I knew it was a daunting task, but I figured I could do it in a couple of years. (It’s taken 40, but that’s me. I’m a slow worker.) More than that, my goal remained accuracy in both understanding the message and then in its practical application. On the Day of Judgment I wanted God to at least be able to say, “Nice try, Chuck.”
My first task was to get the Christian message right. With over 200 different sects and denominations roaming the American landscape, lots of opinions demanded attention. Which were accurate? Which were not? So, in the midst of the muddy Christian waters, the doctrinal jungle, where was the safe place to start? I believe my answer to that question makes my results at least worth your consideration.
Realizing that one’s rules of biblical interpretation colored the interpretation, I wanted to find the best rules, God’s rules, if you will. Supported mostly by my friend, Gary Cleaveland, I spend a year and a half studying about Bible study. I went back three generations of Bible scholars trying to discover the safe ground on which to make my stand. Finally I found a book called How To Read A Book. It was written by Mortimer Adler (general editor of Encyclopedia Britannica) and Mark VanDoren (the guy who cheated on that TV quiz show). (I think it was Mark. I've since misplaced the book.) Both were well-known secular scholars and neither had a Christian bias to defend. That was important because many of the Christian books on Bible study championed rules that lead readers to draw a specific doctrinal conclusion, not necessarily God’s.
My favorite bad rule is this one: “The book of Acts is a transitional book and therefore one is unwise to base doctrine on it.”
Acts is transitional in that it documents the transition from the Old Testament to the New, from Jehovah to Christ, from the Law to Grace.
While it seems reasonable to hold that view, the Bible itself makes no such claim. Every book in the Bible, even Philemon, carries the same weight. They are all equally authoritative.
The only doctrinal distinction Scripture makes is the fact that we are now living under the New Covenant. That means the New Testament governs but it does not thereby lessen the authority of the Old Testament. The universal truths that underscore the Old Testament are the same as those that underscore the New. Weakening the authority of the Acts influences at least two controversial Christian doctrines, the role of baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit.
In any event, the How-To-Read-A-Book rules are free of Christian denominational influences. Here are some of the rules that book champions:
The goal of interpretation is to have in your mind when you’re through reading what the original writer had in his when he wrote.
The author can never mean what he never intended to mean. (Although we need to keep in mind that the Bible has two authors, God via the Holy Spirit and the individual human writers.)
One is wiser to understand a piece of writing in the context in which it was written.
One is wiser to understand a piece of writing in terms of the genre in which its author chose to present it.
When you boil down all their rules you get this: “If you can read and understand the newspaper, you can read and understand the Bible.” In Christian terms, the Bible is accessible to anyone wanting to understand it, and that appears consistent with God’s desire for it.
God didn’t give us the Bible so we couldn’t understand it. He gave it to us so we could know the truth, knowing that the truth would set us free. While the Bible is intellectually challenging at many levels—and does in fact contain and allude to various mysteries—its basic message is easily comprehended by those wanting to comprehend it. (Although for some it may take 40 years.)
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