Puzzles In The Air,
photo from Into Thy
Word
“No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What
we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from
God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” –1 Corinthians
2:11-12
When it comes to interpreting and applying the Bible, two
extremes seem to be a common trend. This first extreme is approaching the Bible
without care or concern for the true meaning of the text. The second extreme is
an elitist view which holds that only the experts who understand the original
languages of the Bible and have been to seminary can study understand the true
meaning and application of scripture.
In the first extreme, the Bible is treated like an advice
column. Scripture is utilized or taken out of context to support someone’s
presupposed ideas, beliefs or desires. Someone who disregards scripture like
this may flip through the Bible at random and point to a passage with their
eyes closed to randomly select a word from the Lord. In this extreme, scripture
verses are ripped out of context to illustrate a thought or idea, to arrive at
a desired outcome, or to justify a preconceived notion. This is proof texting.
In the second extreme, the scriptures are looked at as
untouchable or unknowable, unless you are part of the elite class who has been
theologically educated, and only if you know Hebrew and Greek, and only if you
have been to seminary, can you rightly interpret and apply the Bible. Those who
hold this view believe that scripture reading should be left to the
professionals. They believe the average layperson cannot accurately interpret
and apply scripture unless they have a mediator from the elite group of
experts. This group believes the Bible is not for the commoner.
These two extremes are very dangerous and prideful. Both
center around the individual or group and not on God or His Word. There is a
third or middle way to look at interpreting and applying the Bible. This third
way is a humble acceptance that we have been given the Bible as a gift from God
in our own language. And because of this gift, we should not take the
responsibility of reading and applying the Bible lightly, nor should we arrogantly
assume that the scriptures are only for the educated elite who know the
original languages and have been to seminary.
It is very important to read and rightly interpret and apply
the scriptures. We should always carefully read the scriptures as a whole and we
should read them in their intended context. Reading and understanding our
Bibles is hard work and we should be thoughtful in how we interpret and apply
it.
While the Bible is for everyone, it is not some fortune
cookie we can take lightly or flippantly read and disregard. We must treat the
scriptures with the respect they deserve as God’s Word. We must also do the
hard work in interpreting the Bible as we read it. We must rightly handle the
scriptures.
In the short article Seven Keys to Understanding Scripture,
by Tremper Longman III,
Longman says:
Everyone who reads the
Bible interprets the text. Unfortunately, however, the Bible is not always easy
to understand. Even when the text seems straightforward, we may feel uncertain
that our interpretation is right. All of us want to treat the Word of God with
the respect it deserves, and we certainly don’t want to read into it things
that are not there. For these reasons, we need to apply the basic principles of
hermeneutics—the science of interpretation—as we read the text.
In the short article Seven Keys to Understanding Scripture;
Longman gives seven simple
guidelines to help the reader of the Bible to comprehend what God’s Word is saying.
These keys help the reader to think through important factors of Biblical
interpretation like the author’s original intended meaning, the context of the
passage, the literary genre of the passage, the historical and cultural
background of the passage, the grammatical structure of the passage,
interpreting experience in light of scripture, and looking at the Bible as a
whole.
The seven keys to understanding
scripture are:
Principle 2—Read A Passage in Context.
Principle 3—Identify the genre of the passage you are reading.
Principle 4—Consider the historical and cultural background of the Bible.
Principle 5—Consider the grammar and structure within the passage.
Principle 6—Interpret experience in light of scripture, not Scripture in the light of experience.
Principle 7—Always seek the full counsel of Scripture.
Recognizing
that the Bible is a gift to us from God, we should give the Bible the prayerful
respect it deserves in reading, interpreting and applying it to our lives. We should avoid the extreme of prideful and
passive self-service in our reading and the prideful extreme of arrogant
elitism. May we choose the third way, reading our Bibles responsibly, reading them
with discernment, and reading with thoughtful consideration and research, while
taking comfort in what Longman asserted, “The God who gave us His Word longs
for us to understand it even more than we do.”
Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom
Before Reading Sacred Scripture
O Lord Jesus Christ, open the
eyes of my heart, that I may hear Your word and understand and do Your will,
for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Your commandments from me, but
open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your law. Speak unto me the
hidden and secret things of Your wisdom. On You do I set my hope, O my God,
that You shall enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Your
knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; that
in reading the lives and sayings of the saints I may not sin, but that such may
serve for my restoration, enlightenment and sanctification, for the salvation
of my soul, and the inheritance of life everlasting. For you are the enlightenment
of those who lie in darkness, and from You comes every good deed and every
gift. Amen.
Bibliography
Seven Keys to Understanding
Scripture, by Tremper Longman III:
Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom
Before Reading Sacred Scripture:
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