Keys To Bible Interpretation

Understanding the Bible

Books for information:

Christopher Ash—Hearing the Spirit, Roy B. Zuck—Basic Bible Interpretation, Kevin J. Vanhoozer—Is There Meaning in This Text?, Graeme Goldsworthy—Gospel-centered Hermeneutics, Mark D. Thompson—A Clear and Present Word

Roy B. Zuck—Basic Bible Interpretation, Kevin J. Vanhoozer—Is There Meaning in This Text?, Graeme Goldsworthy—Gospel-centered Hermeneutics, Mark D. Thompson—A Clear and Present Word

Kevin J. Vanhoozer—Is There Meaning in This Text?, Graeme Goldsworthy—Gospel-centered Hermeneutics, Mark D. Thompson—A Clear and Present Word

Graeme Goldsworthy—Gospel-centered Hermeneutics, Mark D. Thompson—A Clear and Present Word

Mark D. Thompson—A Clear and Present Word

Can we understand the Bible today?

What do we do when our interpretations differ? “Can we happily affirm them both as true—one true for you and another true for me?”

“If we cannot understand the Bible as revealing to us objective truth, there is no way that we will have the objective Father God made known to us through it.”

Problem of Bible Interpretation

Bible Anarchy and Bible Tyranny.

Anarchy: “Two people say contradictory things about how they understand the passage and group smile, have another cup of tea and carry on as though they are both right.”—Ash

Opinions are not facts.

What happened

and how you feel about it

are two different things.

And people should know

which is which.

“If we cannot have interpretive chaos, we must have interpretive dogmatism: There is only one correct meaning, and I/we have it.If the interpreters have no king, they need some kind of pope to tell them what it means.”

“A Roman Catholic asked his priest why his protestant friend knew more of his Bible than he did. The priest replies “indeed Protestants follow the Bible more closely than Catholics, which is exactly why it sometimes seems that no two Protestants have precisely the same beliefs. . . ask you Protestant friend, ‘if the Bible is all that one needs, why is it that there are literally thousands of sects with widely varying beliefs, all of whom proclaim themselves to be Bible-based?’”

“We are vulnerable to the accusation that we are endlessly fissiparous, always splitting and dividing.”

“Speaking of American Fundamentalism Vanhoozer makes the point that ‘Fundamentalsim. . . preaches the authority of the text but practices the authority of the interpretive community.’ That is, in theory the Bible rules. But in practice, powerful people within the community tell us ‘what the Bible means.’”

Neither anarchy, nor tyranny can be right!!!

Bible teachers ought never set themselves as interpretive authorities.

How people read the Bible:

As as mirror in which it reflects back to us all our prejudices and preconceptions—Largely unchanged by it.—Anarchy

As a painting in a gallery. Only focus on the text. —only focusing on the text means you neglect the author and the foundational truth. See this as Pharisaism. —Tyranny

As a window—Our goal si to see the one whom the window opens to us. We hear the words of Jesus Christ in the whole Bible, He makes the Father known to us.

1 John 1:3 AV 1873

3 that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Character of the Bible as a Testimony to Christ.

The idea of the Bible as a cultural library in the so-called emerging church. The Bible is not fixed and authoritative truth, but rather a moving target based on a continual cultural conversation to which we are invited to participate.

Literary Culture?

Christ is the mediator of meaning

Luke 9:35 AV 1873

35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

“This command is heavily freighted with meaning and significance. For as they reflected later on the person and meaning of Christ, the apostles were gradually guided by the Spirit to understand that he was and is the mediator between God and human beings, that He is the principle of coherence in the universe, the one in who the universe holds together, and the one in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”—Ash

1 Timothy 2:5 AV 1873

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Colossians 1:16 AV 1873

16 for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Eph. 1:9-10

Ephesians 1:9–10 AV 1873

9 having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself: 10 that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Ephesians 1:9 AV 1873

9 having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself:

Colossians 2:2–3 AV 1873

2 that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ; 3 in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The plain meaning of the text

The Bible has an objective and stable meaning. It may cause a reaction different for different people though. The meaning does not change, but how we use it in our lives is different.

Stable Meaning

There is an idea around that meaning does not reside in the text but in the interaction of the text with the reader. In essence this is a matter of perspective. It is not my job to fuse God’s horizon of meaning with mine, rather move myself to God’s perspective. The text has as stable meaning but that meaning may effect others differently.

“We are engaged in the earnest life-and-death business of discerning the meaning that is there, by which the Father is made known.” —Ash

Completeness of the Bible

“The critical question we need to ask for understanding a text is, what is its context?”

see page 99 in Ash.

Language

Language behaves in certain ways. It is typically governed by rules. “We need to learn communicative competence, both in speaking/writing and in hearing/reading.”

Words behave differently in different contexts.

A good translation gives us adequate access to the Word. Tyndale said “Ere long, if my life be spared, I will cause the boy who driveth the plough to know more of the Bible than you do, Sir.”

Genre

Kind: i.e. Comedy, tragedy, romance irony, poetry history fantasy. . .

“Many people who have an excellent command of a language often feel quite helpless in certain spheres of communication precisely because they do not have a practical command of the generic forms used in the given spheres.:”

Suburbs in reading. They set the purpose for which you are reading. Different genres re suited to different forms of communication. Different Bible genres communicate different facets of Bible truth.

Communicative competence is a skill to be learnt. Functional illiteracy surfaces again and again.

Accurate translation

Grasp of Bible Genres.

Canon

Scripture is a closed book. We do not see another authoritative source instead of Scripture. Reference pharisees adding rules and regulations.

Bible Tradition

Bible interpretation is not a solo action. We do so with other believers both from history and from today.

Sola Scriptura is not Solo Scriptura.

Clarity of the Spirit

James 1:

James 1:5–6 AV 1873

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.