Speaker 1: You are listening to Hovel audios production of knowing scripture by RC Sproul. This book is read by Robertson Dean. This book is 153 pages long and is divided into six chapters. This recording was produced in 2009 by hovel audio, which owns the copyright. This edition issued by contractual arrangement with InterVarsity press originally published by InterVarsity Christian fellowship in English as knowing scripture copyright 1977 by InterVarsity Christian fellowship USA copyright 2008 by RC Sproul, all rights reserved. Please visit www.christianaudio.com to offer your impressions of this work and to explore additional time.
Preface
Speaker 1: Recent years have seen a renewal of interest in the scriptures since Neo Orthodox theology called the church back to a serious study of the content of the Bible. There has been more concerned in the life of the church for understanding and applying its message to our generation. Along with this new interest, however has come confusion. There has been little agreement among Christian scholars concerning the rudimentary principles of biblical interpretation. This confusion in the scholarly world has made an impact on the life of the whole church. Our day seems to be the age of lay renewal. Much of this renewal is associated with home Bible studies and small group fellowships. Many people now gather to discuss debate and comment on the scripture for themselves. Often they find themselves disagreeing about what the Bible means or how it should be applied. This has had unfortunate consequences for many.
Speaker 1: The Bible remains an enigma capable of vastly different interpretations. Some have even despaired of their own ability to make sense of it to others. The Bible has a nose of wax capable of being shaped into conformity with the best interests of the reader too often. The conclusion seems to be, you can quote the Bible to prove anything. Is there a way out of this confusion can serious readers find any principles to guide them through the conflicting viewpoints they hear from all sides These are some of the questions that this book is designed to deal with. Although many of the issues have a scholarly dimension. I have not been motivated by a desire to enter the academic debate concerning the science of hermeneutics. Rather, my prime motivation is to offer basic common sense guidelines to help serious readers study sacred scripture profitably in line with the Bible's own view of itself.
Speaker 1: The book seeks to emphasize the divine origin and authority of scriptures because of this, I have attempted to provide rules of interpretation that will serve as a check and balance for our all too common tendency to interpret the Bible. According to our own prejudices, the book closes with a survey of various tools that are available to help either beginners or more advanced students of the Bible above all. I would like this to be a practical book that will give assistance to lay people. Indeed, I have a fond hope that Christians will continue their study of the scripture and continue the contributions they're making in the church. May this book be an encouragement to persevere with joy, as well as understanding, I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of people who assisted me in this project among them professor David Wells, whose advice has been invaluable in correcting the manuscript
Chapter One
Speaker 1: Why study the Bible Why study the Bible It may seem odd and foolish to raise this question since who probably would not be reading this book, unless you were already convinced that Bible study is necessary. Our best intentions, however, are often weakened by our moods and Caprice Bible study often falls by the way. So before we examine the practical guidelines for Bible study, let's review some of the compelling reasons for studying the Bible at all two myths. First, we will look at some of the reasons people give for not studying the Bible. These reasons often contain myths that are passed off as truisms through much repetition. The myth that claims first place in our hall of excuses is the idea that the Bible is too difficult for the ordinary person to understand myth. One. The Bible is so difficult to understand that only highly skilled theologians with technical training can deal with the scriptures.
Speaker 1: This myth has been repeated many times by sincere people. I know I can't study the Bible because every time I try to read it, I can't understand it. When some people say this, they may want to hear that's all right. I understand it's really a difficult book. And unless you've had seminary training, maybe you shouldn't try to tackle it, or perhaps they want to hear, I know it's too heavy, too deep, too profound. I commend you for your tireless efforts, your strenuous labors, and trying to solve the mystifying riddle of God's word. It is sad that God has chosen to speak to us in such obscure and esoteric language that only scholars can grasp it. This I am afraid is what many of us want to hear We feel guilty and want to quiet our consciences for neglecting our duty as Christians. When we express this myth, we do it with astonishing ease.
Speaker 1: The myth is so often repeated that we do not expect it to be challenged yet. We know that has mature educated adults. We can understand the basic message of the Bible. Indeed, the scholars who drafted and signed the Chicago statement on biblical hermeneutics, 1980, to affirm that a person is not dependent for understanding of scripture on the expertise of biblical scholars. If we can read the newspaper or blogs, we can read the Bible. In fact, I would venture to guess that more difficult words and concepts are expressed on the front page of a newspaper than on most pages of the Bible. Myth to the Bible is boring. If we press people for an explanation for what they mean when they express the first myth, usually they respond by saying, well, I guess I can understand it. But frankly, the book bores me to death. This statement reflects not so much an inability to understand what is read as a taste and preference for what we find interesting and exciting.
Speaker 1: The preponderance of boredom that people experienced with the Bible came home to me. When I was hired to teach the scriptures in required Bible courses at a Christian college, the president of the institution phoned me and said, we need someone young and exciting someone with a dynamic method who will be able to make the Bible come alive while I knew what the president was getting at. I nevertheless wanted to say, you want me to make the Bible come alive I didn't know that it had died. In fact, I never even heard that it was ill. Who was the attending physician That the Bible's demise No, I can't make the Bible come alive for anyone. The Bible is already alive. It makes me come alive. When people say the Bible is doll, it makes me wonder why biblical characters are full of life. There is a unique quality of passionate about them. Their lives reveal, drama, pathos, lost crime devotion, and every conceivable aspect of human existence. There is rebuke remorse, contrition, constellation, practical wisdom, philosophical reflection, and most of all truth, perhaps the dullness, some experience is due to the antiquity and cultural distance of the material. How does the life of Abraham or of Timothy lived so long ago And so far away relate to us, but the characters of biblical history are real though. Their life settings are different from ours. Their struggles and concerns are very much like ours.
Speaker 1: The clarity of scripture in the 16th century, the reformers declared their total confidence in what they called the perspicuity of scripture. What they meant by that technical term was the clarity of scripture. They maintained that the Bible is basically clear and lucid. It is simple enough for any literate person to understand its basic message. This is not to say that all parts of the Bible are equally clear or that there are no difficult passages or sections to be found in it. Lay people unskilled in the ancient languages and the fine points of exit. Jesus may have difficulty with parts of the scripture, but the essential content is clear enough to be understood easily. Martin Luther for example, was convinced that what was obscure and difficult in one part of scripture was stated more clearly. And simply in other parts of scripture, some parts of the Bible are so clear and simple that they are offensive to those suffering from intellectual arrogance.
Speaker 1: I once was lecturing about how Christ's death on the cross fulfilled the curse motif of the old Testament. In the middle of my lecture, a man in the audience interrupted me saying loudly that's primitive and obscene. I asked him to repeat his comment so that everyone present could hear his complaint when he repeated it. I said, you are exactly right. I particularly like your choice of words, primitive and obscene. The entire history of redemption is communicated in primitive terms from the episode of the encounter of Adam and Eve, with the serpent to the devastating destruction that God visits on the chariots of Egypt in the Exodus to the crass and brutal murder of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible reveals that God hears the groans of all of his people from the peasant to the philosopher, from the dull witted to the sophisticated scholar. His message is simple enough for the most simplistic of his fallen creatures to understand what kind of a God would reveal his love and redemption in terms so technical and concepts so profound that only an elite core of professional scholars could understand them.
Speaker 1: God does speak in primitive terms because he is addressing himself to primitives. At the same time, there is enough profundity contained in scripture to keep the most astute and erudite scholars busily engaged in that theological inquiries for a lifetime. If primitive is an appropriate word to describe the content of scripture, obscene is even more. So all of the absurdities of sin are recorded with clear and forthright language in the scripture. And what is more obscene than the cross here, we have obscenity on a cosmic scale on the cross Christ takes upon himself human obscenities in order to redeem them. If you've been one of those who have clung to the myths of dullness or difficulty, perhaps it is because you have attributed to the whole of scripture, what you have found in some of its parts, maybe some passages have been peculiarly difficult and obscure.
Speaker 1: Other passages may have left you bewildered and baffled. Perhaps those should be left for the scholars to unravel. If you find certain portions of the scripture, difficult and complex need, you insist that the whole of scripture is boring and dull. Biblical Christianity is not an esoteric religion. Its content is not concealed in vague symbols that require some sort of special insight to grasp. There is no special intellectual prowess or spiritual gift that is necessary to understand the basic message of scripture. You may find that in Eastern religions where insight is limited to some guru who lives in a shanty high in the Himalayas, maybe the guru has been thunder struck by the gods with some profound mystery of the universe. You travel to inquire. And he tells you in a hushed whisper that the meaning of life is the sound of one hand clapping that's esoteric.
Speaker 1: That's so esoteric that even the guru does not understand it. He cannot understand it because it's an absurdity. Absurdities often sound profound because they are incapable of being understood. When we hear things we do not understand. Sometimes we think they are simply too deep or weighty for us to grasp. When in fact they are merely unintelligible statements like one hand clapping, the Bible does not talk like that. The Bible speaks of God in meaningful patterns of speech. Some of those patterns may be more difficult than others, but they are not meant to be nonsense statements that only a guru can fathom
Speaker 2: The problem of motivation.
Speaker 1: It is important to note that the theme of this book is not how to read the Bible, but how to study the Bible. There is a great deal of difference between reading and studying. Reading is something we can do in a leisurely way. Something that can be done strictly for entertainment in a casual manner, but study suggests labor serious and diligent work here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's word, not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work, our problem is not lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.
Speaker 2: Carl Bart,
Speaker 1: 1886 to 1968, the famous Swiss theologian once wrote that all human sin finds its root in three basic human problems. He included pride, hubris dishonesty, and slothfulness in his list of rudimentary sins. None of these basic evils is instantly eradicated by spiritual regeneration. As Christians. We must struggle against these problems through our entire pilgrimage. None of us is immune. If we are going to deal with the discipline of Bible study, we must recognize that the outset that we will need the grace of God to persevere. The problem of slothfulness has been with us since the curse of the fall. Our labor is now mixed with sweat. Weeds are easier to grow than grass. Newspapers are easier read than the Bible is to study. The curse of labor is not magically removed simply because our task is the study of scripture. When I lecture to groups on the theme of studying the Bible, I often ask how many of the group members have been Christians for one year or more.
Speaker 1: And then I ask those people, how many have read the entire Bible from cover to cover In every instance, the overwhelming majority answer in the negative. I would venture to guess that among those who have been Christians for a year or more, at least 80% have never read the whole Bible. How is that possible Only in appeal to the radical fall of the human race could begin to answer that question. If you have read the whole Bible, you own a small minority of Christian people. If you have studied the Bible, you are in an even smaller minority. Isn't it amazing that almost everyone living in the West has an opinion to offer about the Bible yet So few have really studied it. Sometimes it seems as though the only people who take the time to study it are those with the sharpest access to grind against it.
Speaker 1: Many people study it to find possible loopholes so they can get out from under the weight of its authority. Biblical ignorance is not limited to lay people by any means. I have sat on church boards responsible for the examination of seminarians preparing for the pastoral ministry. The degree of biblical ignorance manifested by many of these students is appalling seminary curricula have not done much to alleviate the problem. Every year, many churches, ordained people who are virtually ignorant of the content of scripture. I was shocked when I took a test in biblical knowledge for entrance to the theological seminary, from which I graduated after I completed my exam, I was deeply embarrassed, ashamed to hand in my paper. I had taken several courses in college that I thought would prepare me for such a test. But when the test came, I was not ready. I left question after question blank and was certain that I had failed when the grades were posted.
Speaker 1: I discovered that I had received one of the highest grades in a group of 75 students. Even with the grades scaled, there were several students who scored less than 10 out of a possible grade of 100. My score was poor yet. It was one of the best of the bad biblical illiteracy among the clergy has become so prevalent that I often find pastors getting annoyed and angry when their parishioners ask them to teach them the Bible. In many cases, pastors live in mortal fear that their ignorance will be exposed by being thrust into a situation where they are expected to teach the Bible.
Speaker 1: The biblical basis for Bible study. The Bible itself has much to say about the importance of studying the Bible. We will examine two passages, one from each Testament in order to catch a glimpse of these mandates. In Deuteronomy six, we find a passage that was familiar to every Jew of the old Testament. It's words were used to call the assembly together for worship. We read, hear O Israel. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might verses four and five. Most of us are familiar with these words, but what follows them immediately read on these words, which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house.
Speaker 1: And when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your Gates verses six through nine here, God sovereignly commands that his word be taught so diligently that it penetrates the heart. The content of that word is not to be mentioned casually and infrequently repeated discussion is the order of the day, every day, the call to bind on the hand, the forehead, the doorpost and gate makes it clear that God is saying that the job must be done by whatever method it takes. Looking at the new Testament we read Paul's admonition to Timothy you. However, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them.
Speaker 1: And that from childhood, you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ. Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work. Second Timothy chapter three verses 14 through 17. This expectation is so basic to our understanding of the importance of Bible study, that it warrants a careful scrutiny. Continue in the things you have learned. Verse 14, this part of the admonition lays the accent on continuity. Our study of scripture is not to be a once for all matter. There is no room for the proverbial. Once over lightly, consistency is necessary for a sound basis of biblical studies, sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation.
Speaker 1: Verse 15, Paul refers to the scriptures ability to give wisdom. When the Bible speaks of wisdom, it refers to a special kind of wisdom. The term is not used to connote an ability to be worldly wise or to have the cleverness necessary, to write a poor Richard's Almanac in biblical terms. Wisdom has to do with the practical matter of learning, how to live a life that is pleasing to God. A cursory glance at the wisdom literature of the old Testament makes this emphasis abundantly clear. Proverbs, for example, tells us that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord Proverbs chapter one, verse seven, chapter nine, verse 10. That fear is not a survival fear, but a posture of awe and reverence, which is necessary for authentic godliness. The old Testament distinguishes between wisdom and knowledge. We are commanded to acquire knowledge, but more to acquire wisdom.
Speaker 1: Knowledge is necessary if wisdom is to be gained, but it is not identical with wisdom. A person can have knowledge without having wisdom, but he or she can not have wisdom without having knowledge. A person without knowledge is ignorant. A person without wisdom is deemed a fool in biblical terms. Foolishness is a moral matter and receives the judgment of God. Wisdom in the highest sense is being wise with respect to salvation. Thus wisdom is at the illogical matter. Paul is saying that through the scriptures, we can acquire that kind of wisdom. That concerns our ultimate fulfillment and destiny as human beings. Knowing from whom you have learned them, verse 14, who is this whom Paul is talking about Is he referring to Timothy's grandmother or DePaul himself These options are doubtful whom refers to the ultimate source of the knowledge Timothy has acquired. Namely God, this comes out more clearly in the statement.
Speaker 1: All scripture is inspired by God. Scripture is inspired by God. Verse 16. This passage has been the focal point of volumes of theological literature that describe and analyze theories of biblical inspiration. The crucial word in the passage is the Greek term theopneustos, which is often translated by the phrase inspired by God. The term more precisely means God breathed, which refers not so much to God's breathing something in as to his breathing, something out rather than the term inspiration. We may be better advised to render the Greek by the English expiration. In that case, we would see the significance of the passage, not so much in providing us with a theory of inspiration, a theory of how God transmitted his word through human authors, but rather a statement of the origin or source of scripture. What Paul is saying to Timothy is that the Bible comes from God.
Speaker 1: He is its ultimate author. It is his word. It comes from him. It carries the weight of all that he is thus the injunction to from whom you have learned them. These things scripture is profitable for teaching verse 16. One of the most important priorities. Paul mentions is the preeminent way in which the Bible prophets us the first and indeed foremost profit is the profit of teaching or instruction. We may pick up the Bible and be inspired or moved to tears or other pointing to motions. But our greatest profit is in being instructed. Again, our instruction is not in matters of how to build a house or how to multiply and divide or how to employ the science of differential equations. Rather, we are instructed in the things of God. This instruction is called profitable because God himself places an extremely high value on it, the instruction is assigned worth and significance.
Speaker 1: Countless times I've heard Christians say, why do I need to study doctrine or theology When all I need to know is Jesus. My immediate reply is who is Jesus. As soon as we begin to answer this question, we are involved in doctrine and theology. No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian, perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian. Nevertheless, the issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians, but whether we are going to be good, FIA logins, a good theologian is one who is instructed by God. Scripture is profitable for reproof, correction and training in righteousness, verse 16. In these words, Paul articulates, the practical value of Bible study as fallen creatures. We sin, we earn and we are inherently out of shape with respect to righteousness. When we sin, we need to be reproved.
Speaker 1: When we arrive, we need to be corrected. When we are out of shape, we need to go into training. The scriptures function as our chief approver, our chief corrector and our chief trainer, the bookstores of this world are filled with books on training methods, to acquire excellence in sports, to lose weight and get our physical figures into shape and to acquire skills. In all areas, libraries have stacks of books written to teach us financial management and the nuances of wise investment policies. We can find many books that will teach us how to turn our losses into profits, our liabilities into assets, but where are the books that will train us in righteousness The question still remains. What shall it profit a man. If he wins the whole world and loses his soul, Matthew chapter 16, verse 26, that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work verse 17. The Christian who is not diligently involved in a serious study of scripture is simply inadequate as a disciple of Christ to be an adequate Christian and competent in the things of God. We must do more than attend sharing sessions and bless me parties. We cannot learn competency by osmosis. Biblically illiterate. Christians are not only inadequate, but unequipped. In fact, they are inadequate because they are not equipped. And NFL star may be able to run barefoot, but when playing a league opponent, he will be sure to wear cleats.
Speaker 1: The Bible as revelation. One of the most important advantages the Bible gives us is that it provides information that is not available anywhere else. Our universities provide us with a wealth of knowledge acquired by human investigation of the natural world. We learn by observation analysis and abstract speculation. We compare and contrast varied opinions from notable scholars, but with all the skills of knowledge that we have at our disposal in this world, there is no one who can speak to us from a transcendent perspective, no one who can reason with us as the philosophers say subspecies eight tonight. Notice from the eternal perspective, only God can provide us with an eternal perspective and speak to us with absolute and final authority. The advantage of the equipment provided by scripture is that knowledge is made available to us. That can be learned from no other source. The scripture does of course, talk of matters that can be learned by other means.
Speaker 1: We are not utterly dependent on the new Testament to learn who Caesar Augustus was or how far it is from Jerusalem to Bethany. But the world's best geographer cannot show us the way to God and the world's best psychiatrist cannot give us a final answer to the problem of our guilt. There are matters contained in Holy writ, that unveil for us that which is not exposed to the natural course of human investigation though much can be learned about God from the study of nature. It is his self revelation in scripture that is most complete and most valuable for us. There is an analogy between how we get to know people in this world and how we become acquainted with God. If we want to learn something about a human being, let's say bill Monroe, there are many ways we can go about it. We could do a search on the internet, perhaps first Googling his name.
Speaker 1: If we have the right connections, we might ask the FBI or the CIA for their files on him. We could send for his high school and college transcripts through such records, we might discover his basic biographical history, medical record, academic and athletic achievement records. We could then interview his friends to get a more personal evaluation, but all these methods are indirect. And many of Bill's intangible qualities will remain obscured to our scrutiny. All these methods are, but secondary sources of information. If we want more accurate knowledge of bill Monroe, we should meet him personally, observe his outward appearance, see how he behaves, what mannerisms he employs. We may even be able to guess how he is feeling what he is thinking, what he values and what displeases him. But if we want to gain intimate knowledge of him, we have to engage in some kind of verbal communication with him.
Speaker 1: No one can express more clearly or more accurately what he believes feels or thinks than bill himself. Unless bill chooses to reveal those things verbally, our knowledge will be limited to guesswork and speculation. Only words will enlighten us. Likewise. When we speak about the concept of revelation, we are talking about the basic principle of self-disclosure the scriptures come to us as divine self-disclosure here. The mind of God is laid bare on many matters. With a knowledge of scripture. We do not have to rely on second hand information or bear speculation to learn who God is and what he values in the Bible. He reveals himself theory and practice like the Christian who shuns theology. There are those who despise any kind of quest for theoretical knowledge of God insisting. Instead on being practical, the spirit of America has been defined as the spirit of pragmatism.
Speaker 1: This spirit is manifested nowhere more clearly than in the arena of politics and in the public school system, which has been informed by the principles and methods of education set down by John Dewey. Pragmatism may be defined simply as the approach to reality, that defines truth as that, which works. The pragmatist is concerned about results and the results determine the truth. The problem with this kind of thinking if left uninformed by the eternal perspective, is that the results tend to be judged in terms of short range goals. I experienced this dilemma. When my daughter enrolled in kindergarten, she attended a very progressive public school outside of Boston. After a few weeks, we received notification from the school that the principal was holding an open meeting for parents in order to explain the program and procedures employed in the kindergarten at the meeting, the principal carefully explained the daily schedule.
Speaker 1: He said, don't be alarmed if your child comes home and tells you that he was playing with puzzles or modeling clay in school, I can assure you that everything in the daily routine is done with a purpose from nine to nine 17, am the children play with puzzles that are carefully designed by orthopedic experts to develop the motor muscles of the last three fingers of the left hand. He went on to explain how every minute of the child's day was planned with skilled precision to ensure everything was done with a purpose. I was duly impressed at the end of his presentation, the principal asked for questions. I raised my hand and said, I am deeply impressed by the careful planning that has gone into this program. I can see that everything is done with the purpose and view. My question is, how do you decide which purposes to employ
Speaker 1: What final purpose do you use to decide the individual purposes What is the overall purpose of your purposes In other words, what kind of a child are you trying to produce The man turned white and then Scarlet. And in stumbling terms, he replied, I don't know, no one ever asked me that question. I appreciated the candor of his reply and the genuine humility. It displayed it at the same time. His answer terrified me in your mind matters. John Stott writes the modern world breeds pragmatists, whose first question about any idea is not, is it true But does it work Young people tend to be activists, dedicated supporters of a cause though without always inquiring too closely, whether their cause is a good end to pursue or whether their action is the best means by which to pursue it. How can we have purposes without purpose
Speaker 1: Where can we go to discover the ultimate test for our pragmatism here is where transcendent revelation is most critical to our lives. Here is where the content of scripture is most relevant for our practice. God alone can give us the final evaluation of the wisdom and value of our practices. People who despise theory and call themselves practical are not wise. Those who concern themselves only with short term goals may have big trouble. When it comes to the very long run of eternity, it must also be added that there is no practice without some underlying theory. We do what we do because we have a theory, even if only implicit about the value of doing it, nothing betrays our deepest theories, more eloquently than our practice. We may never think seriously about our theories or subject them to rigorous critical analysis, but we all have them as in the case of the Christian who wants Christ without theology. So the person who wants practice without theory will usually wind up with bad theories, but lead to bad practice because the theories found in scripture proceed from God. The Bible is eminently practical. Nothing could be more practical than God's word because it proceeds from a theory that is established from the eternal perspective. The fatal weakness of pragmatism is overcome by revelation.
Speaker 1: The sensuous Christian, the last quarter of the century witnessed the public embrace of the sensuous, the sensuous woman, the sensuous man, the sensuous couple and the sensuous divorcee became best sellers. And some remain in print decades. Later. One dictionary defines sensuous as pertaining to the senses or sensible objects, highly susceptible to influence through the senses. In other words, sensuous people live by their feelings rather than through their understanding. Today on television, we can see this sensuality prominently displayed famous TV talk show hosts often encourage their guests to vent, exposing their private feelings and emotions to millions of viewers. Sadly, this kind of sensuality has also wormed its way into the church. Many of us have become sensuous Christians living by our feelings rather than through our understanding of the word of God. Sensuous, Christians cannot be moved to service, prayer, or study unless they feel like it.
Speaker 1: Their Christian life is only as effective as the intensity of present feelings. When they experienced spiritual euphoria, they are a whirlwind of godly activity. When they are depressed, they are spiritual and competent. They constantly seek new and fresh spiritual experiences and use them to determine the word of God. Their inner feelings become the ultimate test of truth. Sentia was Christians don't need to study the word of God because they already know the will of God by their feelings. They don't want to know God. They want to experience him. Sensuous, Christians equate childlike faith with ignorance. They think that when the Bible calls us to childlike faith, it means a faith without content, a faith, without understanding, they don't know that the Bible says in evil, be babes, but in your thinking, be mature first Corinthians chapter 14, verse 20, they don't realize that Paul tells us again and again, my beloved brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Speaker 1: See, for example, Romans chapter 11, verse 25, sensuous Christians go their Merry way until they encounter the pain of life. That is not so Mary and they fold. They usually end up embracing a kind of relational theology, a curse on modern Christianity where personal relationships and experience take precedence over the word of God. If the scripture calls us to action that may jeopardize a personal relationship than the scripture must be compromised. The highest law of sensuous Christians is that bad feelings must be avoided at all costs. The Bible is addressed primarily though, not exclusively to our understanding. That means the mind. This is difficult to communicate to modern Christians who are living in may be the most anti intellectual period of Western civilization. Notice I did not say anti academic or anti technological or anti scholarly. I said anti intellectual. There is a strong current of antipathy to the function of the mind in the Christian life, to be sure there are historical reasons for this kind of reaction.
Speaker 1: Many lay people have felt the result of what one theologian has called the trees and of the intellectual. So much skepticism, cynicism and negative criticism have spewed forth from the intellectual world of theologians that lay people have lost their trust in intellectual enterprises. In many cases, there's the fear that faith will not hold up under intellectual scrutiny. So the defense becomes the denigration of the human mind. We turn to feelings rather than to our minds to establish and preserve our faith. This is a very serious problem. We face in the 21st century church. Christianity is supremely intellectual though, not intellectual listic. That is scripture is addressed to the intellect without, at the same time, embracing a spirit of intellectual ism. The Christian life is not to be a life of bear conjecture or cold rationalism, but one of vibrant passion, strong feelings of joy, love and exaltation are called for again and again.
Speaker 1: But those passionate feelings are a response to what we understand with our minds to be true. When we read in scripture, take courage. I have overcome the world. John chapter 16, verse 33 ho-hum is not an appropriate response. We can be of good cheer because we understand that Christ has indeed overcome the world that thrills our souls and sets our feet to dancing. What is more precious than to experience the sweetness of the presence of Christ or the nearness of the Holy spirit God forbid that we should lose our passion or go through the Christian pilgrimage without any experience of Christ. But what happens when there is a conflict between what God says and what I feel, we must do what God says like it or not. That is what Christianity is all about. Reflect for a moment. What happens in your own life When you act according to what you feel like doing, rather than what you know, and understand God says you should do here.
Speaker 1: We encountered the ruthless reality of the difference between happiness and pleasure, how easy it is to confuse the two. The pursuit of happiness is regarded as our unalienable, right But happiness and pleasure are not the same thing. Both of them feel good, but only one endures sin can bring pleasure, but never happiness. If sin were not so pleasurable, it would hardly represent a temptation yet. While sin often feels good, it does not produce happiness. If we do not know the difference or worse yet, do not care about the difference. We have made great strides to becoming the ultimate sensuous Christian. It is precisely at the point of discerning the difference between pleasure and happiness, that knowledge of scripture is so vital. There is a remarkable relationship between God's will and human happiness. The fundamental deception of Satan is the lie that obedience can never bring happiness from the primordial temptation of Adam and Eve to last night, satanic seduction.
Speaker 1: The lie has been the same. If you do what God says, you will not be happy. If you do what I say, you will be liberated and no happiness. What would have to be true for Satan's argument to be true It would seem that God would have to be one of three things, ignorant malevolent or deceptive. It could be that God's word will not work for us because it proceeds from his divine. Blunderings God simply doesn't know enough to tell us what we need to do to achieve happiness. Perhaps he desires our wellbeing, but simply does not know enough to instruct us properly. He would like to help us out, but the complexities of human life and human situations just boggled his mind, perhaps God is infinitely wise and knows what is good for us better than we do. Perhaps he does understand human complexities better than the philosophers.
Speaker 1: Moralists politicians, school teachers, pastors, and psychiatrists, but he hates us. He knows the truth, but leads us astray so he can remain the only happy being in the cosmos. Perhaps his law is an expression of his desire to take gleeful delight in our misery. Thus his malevolence toward us leads him to the role of great deceiver nonsense. If that were true, then the only conclusion we could come to is that God is the devil and the devil is God. And Holy scripture is really the manual of Satan absurd unthinkable. I wish it were in literally thousands of pastors studies. People are being counseled to act against scripture because the pastor wants them to be happy. Yes, Mrs. Jones, go ahead and divorce your husband, despite the fact that she is without biblical warrant for, I am sure you will never find happiness, married to a man like that.
Speaker 1: If there is a secret, a carefully guarded secret to human happiness, it is that one expressed in a 17th century catechism that says man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. The secret to happiness is found in obedience to God. How can we be happy if we are not obedient How can we be obedient If we do not know what it is we are to obey thus the top. And the tail of it is that happiness cannot be fully discovered. As long as we remain ignorant of God's word, to be sure knowledge of God's word does not guarantee that we will do what it says, but at least we will know what we are supposed to be doing in our quest for human fulfillment. The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God, we believe in a matter of duty.
Speaker 1: Why should we study the Bible I have mentioned briefly the practical value, the ethical importance in the way of happiness. We have looked at some of the myths that are given why people do not study the Bible. We have examined something of the spirit of pragmatism and the anti intellectual climate of our day. There are many facets to the question and countless reasons why we ought to study the Bible. I could plead with you to study the Bible for personal edification. I could try the art of persuasion to stimulate your quest for happiness. I could say that the study of the Bible would probably be the most fulfilling and rewarding educational experience of your life. I could cite numerous reasons why you would benefit from a serious study of scripture, but ultimately the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our duty.
Speaker 1: If the Bible were the most boring book in the world, dull, uninteresting, and seemingly irrelevant, it would still be our duty to study it. If its literary style were awkward and confusing, the duty would remain. We live as human beings under an obligation by divine mandate to study diligently God's word. He is our sovereign. It is his word. And he commands that we study it. A duty is not an option. If you have not yet begun to respond to that duty, then you need to ask God to forgive you and to resolve, to do your duty from this day forward chapter two, personal Bible study and private interpretation. Most homes in the Western world have a Bible researchers and foremost that the average home in the United States pass for the Bible is the best selling book of all time and continues to be the best selling book every year, a 2008 Harris interactive poll reported that regardless of the demographic group, the Bible is the all-time favorite book of American adults. Undoubtedly, many of these Bibles serve as decorations or as a convenient place to store photos and press flowers handy also to display in a prominent place when the pastor is visiting the home because of the easy accessibility of Bibles, many of us have forgotten the awesome price that was paid for the privilege of possessing Bible written in our own language that we can interpret for ourselves,
Speaker 2: Martin Luther
Speaker 1: And private interpretation.
Speaker 1: The great legacies of the reformation were the principle of private interpretation and the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The two principles go hand in hand and were accomplished only after great controversy and persecution scores of persons paid with their lives by being burned at the stake, particularly in England for daring to translate the Bible into the vernacular. One of Luther's greatest achievements was the translation of the Bible into German so that any literate person could read it. Luther himself brought the issue of private interpretation of the Bible into sharp focus in the 16th century, hidden beneath the famous response of the reformer to the ecclesiastical and Imperial authorities at the diet of berms. His trial for heresy was the implicit principle of private interpretation. When asked to recant of his writings, Luther replied, unless I am convinced by sacred scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant for my conscience is held captive by the word of God.
Speaker 1: And to act against conscience is neither right, nor safe here I stand. I can do no other God helped me notice that Luther said, unless I am convinced in earlier debates, Luther had dared to presume, to interpret scripture contrary to interpretations rendered both by Pope's and by church councils that he would be so presumptuous led to the repeated charge of arrogance by church officials. Luther did not take those charges lightly, but agonized over them. Luther agreed that if his teachings could be shown to be an error by the prophets and the gospels, he would recant any error and be the first in casting my writings into the fire. He believed that he could be wrong, but maintained that the Pope and councils could also earn for him. Only one source of truth was free from error. He said the scriptures never thus, unless the leaders of the church could convince him of his error.
Speaker 1: He felt duty bound to follow what his own conscience was convinced. Scripture taught with this controversy. The principle of private interpretation was born and baptized with fire after Luther's bold declaration and subsequent work of translating the Bible into German. The Roman Catholic church did not roll over and play dead. The church mobilized its forces into a three-pronged counter offensive known as the Counter-Reformation. One of the sharpest prongs of the counter attack was the formulations against Protestantism made by the council of Trent 1545 to 1563. Trent spoke to many of the issues raised by Luther and other reformers among those issues was the issue of private interpretation. Trent said to check unbridled spirits. It, the council decrees that no one relying on his own judgment shall in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine distorting the Holy scriptures in accordance with his own conceptions presumed to interpret them contrary to that sense, which Holy mother church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense and interpretation has held or holds, or even contrary to the unanimous teaching of the fathers, even though such interpretations should never at any time be published.
Speaker 1: Do you catch the flavor of this pronouncement The statement is saying among other things, that it is the responsibility of the teaching office of the Roman Catholic church to expound and declare the meaning of the scriptures. This is not to be a matter of private judgment or private opinion. This statement by Trent was clearly designed to speak to the reformation principle of private interpretation. If we examine the statement closely, however, we can see that it contains a very serious misunderstanding of the reformed principle. Did the reformers promote the notion of unbridled newness Does private interpretation mean that an individual has the right to interpret scripture to suit him or herself May a person interpret scripture in a whimsical capricious manner with no restraint, should the private individual take seriously The interpretations of others, such as those who specialize in teaching the scriptures The answers to these questions are obvious.
Speaker 1: The reformers were also concerned with ways and means to check on bridled spirits. That is one of the reasons they worked so hard to delineate sound principles of biblical interpretation as a check and balance to fanciful interpretation. But the way in which they sought to check on bridled spirits was not to declare the teachings of the church or its leaders infallible. Perhaps the most crucial term that appears in Trent's declaration is the word distorting. Trent says that no one has the private right to distort the scriptures with that. The reformers most heartily agreed, private interpretation, never meant that individuals have the right to distort the scriptures with the right of private interpretation comes the sober responsibility of accurate interpretation. Private interpretation gives license to interpret, but not to distort. When we look back to the reformation period and see the persecutions of those who translated the scriptures into the common tongue, we are horrified what is often overlooked in such historical reflection.
Speaker 1: However, is that there were many well-meaning people involved in that action. Rome was convinced that if you put the Bible into the hands of unskilled lay people and left them to interpret the book, grotesque distortions would emerge, and these would lead the sheep astray perhaps into everlasting torment, thus to protect the sheep from embarking on a course of ultimate self destruction, the church resorted to corporal punishment, even to the point of execution note that some parts of the Protestant church also used corporal and capital punishment though, not over this particular issue. Luther was aware of the dangers of such a move, but was convinced of the clarity of scripture though. The dangers of distortion were great. He thought that the benefit of exposing multitudes to the basically clear message of the gospel apart from the Pope church councils and church fathers would bring far more to ultimate salvation than to ultimate ruin.
Speaker 1: He was willing to take the risk to turn the valve that might open a flood gate of iniquity. Luther wrote. We need not regret that the books of many fathers and councils have by God's grace disappeared. If they had all remained in existence, no room would be left for anything but books. And yet all of them together would not have improved on what one finds in the Holy scriptures and the reformed. Second Helvetic confession, 1566 says we do not despise the interpretations of the Holy Greek and Latin fathers nor reject their disputations and treatises as far as they agree with the scriptures. But we do modestly descend from them when they are found to set down thing differing from or altogether contrary to the scriptures, private interpretation opened the Bible for lay people, but it did not do away with the principle of the educated clergy.
Speaker 1: Going back to biblical days, the reformers recognized that an old and new Testament practice and teaching there was a significant place for the rabbi, the scribe and the ministry of teaching that teachers should be skilled in the ancient languages, customs history and literary analysis is still an important feature of the Christian Church. Luther's famous doctrine of the priesthood of all believers has been frequently misunderstood. The doctrine simply maintains that every individual Christian has a role to perform and a function to maintain in the total ministry of the church. We are all called to be Christ to our neighbor in a certain sense, but that does not mean that the church has no overseers or teachers regarding this. The Augsburg confession of which Luther approved says it is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call.
Speaker 1: And the second Helvetic confession says, God has always used his ministers for the gathering or erecting of a church to himself and for the governing and preservation of the same, thus for the reformers. The priesthood of all believers did not mean that there is no distinction between clergy and laity. Many people have become disenchanted with the organized church in our present culture. Some have overreacted in the direction of ecclesiastical anarchy today. People of all generations cry. I don't have to go to anybody for a pastor. I don't believe in an organized church or a structured government of the body of Christ in the hands of such people. The principle of private interpretation could be a license for radical subjectivism objectivity and subjectivity. The great danger of private interpretation is the clear and present danger of subjectivism in biblical interpretation. The danger is more widespread. That is often immediately apparent.
Speaker 1: I see it manifested very subtly in the course of theological discussion and debate. One time when I participated in a panel with biblical scholars, we were discussing the pros and cons of a particular passage of the new Testament whose meaning and application were in dispute in his opening statement. One of the new Testament scholars said, I think that we should be open and honest about how we approach the new Testament in the final analysis. We all read what we want to read in it and that's all right. I could not believe my ears. I was so stunned. I offered no rebuttal. My shock was mixed with a sense of futility at the possibility of having a significant exchange of ideas. It is rare to have a scholar state his prejudice. So forthrightly in public, we all may struggle with the sinful tendency to read into scripture what we want to find, but I hope that we do not always do that.
Speaker 1: I trust there are means available to us to check that tendency on the popular level, this easy acceptance of the spirit of subjectivism in biblical interpretation is equally prevalent. Many times after discussing the meaning of a passage. People rebut my statements by simply saying to me, well, that's your opinion What could such a remark mean First It is perfectly obvious to all present that an interpretation that I have offered as my own is my opinion. I am the one who just gave the opinion, but I don't think that that is what people have in mind a second possible meaning is that the remark indicates an unspoken rebuttal, employing the guilt by association fallacy, by pointing out that the opinion offered is mine. Perhaps the person feels that is all that is necessary to rebut it. Since everybody knows the unspoken assumption, any opinion that comes from the mouth of RC Sproll must be wrong because he never has been and never could be right
Speaker 1: However, hostile people may be to my opinions. I doubt that that is what they have in mind when they say that's your opinion. I think the third alternative is what most people mean. That's your interpretation and that's fine for you. I don't agree with it, but my interpretation is equally valid though. Our interpretations are contrary and contradictory. They can both be true, whatever you like is true for you. And whatever I like is true for me, this is subjectivism subjectivism and subjectivity are not the same things to say that truth has a subjective element is one thing to say that it is utterly subjective is quite another for truth or false hood to have any significance for my life. It must be applied in some way. To me, the statement it is raining in Georgia may in fact be true objectively, but have no relevance to my life.
Speaker 1: I may be made to see that it does have relevance. If, for example, it could be shown that along with the rain, there is also severe hail that is destroying the crop of peaches in which I have just invested my money. Then the statement takes on subjective relevance to me when the truth of a proposition hits home to me and grasps me, that is a subjective matter. The application of a biblical text to my life may have strong, subjective overtones, but that is not what we mean by subjectivism subjectivism takes place. When we distort the objective meaning of terms to suit our own interests, to say it is raining in Georgia may have no relevance to my life in Florida, but the words are still meaningful. It means something to the people in Georgia, if not to the plants and the animals that live there subjectivism takes place.
Speaker 1: When the truth of a statement is not merely expanded or applied to the subject. But when it is absolutely determined by the subject, if we are to avoid distortion of scripture, we must avoid subjectivism from the beginning in seeking an objective understanding of scripture, we do not thereby reduce scriptures to something cold, abstract, and lifeless. What we are doing is seeking to understand what the word says in its context, before we go about the equally necessary task of applying it to ourselves, a particular statement may have numerous possible personal applications, but it can only have one correct Meaning alternate interpretations that are contradictory and mutually exclusive cannot both be true unless God speaks with a forked tongue. We will treat this matter of contradiction and the singular meaning of statements in the Bible. More fully later, see chapter four, presently. However, I am concerned with setting forth the goals of sound biblical interpretation.
Speaker 1: The first such goal is to arrive at the objective meaning of scripture and to avoid the pitfalls of distortion caused by letting interpretations be governed by subjectivism biblical scholars, make a necessary distinction between what they call exit Jesus and Isiah Jesus exit. Jesus means to explain what scripture says, the word comes from the Greek word, meaning to guide out of the key to exit Jesus is found in the prefix ex, which means from or out of to exit sheet scripture is to get out of the words, the meaning that is there no more and no less. On the other hand, I said, Jesus has the same root, but a different prefix. The prefix EIS also coming from the Greek means into thus said, Jesus involves reading into the text. Something that isn't there at all exit Jesus is an objective enterprise. I said, Jesus involves an exercise in subjectivism.
Speaker 1: All of us have to struggle with the problem of subjectivism. The Bible often says things we do not want to hear. We can put earmuffs on our ears and blinders on our eyes. It is much easier and far less painful to criticize the Bible than to allow the Bible to criticize us. No wonder Jesus frequently concluded his words by saying he who has ears to hear, let him hear. For example, Luke chapter eight, verse eight, chapter 14, verse 35. Subjectivism not only produces ever and distortion, but it breeds arrogance as well to believe what I believe simply because I believe it or to argue that my opinion is true simply because it is my opinion is the epitome of arrogance. If my views cannot stand the test of objective analysis and verification, humility, demands that I abandoned them, but the subjectivist has the arrogance to maintain his or her position with no objective support or corroboration to say to someone, if you'd like to believe what you want to believe, that's fine.
Speaker 1: I'll believe what I want to believe. Only sounds humble on the surface. Private views must be evaluated in light of outside evidence and opinion because we bring excess baggage to the Bible. No one on the face of this earth has a perfectly pure understanding of scripture. We all hold some views and entertain some ideas that are not of God. Perhaps if we knew precisely, which of our views were contrary to God, we would abandon them. But to sort them out is very difficult. Thus, our views need the sounding boards and honing steel of other people's research and expertise. The role of the teacher in the reformed churches of the 16th century, a distinction was made between two kinds of elders, teaching elders and ruling elders, ruling elders were called to govern and administer the affairs of the congregation, teaching elders or pastors or responsible primarily for teaching and equipping the saints for ministry.
Speaker 1: The last half of the 20th century witnessed the remarkable restoration of the significance of the laity for the local church. One of the most significant developments has been the advent of small group Bible study year in an atmosphere of congeniality and in formality people who otherwise would not be interested in the Bible have made great strides in learning it. The small group dynamic is basically one that keys on lay people, lay people, teach each other or pool their own ideas. In these Bible studies, such groups have been quite successful. They will be even more so as the people acquire better skills and understanding and interpreting the Bible, it is a tremendous thing that people are opening the Bible and studying it together, but it is also an exceedingly dangerous thing. Pooling of knowledge is edifying to the church. Pooling of ignorance is destructive and can manifest the problem of the blind.
Speaker 1: Leading the blind, those small groups and home Bible studies can be very effective and promoting renewal of the church and the transformation of society. Somewhere along the line, people must receive educated teaching. I am convinced that now as much as ever the church needs an educated clergy, private study and interpretation must be balanced by the collective wisdom of the teachers. Please do not misunderstand. I am not calling the church to return to the pre reformation situation where the Bible was held captive by the clergy. I rejoice that people are studying the Bible on their own and that the blood of the Protestant martyrs was not shed in vain. Nevertheless, it is wise for lay people involved in Bible study to do it in connection with or under the authority of their pastors or professors Christ himself has ordered his church. So as to endow some with the gift of teaching Ephesians chapter four, verses seven to 13, that gift and the office must be respected.
Speaker 1: If Christ is to be honored by his people, it is important that teachers have proper education to be sure. Occasionally there arise some teachers who though unschooled and untrained, nevertheless, have an uncanny, intuitive insight into scripture, but such people that are extremely rare more often, we face the problem of people calling themselves to the role of teacher who are simply not qualified to teach a good teacher, must have sound knowledge and the necessary skills to unravel difficult portions of scripture here. The need for mastery of language, history and theology are of critical importance. If we examine the history of the Jewish people in the old Testament, we see that one of the most severe and abiding threats to Israel was the threat of the false prophet or false teacher. More often than by the hand of the Philistines or the Assyrians. Israel fell to the seductive power of the lying teacher.
Speaker 1: The new Testament bears witness to the same problem in the primitive church. The false prophet was like the hired shepherd who was concerned more for his own wages than the welfare of the sheep. He or she thought nothing of misleading. The people leading them into error or to evil, not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice. Many do so out of ignorance from the malicious and the ignorant we should flee. On the other hand, one of the great blessings for Israel came when God sent them prophets and teachers who taught after his own mind hear the solemn warning. God speaks to Jeremiah. I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesied falsely. In my name saying, I had a dream. I had a dream. How long is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesied falsehood, even these profits of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams, which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgotten my name because of bail, the prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him, who has my word speak my word in truth.
Speaker 1: What does straw have in common with grain declares The Lord is not my word. Like fire declares the Lord and like a hammer, which shatters a rock. Therefore behold, I am against the prophets declares. The Lord who steal my words from each other behold, I am against the prophets declares, the Lord who use their tongues and declare the Lord declares. Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams, declares the Lord and related them and led my people astray by their false hoods and reckless boasting. Yet I did not send them or command them nor do they furnish this people. The slightest benefit declares the Lord, Jeremiah chapter 23 verses 25 through 32, with words of judgment. Like these, it is not surprising that the new Testament warns let not many of you become teachers. My brethren, knowing that as such, we shall incur a stricter judgment. James chapter three, verse one. We need teachers who have sound knowledge and whose hearts are not set against the word of God. Private Bible study is an important means of grace for Christians. It is a privilege and a duty for all of us in his grace and kindness toward us. God has provided not only gifted teachers in his church to assist us, but his own Holy spirit to illumine his word and search out its application to our lives to sound teaching and diligence study God
Speaker 2: Gibbs, blessing chapter three, hermeneutics the science of interpretation,
Speaker 1: Many of the modern controversies surrounding the Bible, for example, human sexuality, creationism, and the openness of God revolve around questions concerning hermeneutics. The science of hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation in Greek mythology. The God Hermes was the messenger of the gods. It was his task to interpret the will of the gods. Hence hermeneutics deals with conveying a message that can be understood. The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. It is a well-developed science that can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation. And thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. I will restrict our present study to the most important and basic rules and guidelines. Historically the United States as a special agency, that theoretically functions as the Supreme board of hermeneutics for our land, that agency is called the Supreme court.
Speaker 1: One of its primary tasks is to interpret the constitution of the United States. The constitution is a written document and requires such interpretation. Interpretive strategies have gone through cycles of strict constructionist or originalism and broad constructionist or living constitution perspectives. Originally the procedure of interpreting the constitution followed the strict constructionist or the grammatical historical method. That is the constitution was interpreted by studying the words of the document itself in light of what those words meant when they were used at the time of the formulation of the document, political and social conservatives tend to favor strict Constructionism Oliver, Wendell Holmes Jr 1841 to 1935. However, championed the broad constructionist perspective, which radically changed constitutional interpretation. Holmes famously declared that law corresponds at any given time with what is understood to be convenient, that involves continual change. And there can be no eternal order. He also declared that the basis of much legal thought lies outside of the law.
Speaker 1: When the court following Holmes as lead interprets the constitution in light of modern attitudes, eat in effect changes the constitution by means of re-interpretation political and social liberals tend to favor broad Constructionism. The debate between strict and broad constructionists has led to a crisis in law and public confidence in the nation's highest court. This is most manifest when the president nominates a person to the Supreme court and the Senate holds its confirmation hearings. How will the nominee interpret the constitution The fear for many conservatives is that an activist court that interprets the constitution broadly becomes a legislative rather than interpretive agency. The same kind of crisis has occurred with biblical interpretation. When biblical scholars utilize the method of interpretation that involves bringing the Bible up to date by re-interpretation the original meaning of scripture is obscured. And the message is brought into conformity with contemporary trends in opinion.
Preface
Speaker 1: Recent years have seen a renewal of interest in the scriptures since Neo Orthodox theology called the church back to a serious study of the content of the Bible. There has been more concerned in the life of the church for understanding and applying its message to our generation. Along with this new interest, however has come confusion. There has been little agreement among Christian scholars concerning the rudimentary principles of biblical interpretation. This confusion in the scholarly world has made an impact on the life of the whole church. Our day seems to be the age of lay renewal. Much of this renewal is associated with home Bible studies and small group fellowships. Many people now gather to discuss debate and comment on the scripture for themselves. Often they find themselves disagreeing about what the Bible means or how it should be applied. This has had unfortunate consequences for many.
Speaker 1: The Bible remains an enigma capable of vastly different interpretations. Some have even despaired of their own ability to make sense of it to others. The Bible has a nose of wax capable of being shaped into conformity with the best interests of the reader too often. The conclusion seems to be, you can quote the Bible to prove anything. Is there a way out of this confusion can serious readers find any principles to guide them through the conflicting viewpoints they hear from all sides These are some of the questions that this book is designed to deal with. Although many of the issues have a scholarly dimension. I have not been motivated by a desire to enter the academic debate concerning the science of hermeneutics. Rather, my prime motivation is to offer basic common sense guidelines to help serious readers study sacred scripture profitably in line with the Bible's own view of itself.
Speaker 1: The book seeks to emphasize the divine origin and authority of scriptures because of this, I have attempted to provide rules of interpretation that will serve as a check and balance for our all too common tendency to interpret the Bible. According to our own prejudices, the book closes with a survey of various tools that are available to help either beginners or more advanced students of the Bible above all. I would like this to be a practical book that will give assistance to lay people. Indeed, I have a fond hope that Christians will continue their study of the scripture and continue the contributions they're making in the church. May this book be an encouragement to persevere with joy, as well as understanding, I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of people who assisted me in this project among them professor David Wells, whose advice has been invaluable in correcting the manuscript
Chapter One
Speaker 1: Why study the Bible Why study the Bible It may seem odd and foolish to raise this question since who probably would not be reading this book, unless you were already convinced that Bible study is necessary. Our best intentions, however, are often weakened by our moods and Caprice Bible study often falls by the way. So before we examine the practical guidelines for Bible study, let's review some of the compelling reasons for studying the Bible at all two myths. First, we will look at some of the reasons people give for not studying the Bible. These reasons often contain myths that are passed off as truisms through much repetition. The myth that claims first place in our hall of excuses is the idea that the Bible is too difficult for the ordinary person to understand myth. One. The Bible is so difficult to understand that only highly skilled theologians with technical training can deal with the scriptures.
Speaker 1: This myth has been repeated many times by sincere people. I know I can't study the Bible because every time I try to read it, I can't understand it. When some people say this, they may want to hear that's all right. I understand it's really a difficult book. And unless you've had seminary training, maybe you shouldn't try to tackle it, or perhaps they want to hear, I know it's too heavy, too deep, too profound. I commend you for your tireless efforts, your strenuous labors, and trying to solve the mystifying riddle of God's word. It is sad that God has chosen to speak to us in such obscure and esoteric language that only scholars can grasp it. This I am afraid is what many of us want to hear We feel guilty and want to quiet our consciences for neglecting our duty as Christians. When we express this myth, we do it with astonishing ease.
Speaker 1: The myth is so often repeated that we do not expect it to be challenged yet. We know that has mature educated adults. We can understand the basic message of the Bible. Indeed, the scholars who drafted and signed the Chicago statement on biblical hermeneutics, 1980, to affirm that a person is not dependent for understanding of scripture on the expertise of biblical scholars. If we can read the newspaper or blogs, we can read the Bible. In fact, I would venture to guess that more difficult words and concepts are expressed on the front page of a newspaper than on most pages of the Bible. Myth to the Bible is boring. If we press people for an explanation for what they mean when they express the first myth, usually they respond by saying, well, I guess I can understand it. But frankly, the book bores me to death. This statement reflects not so much an inability to understand what is read as a taste and preference for what we find interesting and exciting.
Speaker 1: The preponderance of boredom that people experienced with the Bible came home to me. When I was hired to teach the scriptures in required Bible courses at a Christian college, the president of the institution phoned me and said, we need someone young and exciting someone with a dynamic method who will be able to make the Bible come alive while I knew what the president was getting at. I nevertheless wanted to say, you want me to make the Bible come alive I didn't know that it had died. In fact, I never even heard that it was ill. Who was the attending physician That the Bible's demise No, I can't make the Bible come alive for anyone. The Bible is already alive. It makes me come alive. When people say the Bible is doll, it makes me wonder why biblical characters are full of life. There is a unique quality of passionate about them. Their lives reveal, drama, pathos, lost crime devotion, and every conceivable aspect of human existence. There is rebuke remorse, contrition, constellation, practical wisdom, philosophical reflection, and most of all truth, perhaps the dullness, some experience is due to the antiquity and cultural distance of the material. How does the life of Abraham or of Timothy lived so long ago And so far away relate to us, but the characters of biblical history are real though. Their life settings are different from ours. Their struggles and concerns are very much like ours.
Speaker 1: The clarity of scripture in the 16th century, the reformers declared their total confidence in what they called the perspicuity of scripture. What they meant by that technical term was the clarity of scripture. They maintained that the Bible is basically clear and lucid. It is simple enough for any literate person to understand its basic message. This is not to say that all parts of the Bible are equally clear or that there are no difficult passages or sections to be found in it. Lay people unskilled in the ancient languages and the fine points of exit. Jesus may have difficulty with parts of the scripture, but the essential content is clear enough to be understood easily. Martin Luther for example, was convinced that what was obscure and difficult in one part of scripture was stated more clearly. And simply in other parts of scripture, some parts of the Bible are so clear and simple that they are offensive to those suffering from intellectual arrogance.
Speaker 1: I once was lecturing about how Christ's death on the cross fulfilled the curse motif of the old Testament. In the middle of my lecture, a man in the audience interrupted me saying loudly that's primitive and obscene. I asked him to repeat his comment so that everyone present could hear his complaint when he repeated it. I said, you are exactly right. I particularly like your choice of words, primitive and obscene. The entire history of redemption is communicated in primitive terms from the episode of the encounter of Adam and Eve, with the serpent to the devastating destruction that God visits on the chariots of Egypt in the Exodus to the crass and brutal murder of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible reveals that God hears the groans of all of his people from the peasant to the philosopher, from the dull witted to the sophisticated scholar. His message is simple enough for the most simplistic of his fallen creatures to understand what kind of a God would reveal his love and redemption in terms so technical and concepts so profound that only an elite core of professional scholars could understand them.
Speaker 1: God does speak in primitive terms because he is addressing himself to primitives. At the same time, there is enough profundity contained in scripture to keep the most astute and erudite scholars busily engaged in that theological inquiries for a lifetime. If primitive is an appropriate word to describe the content of scripture, obscene is even more. So all of the absurdities of sin are recorded with clear and forthright language in the scripture. And what is more obscene than the cross here, we have obscenity on a cosmic scale on the cross Christ takes upon himself human obscenities in order to redeem them. If you've been one of those who have clung to the myths of dullness or difficulty, perhaps it is because you have attributed to the whole of scripture, what you have found in some of its parts, maybe some passages have been peculiarly difficult and obscure.
Speaker 1: Other passages may have left you bewildered and baffled. Perhaps those should be left for the scholars to unravel. If you find certain portions of the scripture, difficult and complex need, you insist that the whole of scripture is boring and dull. Biblical Christianity is not an esoteric religion. Its content is not concealed in vague symbols that require some sort of special insight to grasp. There is no special intellectual prowess or spiritual gift that is necessary to understand the basic message of scripture. You may find that in Eastern religions where insight is limited to some guru who lives in a shanty high in the Himalayas, maybe the guru has been thunder struck by the gods with some profound mystery of the universe. You travel to inquire. And he tells you in a hushed whisper that the meaning of life is the sound of one hand clapping that's esoteric.
Speaker 1: That's so esoteric that even the guru does not understand it. He cannot understand it because it's an absurdity. Absurdities often sound profound because they are incapable of being understood. When we hear things we do not understand. Sometimes we think they are simply too deep or weighty for us to grasp. When in fact they are merely unintelligible statements like one hand clapping, the Bible does not talk like that. The Bible speaks of God in meaningful patterns of speech. Some of those patterns may be more difficult than others, but they are not meant to be nonsense statements that only a guru can fathom
Speaker 2: The problem of motivation.
Speaker 1: It is important to note that the theme of this book is not how to read the Bible, but how to study the Bible. There is a great deal of difference between reading and studying. Reading is something we can do in a leisurely way. Something that can be done strictly for entertainment in a casual manner, but study suggests labor serious and diligent work here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's word, not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work, our problem is not lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.
Speaker 2: Carl Bart,
Speaker 1: 1886 to 1968, the famous Swiss theologian once wrote that all human sin finds its root in three basic human problems. He included pride, hubris dishonesty, and slothfulness in his list of rudimentary sins. None of these basic evils is instantly eradicated by spiritual regeneration. As Christians. We must struggle against these problems through our entire pilgrimage. None of us is immune. If we are going to deal with the discipline of Bible study, we must recognize that the outset that we will need the grace of God to persevere. The problem of slothfulness has been with us since the curse of the fall. Our labor is now mixed with sweat. Weeds are easier to grow than grass. Newspapers are easier read than the Bible is to study. The curse of labor is not magically removed simply because our task is the study of scripture. When I lecture to groups on the theme of studying the Bible, I often ask how many of the group members have been Christians for one year or more.
Speaker 1: And then I ask those people, how many have read the entire Bible from cover to cover In every instance, the overwhelming majority answer in the negative. I would venture to guess that among those who have been Christians for a year or more, at least 80% have never read the whole Bible. How is that possible Only in appeal to the radical fall of the human race could begin to answer that question. If you have read the whole Bible, you own a small minority of Christian people. If you have studied the Bible, you are in an even smaller minority. Isn't it amazing that almost everyone living in the West has an opinion to offer about the Bible yet So few have really studied it. Sometimes it seems as though the only people who take the time to study it are those with the sharpest access to grind against it.
Speaker 1: Many people study it to find possible loopholes so they can get out from under the weight of its authority. Biblical ignorance is not limited to lay people by any means. I have sat on church boards responsible for the examination of seminarians preparing for the pastoral ministry. The degree of biblical ignorance manifested by many of these students is appalling seminary curricula have not done much to alleviate the problem. Every year, many churches, ordained people who are virtually ignorant of the content of scripture. I was shocked when I took a test in biblical knowledge for entrance to the theological seminary, from which I graduated after I completed my exam, I was deeply embarrassed, ashamed to hand in my paper. I had taken several courses in college that I thought would prepare me for such a test. But when the test came, I was not ready. I left question after question blank and was certain that I had failed when the grades were posted.
Speaker 1: I discovered that I had received one of the highest grades in a group of 75 students. Even with the grades scaled, there were several students who scored less than 10 out of a possible grade of 100. My score was poor yet. It was one of the best of the bad biblical illiteracy among the clergy has become so prevalent that I often find pastors getting annoyed and angry when their parishioners ask them to teach them the Bible. In many cases, pastors live in mortal fear that their ignorance will be exposed by being thrust into a situation where they are expected to teach the Bible.
Speaker 1: The biblical basis for Bible study. The Bible itself has much to say about the importance of studying the Bible. We will examine two passages, one from each Testament in order to catch a glimpse of these mandates. In Deuteronomy six, we find a passage that was familiar to every Jew of the old Testament. It's words were used to call the assembly together for worship. We read, hear O Israel. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might verses four and five. Most of us are familiar with these words, but what follows them immediately read on these words, which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house.
Speaker 1: And when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your Gates verses six through nine here, God sovereignly commands that his word be taught so diligently that it penetrates the heart. The content of that word is not to be mentioned casually and infrequently repeated discussion is the order of the day, every day, the call to bind on the hand, the forehead, the doorpost and gate makes it clear that God is saying that the job must be done by whatever method it takes. Looking at the new Testament we read Paul's admonition to Timothy you. However, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them.
Speaker 1: And that from childhood, you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ. Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work. Second Timothy chapter three verses 14 through 17. This expectation is so basic to our understanding of the importance of Bible study, that it warrants a careful scrutiny. Continue in the things you have learned. Verse 14, this part of the admonition lays the accent on continuity. Our study of scripture is not to be a once for all matter. There is no room for the proverbial. Once over lightly, consistency is necessary for a sound basis of biblical studies, sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation.
Speaker 1: Verse 15, Paul refers to the scriptures ability to give wisdom. When the Bible speaks of wisdom, it refers to a special kind of wisdom. The term is not used to connote an ability to be worldly wise or to have the cleverness necessary, to write a poor Richard's Almanac in biblical terms. Wisdom has to do with the practical matter of learning, how to live a life that is pleasing to God. A cursory glance at the wisdom literature of the old Testament makes this emphasis abundantly clear. Proverbs, for example, tells us that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord Proverbs chapter one, verse seven, chapter nine, verse 10. That fear is not a survival fear, but a posture of awe and reverence, which is necessary for authentic godliness. The old Testament distinguishes between wisdom and knowledge. We are commanded to acquire knowledge, but more to acquire wisdom.
Speaker 1: Knowledge is necessary if wisdom is to be gained, but it is not identical with wisdom. A person can have knowledge without having wisdom, but he or she can not have wisdom without having knowledge. A person without knowledge is ignorant. A person without wisdom is deemed a fool in biblical terms. Foolishness is a moral matter and receives the judgment of God. Wisdom in the highest sense is being wise with respect to salvation. Thus wisdom is at the illogical matter. Paul is saying that through the scriptures, we can acquire that kind of wisdom. That concerns our ultimate fulfillment and destiny as human beings. Knowing from whom you have learned them, verse 14, who is this whom Paul is talking about Is he referring to Timothy's grandmother or DePaul himself These options are doubtful whom refers to the ultimate source of the knowledge Timothy has acquired. Namely God, this comes out more clearly in the statement.
Speaker 1: All scripture is inspired by God. Scripture is inspired by God. Verse 16. This passage has been the focal point of volumes of theological literature that describe and analyze theories of biblical inspiration. The crucial word in the passage is the Greek term theopneustos, which is often translated by the phrase inspired by God. The term more precisely means God breathed, which refers not so much to God's breathing something in as to his breathing, something out rather than the term inspiration. We may be better advised to render the Greek by the English expiration. In that case, we would see the significance of the passage, not so much in providing us with a theory of inspiration, a theory of how God transmitted his word through human authors, but rather a statement of the origin or source of scripture. What Paul is saying to Timothy is that the Bible comes from God.
Speaker 1: He is its ultimate author. It is his word. It comes from him. It carries the weight of all that he is thus the injunction to from whom you have learned them. These things scripture is profitable for teaching verse 16. One of the most important priorities. Paul mentions is the preeminent way in which the Bible prophets us the first and indeed foremost profit is the profit of teaching or instruction. We may pick up the Bible and be inspired or moved to tears or other pointing to motions. But our greatest profit is in being instructed. Again, our instruction is not in matters of how to build a house or how to multiply and divide or how to employ the science of differential equations. Rather, we are instructed in the things of God. This instruction is called profitable because God himself places an extremely high value on it, the instruction is assigned worth and significance.
Speaker 1: Countless times I've heard Christians say, why do I need to study doctrine or theology When all I need to know is Jesus. My immediate reply is who is Jesus. As soon as we begin to answer this question, we are involved in doctrine and theology. No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian, perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian. Nevertheless, the issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians, but whether we are going to be good, FIA logins, a good theologian is one who is instructed by God. Scripture is profitable for reproof, correction and training in righteousness, verse 16. In these words, Paul articulates, the practical value of Bible study as fallen creatures. We sin, we earn and we are inherently out of shape with respect to righteousness. When we sin, we need to be reproved.
Speaker 1: When we arrive, we need to be corrected. When we are out of shape, we need to go into training. The scriptures function as our chief approver, our chief corrector and our chief trainer, the bookstores of this world are filled with books on training methods, to acquire excellence in sports, to lose weight and get our physical figures into shape and to acquire skills. In all areas, libraries have stacks of books written to teach us financial management and the nuances of wise investment policies. We can find many books that will teach us how to turn our losses into profits, our liabilities into assets, but where are the books that will train us in righteousness The question still remains. What shall it profit a man. If he wins the whole world and loses his soul, Matthew chapter 16, verse 26, that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work verse 17. The Christian who is not diligently involved in a serious study of scripture is simply inadequate as a disciple of Christ to be an adequate Christian and competent in the things of God. We must do more than attend sharing sessions and bless me parties. We cannot learn competency by osmosis. Biblically illiterate. Christians are not only inadequate, but unequipped. In fact, they are inadequate because they are not equipped. And NFL star may be able to run barefoot, but when playing a league opponent, he will be sure to wear cleats.
Speaker 1: The Bible as revelation. One of the most important advantages the Bible gives us is that it provides information that is not available anywhere else. Our universities provide us with a wealth of knowledge acquired by human investigation of the natural world. We learn by observation analysis and abstract speculation. We compare and contrast varied opinions from notable scholars, but with all the skills of knowledge that we have at our disposal in this world, there is no one who can speak to us from a transcendent perspective, no one who can reason with us as the philosophers say subspecies eight tonight. Notice from the eternal perspective, only God can provide us with an eternal perspective and speak to us with absolute and final authority. The advantage of the equipment provided by scripture is that knowledge is made available to us. That can be learned from no other source. The scripture does of course, talk of matters that can be learned by other means.
Speaker 1: We are not utterly dependent on the new Testament to learn who Caesar Augustus was or how far it is from Jerusalem to Bethany. But the world's best geographer cannot show us the way to God and the world's best psychiatrist cannot give us a final answer to the problem of our guilt. There are matters contained in Holy writ, that unveil for us that which is not exposed to the natural course of human investigation though much can be learned about God from the study of nature. It is his self revelation in scripture that is most complete and most valuable for us. There is an analogy between how we get to know people in this world and how we become acquainted with God. If we want to learn something about a human being, let's say bill Monroe, there are many ways we can go about it. We could do a search on the internet, perhaps first Googling his name.
Speaker 1: If we have the right connections, we might ask the FBI or the CIA for their files on him. We could send for his high school and college transcripts through such records, we might discover his basic biographical history, medical record, academic and athletic achievement records. We could then interview his friends to get a more personal evaluation, but all these methods are indirect. And many of Bill's intangible qualities will remain obscured to our scrutiny. All these methods are, but secondary sources of information. If we want more accurate knowledge of bill Monroe, we should meet him personally, observe his outward appearance, see how he behaves, what mannerisms he employs. We may even be able to guess how he is feeling what he is thinking, what he values and what displeases him. But if we want to gain intimate knowledge of him, we have to engage in some kind of verbal communication with him.
Speaker 1: No one can express more clearly or more accurately what he believes feels or thinks than bill himself. Unless bill chooses to reveal those things verbally, our knowledge will be limited to guesswork and speculation. Only words will enlighten us. Likewise. When we speak about the concept of revelation, we are talking about the basic principle of self-disclosure the scriptures come to us as divine self-disclosure here. The mind of God is laid bare on many matters. With a knowledge of scripture. We do not have to rely on second hand information or bear speculation to learn who God is and what he values in the Bible. He reveals himself theory and practice like the Christian who shuns theology. There are those who despise any kind of quest for theoretical knowledge of God insisting. Instead on being practical, the spirit of America has been defined as the spirit of pragmatism.
Speaker 1: This spirit is manifested nowhere more clearly than in the arena of politics and in the public school system, which has been informed by the principles and methods of education set down by John Dewey. Pragmatism may be defined simply as the approach to reality, that defines truth as that, which works. The pragmatist is concerned about results and the results determine the truth. The problem with this kind of thinking if left uninformed by the eternal perspective, is that the results tend to be judged in terms of short range goals. I experienced this dilemma. When my daughter enrolled in kindergarten, she attended a very progressive public school outside of Boston. After a few weeks, we received notification from the school that the principal was holding an open meeting for parents in order to explain the program and procedures employed in the kindergarten at the meeting, the principal carefully explained the daily schedule.
Speaker 1: He said, don't be alarmed if your child comes home and tells you that he was playing with puzzles or modeling clay in school, I can assure you that everything in the daily routine is done with a purpose from nine to nine 17, am the children play with puzzles that are carefully designed by orthopedic experts to develop the motor muscles of the last three fingers of the left hand. He went on to explain how every minute of the child's day was planned with skilled precision to ensure everything was done with a purpose. I was duly impressed at the end of his presentation, the principal asked for questions. I raised my hand and said, I am deeply impressed by the careful planning that has gone into this program. I can see that everything is done with the purpose and view. My question is, how do you decide which purposes to employ
Speaker 1: What final purpose do you use to decide the individual purposes What is the overall purpose of your purposes In other words, what kind of a child are you trying to produce The man turned white and then Scarlet. And in stumbling terms, he replied, I don't know, no one ever asked me that question. I appreciated the candor of his reply and the genuine humility. It displayed it at the same time. His answer terrified me in your mind matters. John Stott writes the modern world breeds pragmatists, whose first question about any idea is not, is it true But does it work Young people tend to be activists, dedicated supporters of a cause though without always inquiring too closely, whether their cause is a good end to pursue or whether their action is the best means by which to pursue it. How can we have purposes without purpose
Speaker 1: Where can we go to discover the ultimate test for our pragmatism here is where transcendent revelation is most critical to our lives. Here is where the content of scripture is most relevant for our practice. God alone can give us the final evaluation of the wisdom and value of our practices. People who despise theory and call themselves practical are not wise. Those who concern themselves only with short term goals may have big trouble. When it comes to the very long run of eternity, it must also be added that there is no practice without some underlying theory. We do what we do because we have a theory, even if only implicit about the value of doing it, nothing betrays our deepest theories, more eloquently than our practice. We may never think seriously about our theories or subject them to rigorous critical analysis, but we all have them as in the case of the Christian who wants Christ without theology. So the person who wants practice without theory will usually wind up with bad theories, but lead to bad practice because the theories found in scripture proceed from God. The Bible is eminently practical. Nothing could be more practical than God's word because it proceeds from a theory that is established from the eternal perspective. The fatal weakness of pragmatism is overcome by revelation.
Speaker 1: The sensuous Christian, the last quarter of the century witnessed the public embrace of the sensuous, the sensuous woman, the sensuous man, the sensuous couple and the sensuous divorcee became best sellers. And some remain in print decades. Later. One dictionary defines sensuous as pertaining to the senses or sensible objects, highly susceptible to influence through the senses. In other words, sensuous people live by their feelings rather than through their understanding. Today on television, we can see this sensuality prominently displayed famous TV talk show hosts often encourage their guests to vent, exposing their private feelings and emotions to millions of viewers. Sadly, this kind of sensuality has also wormed its way into the church. Many of us have become sensuous Christians living by our feelings rather than through our understanding of the word of God. Sensuous, Christians cannot be moved to service, prayer, or study unless they feel like it.
Speaker 1: Their Christian life is only as effective as the intensity of present feelings. When they experienced spiritual euphoria, they are a whirlwind of godly activity. When they are depressed, they are spiritual and competent. They constantly seek new and fresh spiritual experiences and use them to determine the word of God. Their inner feelings become the ultimate test of truth. Sentia was Christians don't need to study the word of God because they already know the will of God by their feelings. They don't want to know God. They want to experience him. Sensuous, Christians equate childlike faith with ignorance. They think that when the Bible calls us to childlike faith, it means a faith without content, a faith, without understanding, they don't know that the Bible says in evil, be babes, but in your thinking, be mature first Corinthians chapter 14, verse 20, they don't realize that Paul tells us again and again, my beloved brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Speaker 1: See, for example, Romans chapter 11, verse 25, sensuous Christians go their Merry way until they encounter the pain of life. That is not so Mary and they fold. They usually end up embracing a kind of relational theology, a curse on modern Christianity where personal relationships and experience take precedence over the word of God. If the scripture calls us to action that may jeopardize a personal relationship than the scripture must be compromised. The highest law of sensuous Christians is that bad feelings must be avoided at all costs. The Bible is addressed primarily though, not exclusively to our understanding. That means the mind. This is difficult to communicate to modern Christians who are living in may be the most anti intellectual period of Western civilization. Notice I did not say anti academic or anti technological or anti scholarly. I said anti intellectual. There is a strong current of antipathy to the function of the mind in the Christian life, to be sure there are historical reasons for this kind of reaction.
Speaker 1: Many lay people have felt the result of what one theologian has called the trees and of the intellectual. So much skepticism, cynicism and negative criticism have spewed forth from the intellectual world of theologians that lay people have lost their trust in intellectual enterprises. In many cases, there's the fear that faith will not hold up under intellectual scrutiny. So the defense becomes the denigration of the human mind. We turn to feelings rather than to our minds to establish and preserve our faith. This is a very serious problem. We face in the 21st century church. Christianity is supremely intellectual though, not intellectual listic. That is scripture is addressed to the intellect without, at the same time, embracing a spirit of intellectual ism. The Christian life is not to be a life of bear conjecture or cold rationalism, but one of vibrant passion, strong feelings of joy, love and exaltation are called for again and again.
Speaker 1: But those passionate feelings are a response to what we understand with our minds to be true. When we read in scripture, take courage. I have overcome the world. John chapter 16, verse 33 ho-hum is not an appropriate response. We can be of good cheer because we understand that Christ has indeed overcome the world that thrills our souls and sets our feet to dancing. What is more precious than to experience the sweetness of the presence of Christ or the nearness of the Holy spirit God forbid that we should lose our passion or go through the Christian pilgrimage without any experience of Christ. But what happens when there is a conflict between what God says and what I feel, we must do what God says like it or not. That is what Christianity is all about. Reflect for a moment. What happens in your own life When you act according to what you feel like doing, rather than what you know, and understand God says you should do here.
Speaker 1: We encountered the ruthless reality of the difference between happiness and pleasure, how easy it is to confuse the two. The pursuit of happiness is regarded as our unalienable, right But happiness and pleasure are not the same thing. Both of them feel good, but only one endures sin can bring pleasure, but never happiness. If sin were not so pleasurable, it would hardly represent a temptation yet. While sin often feels good, it does not produce happiness. If we do not know the difference or worse yet, do not care about the difference. We have made great strides to becoming the ultimate sensuous Christian. It is precisely at the point of discerning the difference between pleasure and happiness, that knowledge of scripture is so vital. There is a remarkable relationship between God's will and human happiness. The fundamental deception of Satan is the lie that obedience can never bring happiness from the primordial temptation of Adam and Eve to last night, satanic seduction.
Speaker 1: The lie has been the same. If you do what God says, you will not be happy. If you do what I say, you will be liberated and no happiness. What would have to be true for Satan's argument to be true It would seem that God would have to be one of three things, ignorant malevolent or deceptive. It could be that God's word will not work for us because it proceeds from his divine. Blunderings God simply doesn't know enough to tell us what we need to do to achieve happiness. Perhaps he desires our wellbeing, but simply does not know enough to instruct us properly. He would like to help us out, but the complexities of human life and human situations just boggled his mind, perhaps God is infinitely wise and knows what is good for us better than we do. Perhaps he does understand human complexities better than the philosophers.
Speaker 1: Moralists politicians, school teachers, pastors, and psychiatrists, but he hates us. He knows the truth, but leads us astray so he can remain the only happy being in the cosmos. Perhaps his law is an expression of his desire to take gleeful delight in our misery. Thus his malevolence toward us leads him to the role of great deceiver nonsense. If that were true, then the only conclusion we could come to is that God is the devil and the devil is God. And Holy scripture is really the manual of Satan absurd unthinkable. I wish it were in literally thousands of pastors studies. People are being counseled to act against scripture because the pastor wants them to be happy. Yes, Mrs. Jones, go ahead and divorce your husband, despite the fact that she is without biblical warrant for, I am sure you will never find happiness, married to a man like that.
Speaker 1: If there is a secret, a carefully guarded secret to human happiness, it is that one expressed in a 17th century catechism that says man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. The secret to happiness is found in obedience to God. How can we be happy if we are not obedient How can we be obedient If we do not know what it is we are to obey thus the top. And the tail of it is that happiness cannot be fully discovered. As long as we remain ignorant of God's word, to be sure knowledge of God's word does not guarantee that we will do what it says, but at least we will know what we are supposed to be doing in our quest for human fulfillment. The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God, we believe in a matter of duty.
Speaker 1: Why should we study the Bible I have mentioned briefly the practical value, the ethical importance in the way of happiness. We have looked at some of the myths that are given why people do not study the Bible. We have examined something of the spirit of pragmatism and the anti intellectual climate of our day. There are many facets to the question and countless reasons why we ought to study the Bible. I could plead with you to study the Bible for personal edification. I could try the art of persuasion to stimulate your quest for happiness. I could say that the study of the Bible would probably be the most fulfilling and rewarding educational experience of your life. I could cite numerous reasons why you would benefit from a serious study of scripture, but ultimately the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our duty.
Speaker 1: If the Bible were the most boring book in the world, dull, uninteresting, and seemingly irrelevant, it would still be our duty to study it. If its literary style were awkward and confusing, the duty would remain. We live as human beings under an obligation by divine mandate to study diligently God's word. He is our sovereign. It is his word. And he commands that we study it. A duty is not an option. If you have not yet begun to respond to that duty, then you need to ask God to forgive you and to resolve, to do your duty from this day forward chapter two, personal Bible study and private interpretation. Most homes in the Western world have a Bible researchers and foremost that the average home in the United States pass for the Bible is the best selling book of all time and continues to be the best selling book every year, a 2008 Harris interactive poll reported that regardless of the demographic group, the Bible is the all-time favorite book of American adults. Undoubtedly, many of these Bibles serve as decorations or as a convenient place to store photos and press flowers handy also to display in a prominent place when the pastor is visiting the home because of the easy accessibility of Bibles, many of us have forgotten the awesome price that was paid for the privilege of possessing Bible written in our own language that we can interpret for ourselves,
Speaker 2: Martin Luther
Speaker 1: And private interpretation.
Speaker 1: The great legacies of the reformation were the principle of private interpretation and the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The two principles go hand in hand and were accomplished only after great controversy and persecution scores of persons paid with their lives by being burned at the stake, particularly in England for daring to translate the Bible into the vernacular. One of Luther's greatest achievements was the translation of the Bible into German so that any literate person could read it. Luther himself brought the issue of private interpretation of the Bible into sharp focus in the 16th century, hidden beneath the famous response of the reformer to the ecclesiastical and Imperial authorities at the diet of berms. His trial for heresy was the implicit principle of private interpretation. When asked to recant of his writings, Luther replied, unless I am convinced by sacred scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant for my conscience is held captive by the word of God.
Speaker 1: And to act against conscience is neither right, nor safe here I stand. I can do no other God helped me notice that Luther said, unless I am convinced in earlier debates, Luther had dared to presume, to interpret scripture contrary to interpretations rendered both by Pope's and by church councils that he would be so presumptuous led to the repeated charge of arrogance by church officials. Luther did not take those charges lightly, but agonized over them. Luther agreed that if his teachings could be shown to be an error by the prophets and the gospels, he would recant any error and be the first in casting my writings into the fire. He believed that he could be wrong, but maintained that the Pope and councils could also earn for him. Only one source of truth was free from error. He said the scriptures never thus, unless the leaders of the church could convince him of his error.
Speaker 1: He felt duty bound to follow what his own conscience was convinced. Scripture taught with this controversy. The principle of private interpretation was born and baptized with fire after Luther's bold declaration and subsequent work of translating the Bible into German. The Roman Catholic church did not roll over and play dead. The church mobilized its forces into a three-pronged counter offensive known as the Counter-Reformation. One of the sharpest prongs of the counter attack was the formulations against Protestantism made by the council of Trent 1545 to 1563. Trent spoke to many of the issues raised by Luther and other reformers among those issues was the issue of private interpretation. Trent said to check unbridled spirits. It, the council decrees that no one relying on his own judgment shall in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine distorting the Holy scriptures in accordance with his own conceptions presumed to interpret them contrary to that sense, which Holy mother church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense and interpretation has held or holds, or even contrary to the unanimous teaching of the fathers, even though such interpretations should never at any time be published.
Speaker 1: Do you catch the flavor of this pronouncement The statement is saying among other things, that it is the responsibility of the teaching office of the Roman Catholic church to expound and declare the meaning of the scriptures. This is not to be a matter of private judgment or private opinion. This statement by Trent was clearly designed to speak to the reformation principle of private interpretation. If we examine the statement closely, however, we can see that it contains a very serious misunderstanding of the reformed principle. Did the reformers promote the notion of unbridled newness Does private interpretation mean that an individual has the right to interpret scripture to suit him or herself May a person interpret scripture in a whimsical capricious manner with no restraint, should the private individual take seriously The interpretations of others, such as those who specialize in teaching the scriptures The answers to these questions are obvious.
Speaker 1: The reformers were also concerned with ways and means to check on bridled spirits. That is one of the reasons they worked so hard to delineate sound principles of biblical interpretation as a check and balance to fanciful interpretation. But the way in which they sought to check on bridled spirits was not to declare the teachings of the church or its leaders infallible. Perhaps the most crucial term that appears in Trent's declaration is the word distorting. Trent says that no one has the private right to distort the scriptures with that. The reformers most heartily agreed, private interpretation, never meant that individuals have the right to distort the scriptures with the right of private interpretation comes the sober responsibility of accurate interpretation. Private interpretation gives license to interpret, but not to distort. When we look back to the reformation period and see the persecutions of those who translated the scriptures into the common tongue, we are horrified what is often overlooked in such historical reflection.
Speaker 1: However, is that there were many well-meaning people involved in that action. Rome was convinced that if you put the Bible into the hands of unskilled lay people and left them to interpret the book, grotesque distortions would emerge, and these would lead the sheep astray perhaps into everlasting torment, thus to protect the sheep from embarking on a course of ultimate self destruction, the church resorted to corporal punishment, even to the point of execution note that some parts of the Protestant church also used corporal and capital punishment though, not over this particular issue. Luther was aware of the dangers of such a move, but was convinced of the clarity of scripture though. The dangers of distortion were great. He thought that the benefit of exposing multitudes to the basically clear message of the gospel apart from the Pope church councils and church fathers would bring far more to ultimate salvation than to ultimate ruin.
Speaker 1: He was willing to take the risk to turn the valve that might open a flood gate of iniquity. Luther wrote. We need not regret that the books of many fathers and councils have by God's grace disappeared. If they had all remained in existence, no room would be left for anything but books. And yet all of them together would not have improved on what one finds in the Holy scriptures and the reformed. Second Helvetic confession, 1566 says we do not despise the interpretations of the Holy Greek and Latin fathers nor reject their disputations and treatises as far as they agree with the scriptures. But we do modestly descend from them when they are found to set down thing differing from or altogether contrary to the scriptures, private interpretation opened the Bible for lay people, but it did not do away with the principle of the educated clergy.
Speaker 1: Going back to biblical days, the reformers recognized that an old and new Testament practice and teaching there was a significant place for the rabbi, the scribe and the ministry of teaching that teachers should be skilled in the ancient languages, customs history and literary analysis is still an important feature of the Christian Church. Luther's famous doctrine of the priesthood of all believers has been frequently misunderstood. The doctrine simply maintains that every individual Christian has a role to perform and a function to maintain in the total ministry of the church. We are all called to be Christ to our neighbor in a certain sense, but that does not mean that the church has no overseers or teachers regarding this. The Augsburg confession of which Luther approved says it is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call.
Speaker 1: And the second Helvetic confession says, God has always used his ministers for the gathering or erecting of a church to himself and for the governing and preservation of the same, thus for the reformers. The priesthood of all believers did not mean that there is no distinction between clergy and laity. Many people have become disenchanted with the organized church in our present culture. Some have overreacted in the direction of ecclesiastical anarchy today. People of all generations cry. I don't have to go to anybody for a pastor. I don't believe in an organized church or a structured government of the body of Christ in the hands of such people. The principle of private interpretation could be a license for radical subjectivism objectivity and subjectivity. The great danger of private interpretation is the clear and present danger of subjectivism in biblical interpretation. The danger is more widespread. That is often immediately apparent.
Speaker 1: I see it manifested very subtly in the course of theological discussion and debate. One time when I participated in a panel with biblical scholars, we were discussing the pros and cons of a particular passage of the new Testament whose meaning and application were in dispute in his opening statement. One of the new Testament scholars said, I think that we should be open and honest about how we approach the new Testament in the final analysis. We all read what we want to read in it and that's all right. I could not believe my ears. I was so stunned. I offered no rebuttal. My shock was mixed with a sense of futility at the possibility of having a significant exchange of ideas. It is rare to have a scholar state his prejudice. So forthrightly in public, we all may struggle with the sinful tendency to read into scripture what we want to find, but I hope that we do not always do that.
Speaker 1: I trust there are means available to us to check that tendency on the popular level, this easy acceptance of the spirit of subjectivism in biblical interpretation is equally prevalent. Many times after discussing the meaning of a passage. People rebut my statements by simply saying to me, well, that's your opinion What could such a remark mean First It is perfectly obvious to all present that an interpretation that I have offered as my own is my opinion. I am the one who just gave the opinion, but I don't think that that is what people have in mind a second possible meaning is that the remark indicates an unspoken rebuttal, employing the guilt by association fallacy, by pointing out that the opinion offered is mine. Perhaps the person feels that is all that is necessary to rebut it. Since everybody knows the unspoken assumption, any opinion that comes from the mouth of RC Sproll must be wrong because he never has been and never could be right
Speaker 1: However, hostile people may be to my opinions. I doubt that that is what they have in mind when they say that's your opinion. I think the third alternative is what most people mean. That's your interpretation and that's fine for you. I don't agree with it, but my interpretation is equally valid though. Our interpretations are contrary and contradictory. They can both be true, whatever you like is true for you. And whatever I like is true for me, this is subjectivism subjectivism and subjectivity are not the same things to say that truth has a subjective element is one thing to say that it is utterly subjective is quite another for truth or false hood to have any significance for my life. It must be applied in some way. To me, the statement it is raining in Georgia may in fact be true objectively, but have no relevance to my life.
Speaker 1: I may be made to see that it does have relevance. If, for example, it could be shown that along with the rain, there is also severe hail that is destroying the crop of peaches in which I have just invested my money. Then the statement takes on subjective relevance to me when the truth of a proposition hits home to me and grasps me, that is a subjective matter. The application of a biblical text to my life may have strong, subjective overtones, but that is not what we mean by subjectivism subjectivism takes place. When we distort the objective meaning of terms to suit our own interests, to say it is raining in Georgia may have no relevance to my life in Florida, but the words are still meaningful. It means something to the people in Georgia, if not to the plants and the animals that live there subjectivism takes place.
Speaker 1: When the truth of a statement is not merely expanded or applied to the subject. But when it is absolutely determined by the subject, if we are to avoid distortion of scripture, we must avoid subjectivism from the beginning in seeking an objective understanding of scripture, we do not thereby reduce scriptures to something cold, abstract, and lifeless. What we are doing is seeking to understand what the word says in its context, before we go about the equally necessary task of applying it to ourselves, a particular statement may have numerous possible personal applications, but it can only have one correct Meaning alternate interpretations that are contradictory and mutually exclusive cannot both be true unless God speaks with a forked tongue. We will treat this matter of contradiction and the singular meaning of statements in the Bible. More fully later, see chapter four, presently. However, I am concerned with setting forth the goals of sound biblical interpretation.
Speaker 1: The first such goal is to arrive at the objective meaning of scripture and to avoid the pitfalls of distortion caused by letting interpretations be governed by subjectivism biblical scholars, make a necessary distinction between what they call exit Jesus and Isiah Jesus exit. Jesus means to explain what scripture says, the word comes from the Greek word, meaning to guide out of the key to exit Jesus is found in the prefix ex, which means from or out of to exit sheet scripture is to get out of the words, the meaning that is there no more and no less. On the other hand, I said, Jesus has the same root, but a different prefix. The prefix EIS also coming from the Greek means into thus said, Jesus involves reading into the text. Something that isn't there at all exit Jesus is an objective enterprise. I said, Jesus involves an exercise in subjectivism.
Speaker 1: All of us have to struggle with the problem of subjectivism. The Bible often says things we do not want to hear. We can put earmuffs on our ears and blinders on our eyes. It is much easier and far less painful to criticize the Bible than to allow the Bible to criticize us. No wonder Jesus frequently concluded his words by saying he who has ears to hear, let him hear. For example, Luke chapter eight, verse eight, chapter 14, verse 35. Subjectivism not only produces ever and distortion, but it breeds arrogance as well to believe what I believe simply because I believe it or to argue that my opinion is true simply because it is my opinion is the epitome of arrogance. If my views cannot stand the test of objective analysis and verification, humility, demands that I abandoned them, but the subjectivist has the arrogance to maintain his or her position with no objective support or corroboration to say to someone, if you'd like to believe what you want to believe, that's fine.
Speaker 1: I'll believe what I want to believe. Only sounds humble on the surface. Private views must be evaluated in light of outside evidence and opinion because we bring excess baggage to the Bible. No one on the face of this earth has a perfectly pure understanding of scripture. We all hold some views and entertain some ideas that are not of God. Perhaps if we knew precisely, which of our views were contrary to God, we would abandon them. But to sort them out is very difficult. Thus, our views need the sounding boards and honing steel of other people's research and expertise. The role of the teacher in the reformed churches of the 16th century, a distinction was made between two kinds of elders, teaching elders and ruling elders, ruling elders were called to govern and administer the affairs of the congregation, teaching elders or pastors or responsible primarily for teaching and equipping the saints for ministry.
Speaker 1: The last half of the 20th century witnessed the remarkable restoration of the significance of the laity for the local church. One of the most significant developments has been the advent of small group Bible study year in an atmosphere of congeniality and in formality people who otherwise would not be interested in the Bible have made great strides in learning it. The small group dynamic is basically one that keys on lay people, lay people, teach each other or pool their own ideas. In these Bible studies, such groups have been quite successful. They will be even more so as the people acquire better skills and understanding and interpreting the Bible, it is a tremendous thing that people are opening the Bible and studying it together, but it is also an exceedingly dangerous thing. Pooling of knowledge is edifying to the church. Pooling of ignorance is destructive and can manifest the problem of the blind.
Speaker 1: Leading the blind, those small groups and home Bible studies can be very effective and promoting renewal of the church and the transformation of society. Somewhere along the line, people must receive educated teaching. I am convinced that now as much as ever the church needs an educated clergy, private study and interpretation must be balanced by the collective wisdom of the teachers. Please do not misunderstand. I am not calling the church to return to the pre reformation situation where the Bible was held captive by the clergy. I rejoice that people are studying the Bible on their own and that the blood of the Protestant martyrs was not shed in vain. Nevertheless, it is wise for lay people involved in Bible study to do it in connection with or under the authority of their pastors or professors Christ himself has ordered his church. So as to endow some with the gift of teaching Ephesians chapter four, verses seven to 13, that gift and the office must be respected.
Speaker 1: If Christ is to be honored by his people, it is important that teachers have proper education to be sure. Occasionally there arise some teachers who though unschooled and untrained, nevertheless, have an uncanny, intuitive insight into scripture, but such people that are extremely rare more often, we face the problem of people calling themselves to the role of teacher who are simply not qualified to teach a good teacher, must have sound knowledge and the necessary skills to unravel difficult portions of scripture here. The need for mastery of language, history and theology are of critical importance. If we examine the history of the Jewish people in the old Testament, we see that one of the most severe and abiding threats to Israel was the threat of the false prophet or false teacher. More often than by the hand of the Philistines or the Assyrians. Israel fell to the seductive power of the lying teacher.
Speaker 1: The new Testament bears witness to the same problem in the primitive church. The false prophet was like the hired shepherd who was concerned more for his own wages than the welfare of the sheep. He or she thought nothing of misleading. The people leading them into error or to evil, not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice. Many do so out of ignorance from the malicious and the ignorant we should flee. On the other hand, one of the great blessings for Israel came when God sent them prophets and teachers who taught after his own mind hear the solemn warning. God speaks to Jeremiah. I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesied falsely. In my name saying, I had a dream. I had a dream. How long is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesied falsehood, even these profits of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams, which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgotten my name because of bail, the prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him, who has my word speak my word in truth.
Speaker 1: What does straw have in common with grain declares The Lord is not my word. Like fire declares the Lord and like a hammer, which shatters a rock. Therefore behold, I am against the prophets declares. The Lord who steal my words from each other behold, I am against the prophets declares, the Lord who use their tongues and declare the Lord declares. Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams, declares the Lord and related them and led my people astray by their false hoods and reckless boasting. Yet I did not send them or command them nor do they furnish this people. The slightest benefit declares the Lord, Jeremiah chapter 23 verses 25 through 32, with words of judgment. Like these, it is not surprising that the new Testament warns let not many of you become teachers. My brethren, knowing that as such, we shall incur a stricter judgment. James chapter three, verse one. We need teachers who have sound knowledge and whose hearts are not set against the word of God. Private Bible study is an important means of grace for Christians. It is a privilege and a duty for all of us in his grace and kindness toward us. God has provided not only gifted teachers in his church to assist us, but his own Holy spirit to illumine his word and search out its application to our lives to sound teaching and diligence study God
Speaker 2: Gibbs, blessing chapter three, hermeneutics the science of interpretation,
Speaker 1: Many of the modern controversies surrounding the Bible, for example, human sexuality, creationism, and the openness of God revolve around questions concerning hermeneutics. The science of hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation in Greek mythology. The God Hermes was the messenger of the gods. It was his task to interpret the will of the gods. Hence hermeneutics deals with conveying a message that can be understood. The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. It is a well-developed science that can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation. And thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. I will restrict our present study to the most important and basic rules and guidelines. Historically the United States as a special agency, that theoretically functions as the Supreme board of hermeneutics for our land, that agency is called the Supreme court.
Speaker 1: One of its primary tasks is to interpret the constitution of the United States. The constitution is a written document and requires such interpretation. Interpretive strategies have gone through cycles of strict constructionist or originalism and broad constructionist or living constitution perspectives. Originally the procedure of interpreting the constitution followed the strict constructionist or the grammatical historical method. That is the constitution was interpreted by studying the words of the document itself in light of what those words meant when they were used at the time of the formulation of the document, political and social conservatives tend to favor strict Constructionism Oliver, Wendell Holmes Jr 1841 to 1935. However, championed the broad constructionist perspective, which radically changed constitutional interpretation. Holmes famously declared that law corresponds at any given time with what is understood to be convenient, that involves continual change. And there can be no eternal order. He also declared that the basis of much legal thought lies outside of the law.
Speaker 1: When the court following Holmes as lead interprets the constitution in light of modern attitudes, eat in effect changes the constitution by means of re-interpretation political and social liberals tend to favor broad Constructionism. The debate between strict and broad constructionists has led to a crisis in law and public confidence in the nation's highest court. This is most manifest when the president nominates a person to the Supreme court and the Senate holds its confirmation hearings. How will the nominee interpret the constitution The fear for many conservatives is that an activist court that interprets the constitution broadly becomes a legislative rather than interpretive agency. The same kind of crisis has occurred with biblical interpretation. When biblical scholars utilize the method of interpretation that involves bringing the Bible up to date by re-interpretation the original meaning of scripture is obscured. And the message is brought into conformity with contemporary trends in opinion.