Often in discussions on these forums, questions of hermeneutics will come into play. Hermeneutics is simply a fancy word referring to the science of interpreting texts. Entire books have been written on this subject and I will not pretend to address the broad scope of biblical interpretation in a short post. However, I would like to make a few comments that, perhaps, will stir further discussion and hopefully will lead us all to a more grounded and God-honoring approach to understanding the Scriptures. First, let's discuss faulty approaches followed by core principles of sound hermeneutics. I am developing these categories off the cuff so I am certainly not suggesting these are all-encompassing. These are just areas of special note to me.
FAULTY HERMENEUTICAL APPROACHES
1. Illumination:
Some argue that their interpretation is correct because they have received illumination from God. I am amazed at how many arguments arise with both parties essentially claiming that they are right because God told them so. Obviously when people approach the Scriptures with this kind of paradigm, then any hope for growth, discussion and learning is completely impossible. Those who feel God has given them special illumination have no use for the study or insights of others. Not only is such an attitude anti-Christian, but it also creates harsh sectarianism. There can be no hope for mutually edifying discussion because "God told me you are wrong" type arguments foster no unity but only haughtiness and divisive behavior. The Bible simply doesn't teach illumination. It teaches that the Scriptures are to be studied and that we should listen, learn and prayerfully consider the ideas of others. The Bible implies that it can be understood. Therefore, the message itself is sufficient to be understood without any special divine illumination that gives special individuals the keys to unlocking key texts while others are left without such illumination and apparently cast aside by God in their search for the truth. If illumination is true, then inspiration is meaningless. Why inspire a text so that it could be accurate and understood if it takes a special work of the Spirit to illuminate the truth of that message for people?
2. Google Surfing:
Many argue their interpretation of Scripture based on a bunker mentality that claims to have the truth from the outset and then only seeks to validate their own views and uses the Bible and Google as a sledgehammer to find any verse, blog or article out there to hammer home what they already believe. Let's be honest. Anyone can Google and find someone out there who will validate any and every view. Responsible hermeneutics strives to deal with the text itself to arrive at the proper meaning. Now certainly historical background, language, etc. play a role in how we understand those texts and these should be explored. However, the approach that takes a notion and then goes first to Google rather than the Bible for validation is a dangerous approach to interpreting the Bible. In essence, those who do this make themselves the authority and then use Google and other tools to find ways to make the Bible to validate what they already believe.
3. Proof-texting:
Another faulty approach to studying the Bible is to improperly proof-text. What I mean is, often people strive to dismiss texts by pointing to a series of other texts without considering their context or the context of the verse in question. Many debates on this forum go nowhere because both sides are using Bible verses like bullets to fire back and forth at each other. Certainly light can be shed on difficult verses by pointing to other similar themes in the Bible. However, we have to be careful that we compare apples with apples. Many times verses from different authors writing about entirely unrelated topics are used to prove a point that is light years away from the author's original intent.
KEYS TO PROPER HERMENEUTICS:
1. A.I.M.
Perhaps the most important key for properly interpreting the Bible is to try to understand the Author's Intended Meaning. Any time we interpret a passage in the Bible and try to apply it to our lives today, our question should be, "Would the Biblical author (John, Paul, Moses, Peter, etc.) agree that the way I am using this sentence is consistent with what they were originally trying to say?" Many times verses are used as proof-texts for Calvinism, Dispensationalism, egalitarianism, or pretty much any other topic you could imagine when such concepts had nothing to do with what the author was trying to say or what the original audience would have understood. Remember, these books of the Bible were written in certain settings by particular individuals and were addressed to specific audiences. They were trying to address situations in their world, not settle 21st century theological debates. We need to try to understand what the situation was, what the author was trying to address and how the audience would have understood that message.
2. Context is King
We need to remember that most of the books of the Bible (especially the NT) were letters written to specific groups or individuals. These letters did not have chapters or verses. They were letters that were intended to be read in one setting and not picked apart, with once sentence stripped from the context to be used as someone's "life verse." Imagine if you picked up a John Grisham novel, flipped to chapter 6 and read the third paragraph and tried to draw meaning from the book by that little section. You are much more likely to misinterpret the book and what the author is trying to convey if you approached novels this way. In the same way, these authors wrote these letters with a series of ideas that flow together to address specific situations. The best way to understand a verse is to examine the pericope, the audience and the intent of the letter. We all hate it when someone misquotes us. It frustrates us and we feel like we are being misrepresented. Let us not be guilty of doing the same thing to God. Try to understand the entire book of a Bible by reading it in its historical and literary context before pulling out individual verses and assigning them meaning.
3. Pay attention to Genre
When you flip on Netflix, you can search movies by type. Action/Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Documentary, Comedy are all types of genre. When you select an Action/Adventure movie you know you are getting a movie that is likely high in action and explosions and low on factual reliability. I mean, we would all like to believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone could take out entire armies by themselves, but we know in our hearts this is sheer entertainment and fiction. In the same way, understanding the type of literature should help us in our approach to understanding those verses. If we are reading a Psalm, we are dealing with poetry and should not read it the same way we read a narrative in Matthew's Gospel. Likewise, when we are reading about an apocalyptic vision in Revelation, we should understand that this is not the same kind of writing as a Proverb or Parable. All of the Bible is true, but, like any language, it uses metaphor, hyperbole, poetry, figures of speech, and so forth to communicate its message.
4. Be Careful with Original Languages
Finally, we need to be careful with how we use original languages. I heard one Greek professor say that someone with a little Greek knowledge is far more dangerous than someone with no knowledge of Greek at all. This is very true. We all want to use every resource avaliable to search the depths of the Bible, but some tools need to be left for those who are familiar with them. None of us would allow an 8 year old to operate a circular saw without very direct supervision using extreme caution. The same is true with biblical languages. Greek and Hebrew are the only languages in which people who have very little to no working knowledge feel comfortable in picking up a dictionary and critiquing a native speaker of the language. Can you imagine a new student in a Spanish class picking up a Spanish-English dictionary and arguing with their native Spanish teacher about how to translate a sentence? It would never occur to us! Yet, how often do people with very minimal knowledge of Greek on this site feel justified in critiquing translations of the Bible, many of which were translated by the help of 50-100 Greek and Hebrew scholars! Greek tools can be helpful. But if you find you are regularly using them to discredit the basic interpretation given by most Bible translations, then a red flag should go up. Our English Bibles, for the most part, are very reliable. One does not need to know Greek to understand the Scriptures as Greek scholars have made it such that we have very accurate renderings of what the Greek means in our English translations.
Well, perhaps this is enough to get the ball rolling. Please feel free to share other thoughts you might have on the issue of Bible interpretation.
FAULTY HERMENEUTICAL APPROACHES
1. Illumination:
Some argue that their interpretation is correct because they have received illumination from God. I am amazed at how many arguments arise with both parties essentially claiming that they are right because God told them so. Obviously when people approach the Scriptures with this kind of paradigm, then any hope for growth, discussion and learning is completely impossible. Those who feel God has given them special illumination have no use for the study or insights of others. Not only is such an attitude anti-Christian, but it also creates harsh sectarianism. There can be no hope for mutually edifying discussion because "God told me you are wrong" type arguments foster no unity but only haughtiness and divisive behavior. The Bible simply doesn't teach illumination. It teaches that the Scriptures are to be studied and that we should listen, learn and prayerfully consider the ideas of others. The Bible implies that it can be understood. Therefore, the message itself is sufficient to be understood without any special divine illumination that gives special individuals the keys to unlocking key texts while others are left without such illumination and apparently cast aside by God in their search for the truth. If illumination is true, then inspiration is meaningless. Why inspire a text so that it could be accurate and understood if it takes a special work of the Spirit to illuminate the truth of that message for people?
2. Google Surfing:
Many argue their interpretation of Scripture based on a bunker mentality that claims to have the truth from the outset and then only seeks to validate their own views and uses the Bible and Google as a sledgehammer to find any verse, blog or article out there to hammer home what they already believe. Let's be honest. Anyone can Google and find someone out there who will validate any and every view. Responsible hermeneutics strives to deal with the text itself to arrive at the proper meaning. Now certainly historical background, language, etc. play a role in how we understand those texts and these should be explored. However, the approach that takes a notion and then goes first to Google rather than the Bible for validation is a dangerous approach to interpreting the Bible. In essence, those who do this make themselves the authority and then use Google and other tools to find ways to make the Bible to validate what they already believe.
3. Proof-texting:
Another faulty approach to studying the Bible is to improperly proof-text. What I mean is, often people strive to dismiss texts by pointing to a series of other texts without considering their context or the context of the verse in question. Many debates on this forum go nowhere because both sides are using Bible verses like bullets to fire back and forth at each other. Certainly light can be shed on difficult verses by pointing to other similar themes in the Bible. However, we have to be careful that we compare apples with apples. Many times verses from different authors writing about entirely unrelated topics are used to prove a point that is light years away from the author's original intent.
KEYS TO PROPER HERMENEUTICS:
1. A.I.M.
Perhaps the most important key for properly interpreting the Bible is to try to understand the Author's Intended Meaning. Any time we interpret a passage in the Bible and try to apply it to our lives today, our question should be, "Would the Biblical author (John, Paul, Moses, Peter, etc.) agree that the way I am using this sentence is consistent with what they were originally trying to say?" Many times verses are used as proof-texts for Calvinism, Dispensationalism, egalitarianism, or pretty much any other topic you could imagine when such concepts had nothing to do with what the author was trying to say or what the original audience would have understood. Remember, these books of the Bible were written in certain settings by particular individuals and were addressed to specific audiences. They were trying to address situations in their world, not settle 21st century theological debates. We need to try to understand what the situation was, what the author was trying to address and how the audience would have understood that message.
2. Context is King
We need to remember that most of the books of the Bible (especially the NT) were letters written to specific groups or individuals. These letters did not have chapters or verses. They were letters that were intended to be read in one setting and not picked apart, with once sentence stripped from the context to be used as someone's "life verse." Imagine if you picked up a John Grisham novel, flipped to chapter 6 and read the third paragraph and tried to draw meaning from the book by that little section. You are much more likely to misinterpret the book and what the author is trying to convey if you approached novels this way. In the same way, these authors wrote these letters with a series of ideas that flow together to address specific situations. The best way to understand a verse is to examine the pericope, the audience and the intent of the letter. We all hate it when someone misquotes us. It frustrates us and we feel like we are being misrepresented. Let us not be guilty of doing the same thing to God. Try to understand the entire book of a Bible by reading it in its historical and literary context before pulling out individual verses and assigning them meaning.
3. Pay attention to Genre
When you flip on Netflix, you can search movies by type. Action/Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Documentary, Comedy are all types of genre. When you select an Action/Adventure movie you know you are getting a movie that is likely high in action and explosions and low on factual reliability. I mean, we would all like to believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone could take out entire armies by themselves, but we know in our hearts this is sheer entertainment and fiction. In the same way, understanding the type of literature should help us in our approach to understanding those verses. If we are reading a Psalm, we are dealing with poetry and should not read it the same way we read a narrative in Matthew's Gospel. Likewise, when we are reading about an apocalyptic vision in Revelation, we should understand that this is not the same kind of writing as a Proverb or Parable. All of the Bible is true, but, like any language, it uses metaphor, hyperbole, poetry, figures of speech, and so forth to communicate its message.
4. Be Careful with Original Languages
Finally, we need to be careful with how we use original languages. I heard one Greek professor say that someone with a little Greek knowledge is far more dangerous than someone with no knowledge of Greek at all. This is very true. We all want to use every resource avaliable to search the depths of the Bible, but some tools need to be left for those who are familiar with them. None of us would allow an 8 year old to operate a circular saw without very direct supervision using extreme caution. The same is true with biblical languages. Greek and Hebrew are the only languages in which people who have very little to no working knowledge feel comfortable in picking up a dictionary and critiquing a native speaker of the language. Can you imagine a new student in a Spanish class picking up a Spanish-English dictionary and arguing with their native Spanish teacher about how to translate a sentence? It would never occur to us! Yet, how often do people with very minimal knowledge of Greek on this site feel justified in critiquing translations of the Bible, many of which were translated by the help of 50-100 Greek and Hebrew scholars! Greek tools can be helpful. But if you find you are regularly using them to discredit the basic interpretation given by most Bible translations, then a red flag should go up. Our English Bibles, for the most part, are very reliable. One does not need to know Greek to understand the Scriptures as Greek scholars have made it such that we have very accurate renderings of what the Greek means in our English translations.
Well, perhaps this is enough to get the ball rolling. Please feel free to share other thoughts you might have on the issue of Bible interpretation.
