Interpreting Scripture

Once a conversation got brought up at a family gathering that I could not help but listen in on. It was brought up with a simple statement about a show that talked about the end-times, and all the different views, Chrstian and non-Christian, about how the world will some day end. Of course, like most conversations, we got a little off of the original point or question.

But something that my cousin-in-law, Brandon, who is a local Youth Pastor, kept coming back to, was about holding Scripture in its proper context. "Proof-texting" is done all too often today. We have our own bias when we begin to read Scripture, which determines our conclusions. We search for Scripture to support our conclusions, instead of reading Scripture to reach a conclusion. Often we should simply sit down with an open mind and study the Scripture texts in their proper contexts.

Granted, we do have presuppositions- or perhaps better put, one presupposition. Everyone has one. It is simply a worldview- the way one views the world. Essentially, it is religion. An atheist may claim neutrality to religion, but that is only their own presupositional bias. Neutrality rejects inneutrality, and is thus not neutral. When we as Christians read Scripture, we should read them in regards to our faith. We do not read them with the mindset that they may possibly be flawed. It is a key feature to the Christian faith that we read them in light of the fact of Jesus' ressurrection. Paul tells us that if the ressurrection is not true, then our whole faith loses its ground. The ressurrection is a fact, not just a mere idea.

So there is a sense in which we have a presupposition. Every word written in the Bible is 100% true. But it is only 100% true in its proper context. Some portions of the Bible may be history (such as Genises and all the Torah). Others may be poetry (i.e. Psalms and Proverbs). The Gospels are accounts from a certain period of time, centered largely on One Man- Jesus. The chronology in the Gospels may not be as exact as it would be in the Torah. Of course, this itself defends Scripture to many arguments against it about the inconsistencies in the Gospels. There is also the Epistles. We read Epistle's differently than we read the Gospels, poetry, or the history books of the Torah. They would be generally one man's writing to a local church. Moreover, we must put ourselves in the shoes, so to speek, of the writer and receiver of the letter.

It is hard to use one Scripture verse to prove a whole theological case, or to prove what the right moral approach should be in a given situation. But Scripture and God's Law is not always black and white- at least not to sinners. For example, we seem to think that any lie is wrong. We condemn the midwives in Exodus 1 for lying to save the male children from the Egyptians. We condemn Abram for being deceptive when claiming that Sarai was his sister. But in both of these cases, Scripture defends the "liar." According to Exodus 1, the midwives feared the Lord.

If we were perfect in mind and body, we may be able to make clearer distinctions. We would understand the Bible much more clearly. But now, we do not understand about taking God's Word in its proper context. We look for our conclusions, not reach them. I notice this when reading from different theologians. A theologian may say in a book something along the lines of "This verse is misinterpreated and mistranslated." In the same book they may say, "Many theologians think that this verse is misinterpreted or mistranslated...but we know that God will preserve His Word, so we must take Scripture for what it is." This is done by many theologians of many different denominations simply to support their theological affiliations with a particular church or denomination. I do think that God's Word is perfect. I do also think that the translation of God's Word is largely up to man, so in theory, we could see a mistranslation. But at the same time, God does always providentially preserve His Word, so that we can see our mistranslations and correct them.

Once we have our presuppositional faith, we should interpret Scripture much more open-mindedly, taking what is said in its proper context. This, I believe, will promote unity in the church, both in Spirit and in theology, and will enable us to think more and more like Christ. Questions such as the End Times could be answered in better terms. Today there are some nomical Christians who predict a date for Christ's return, while others dismiss the second coming as a joke. If we read each passage about the end times in its proper context, we could probably reach a satisfying conclusion. Whatever you read from Scripture, take heed that you interpret it in its proper context.

What Do You Think?

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November 8, 20007

Ryan Hampton