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Doctrine of Scripture Principles of Interpretation Dr. James E. Murphy
1. Simplicity. Take the simplest interpretation possible. The most natural meaning. This doesn’t necessarily mean the most literal. When Jesus said, “I am the Door”, He didn’t mean that we should assume He has a doorknob where the rest of us have a belly button! The most natural meaning of that phrase is that if you want to go into the kingdom of God, into a relationship with the Lord, you have to go through Jesus. The Bible is not written in code. Most of the Bible is written so that the average person can understand it. This will frequently discredit overly spiritual interpretations that only the “expert” could see. God uses our natural ability to understand language to communicate with us. The most natural meaning is the meaning that would have naturally been suggested to the original author and readers, not necessarily to us. In order to get that, we need to understand something of the culture in which it was written.
2. History/Culture. The history of the time, the culture of the author, and of his intended readers/ hearers will often provide important clues as to how we should understand what he wrote. We have to carefully distinguish which commands and promises relate primarily or exclusively to the original audience, and which ones also apply to us. · Ex: “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:26). The Message: “holy embraces all around!” The Living Bible, “Shake hands warmly.” · Ex: 1 Cor. 11:13-16, “Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? [14] Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, [15] but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. [16] If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the churches of God.” Notice in this passage that Paul grounds the argument in what was obvious to them in their culture, and in the fact that all the churches of that day do what he is recommending. It’s a culturally-based argument, so it is no longer applicable. Women do not have to have longer hair than men. And therefore the application that Paul drew from it is no longer applicable to us today, namely that women should wear head coverings in worship. So it is extremely important to root our interpretation in the cultural situation of the time in which it was written. How? Most good commentaries will include some of this; Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, is especially good at this. There is even a commentary series that emphasizes the cultural context: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary (4 volumes); The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament and Old Testament (2 separate volumes).
3. Harmony. God spoke without contradicting Himself. Since God is the ultimate Author of all of Scripture, there will not be any internal contradictions in the Bible when we understand it rightly. Allow more clear parts of Scripture to interpret obscure parts. Don’t base teaching on unclear passages (ex: 1 Cor 15:29, baptism for the dead). Don’t build a doctrine on just one or two isolated proof-texts. Consider the context of every statement, and the ultimate context is the whole Bible. Don’t “take the text out of context and use it as a pretext” for your point. C Immediate context. Every verse must be interpreted in the light of its immediate context. · John 15:12-16. Love each other as I have loved you. How did Jesus love His disciples? vv. 13-16 give 3 ways that are illustrations of how we should love each other. There are other clues elsewhere in the NT of how Jesus loved His disciples and us, but we have to start with the immediate context. · Matthew 18:19-20 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." This passage is often used as though it was teaching about prayer, but the immediate context is the discipline and authority of the local church (vss. 15-18). The best interpretation is the one that fits most of the observations together. C New Testament context. John 15:5-6, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” On the face of it, that sounds like it is possible for us to lose our salvation if we don’t remain in Christ. But there are too many other passages of Scripture that say we are eternally secure in God’s love, such as · John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. · Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. · Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice also that the passage in John 15 is a figure of speech, a metaphor, where these other passages are straight doctrinal propositions, and hence less open to misinterpretation. C Old Testament context for New Testament. “Son of Man.” Daniel 7:13,14 C No interpretation can contradict the clear teaching of other parts of Scripture.
4. Language. What did those words and grammatical constructions mean then? · the difference between “believing” and “believing in” (pisteuo/pisteuo eis) Jesus. James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. -- John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” · Sometimes it is not a matter of avoiding misunderstanding, but only of greater insight into the meaning: ex: “glory” in Heb is kabod, which means “weight, heavy”. This is why the study of the original languages is so important. See Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament; and Harris, Archer, Waltke, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Generally, we can trust most modern translations to accurately convey the meaning of the original, because they are based on rigorous language study. Be careful to distinguish between a translation and a paraphrase– word-for-word through the spectrum to thought-for-thought. Each has its own purpose, but don’t use a wrench as a hammer.
5. Genre. The literary genre will dictate how to interpret those words in each particular piece of writing. This is another aspect of “context.”
! Ex #1: Poetry and teaching and history are very different. So they have to be interpreted differently.
If you don’t pay attention to the genre of this last one, and note that it is history, not teaching, you might be tempted to take David, the man after God’s own heart, as your model, and follow his example. But that is clearly not what the author of 2 Samuel wants us to do. He is faithfully reporting the facts, and we have to figure out what to do with them.
! Ex #2. Proverbs are often misunderstood to be either prescriptions or promises. ! Proverbs 21:14 A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath. Is that something we should take as a prescription to offer bribes, since they work? ! Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. We would like to believe that this is a promise from God, but it is not. The Proverbs (and Job and Ecclesiastes) are in a genre called “wisdom literature”. This kind of literature was widely known in other cultures of the ancient near east, as well as that of the Israelites. It was written by “wise men” or “sages” who were an important class of people in these societies. (See Jer 18:18.) The very nature of it is to record observations (in the case of the book of Proverbs, inspired observations) about how life works. They are neither prescriptions nor promises; they are probabilities. If you are “wise” you will bet on the odds and live your life in accordance with these.
6. The community of scholars. We are not the first ones to grapple with the meaning of these passages. 1 Corinthians 14:36, “Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?” For 2000 years, Christians have been commenting on what they understood the Bible to mean. We should certainly avail ourselves of that wealth of wisdom and insight. Of course there have been different interpretations, but by reading some of them, you get a feel for the breadth of possible meanings, and you may find a new one that you hadn’t thought of which makes most sense to you. Commentaries. Start a library. Tyndale OT and NT Commentaries series is a good place to start. Not one-volume commentaries on whole Bible. See suggestions in Grasping God’s Word Bible Dictionary. Bible software.
7. Essentials v. Non-essentials 1 Tim. 6:4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions See also 2 Tim. 2:14, 23; Titus 3:9 Some words are worth fighting over. Some are not. Be wise, and pick your battles. The essential doctrines are clear – the perspicuity of Scripture. Illustration of intersecting sets – the area common to them all is the clear teaching of Scripture, and those are the essentials. The non-essentials often aren’t clear, which is why different groups see them differently. See John R.W. Stott, Basic Christianity for a good presentation of the clearly-taught doctrines held by virtually all evangelicals. That doesn’t mean we should ignore the less-clear doctrines, but it does mean we should major on the majors and not on the minors. The slogan of my denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, says: “in essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
8. Study the Bible like eating fish When you come across something that you don’t understand, set it aside, like a bone in the fish, and keep eating the parts that are nourishing. Don’t let the bone get stuck in your throat by insisting on swallowing it now. Often when you come back to it later, it will be clear. Almost always, it is a non-essential.
9. Emotional static Be aware of the interpretations to which you are emotionally committed. Sometimes we don’t see a passage’s message because we don’t want to. We may have emotional commitments to a particular theological position and we force the text to say that when it may not. The emotion creates static which prevents us from hearing the clear message of the Word.
10. Application I know this topic is on interpretation, but I can’t leave it without emphasizing the importance of applying the Word to our lives. If we understand it perfectly, and don’t do it, we are in grave danger spiritually. James 2:26, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. Knowledge puffs up; love builds up (1 Cor 8:1).
Final exhortation: 2 Tim. 2:15, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ...because: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 (JBPhilips), All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for · (+) teaching the faith · (-) correcting error · (-) resetting the direction of a man’s life · (+) training him in good living. The Scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God, and fit him fully for every good work.
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