Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Big Picture Theology
Trying to intrepret the Bible can be daunting. Fortunately, there are some guidelines to help interpret scripture. Most of this came from the book How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.
Essential message of the Bible is clear.
Here's an assignment for you - can you put the meaning/story of the Bible in one, short sentence? Try it. How will this help? It will help when you run across a difficult to understand passage - you can run back to the "basic" story and ask how does it fit?
They all are NOT going to fit - so what do you do with them?
Try to understand them in light of what is clear. No doctrine should be built solely on obscure passages. Doctrines are more secure as they are taught in multiple parts of the Bible. Passages that are brief should be studied in light of passages in greater length & depth.
Certain biblical paradoxes are just going to have to be lived with. Such as the Incarnation and the sovereignty of God versus the freedom of man.
Scripture best interprets Scripture. The Bible was not put together by accident. It has a unity to it. Although many different authors wrote it over an incredible amount of time, it is coherent and it "speaks with itself."
God's revelation of Himself was progressive. God chose to make Himself known in stages. He did not reveal His plan all at once. Jesus Christ was the final revelation of Himself, therefore when interpreting scripture; the New Testament takes priority. This does NOT mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. It does mean that we read Old Testament in light of what we know in the New Testament.
Must be aware of the possible cultural conditions of Scripture. Some passages may contain advice or commands intended only for an ancient historical setting. In other words - some of scripture is DESCRIPTIVE and some of it is PRESCRIPTIVE. Some things are in there because - well, that's what happened but it was never the author's intent for us to do the same. Holy kiss, hairstyle, and dress are just a couple of examples.
Of course the question is how do we determine ancient history from applicable truths?
The book How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth gives great guidelines.
Next Session: All Those Versions
Back To Inner Disciplines
Back To Intern Track
Back To Life Group Leader Track
Essential message of the Bible is clear.
Here's an assignment for you - can you put the meaning/story of the Bible in one, short sentence? Try it. How will this help? It will help when you run across a difficult to understand passage - you can run back to the "basic" story and ask how does it fit?
They all are NOT going to fit - so what do you do with them?
Try to understand them in light of what is clear. No doctrine should be built solely on obscure passages. Doctrines are more secure as they are taught in multiple parts of the Bible. Passages that are brief should be studied in light of passages in greater length & depth.
Certain biblical paradoxes are just going to have to be lived with. Such as the Incarnation and the sovereignty of God versus the freedom of man.
Scripture best interprets Scripture. The Bible was not put together by accident. It has a unity to it. Although many different authors wrote it over an incredible amount of time, it is coherent and it "speaks with itself."
God's revelation of Himself was progressive. God chose to make Himself known in stages. He did not reveal His plan all at once. Jesus Christ was the final revelation of Himself, therefore when interpreting scripture; the New Testament takes priority. This does NOT mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. It does mean that we read Old Testament in light of what we know in the New Testament.
Must be aware of the possible cultural conditions of Scripture. Some passages may contain advice or commands intended only for an ancient historical setting. In other words - some of scripture is DESCRIPTIVE and some of it is PRESCRIPTIVE. Some things are in there because - well, that's what happened but it was never the author's intent for us to do the same. Holy kiss, hairstyle, and dress are just a couple of examples.
Of course the question is how do we determine ancient history from applicable truths?
The book How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth gives great guidelines.
- Recognize behind cultural conditioned counsel lies eternally valid principles. (1 Pet 3:3)
- Remember central core of biblical teaching is never culturally conditioned.
- Determine whether the matter is inherently moral or non-moral. Morality is not subject of cultural issues; it is for all people for all times.
- Note whether the Bible has a uniform witness to the subject or whether there are differences in how the matter is handled. (1 Tim 2:11-12 & 1 Cor 11:5) If tension exists there maybe a cultural issue at stake.
- Note possible differences between 1st & 2nd centuries and our cultural today.
- If the issue is not dealing or affecting the essential biblical message, then exercise some Christian charity.
Next Session: All Those Versions
Back To Inner Disciplines
Back To Intern Track
Back To Life Group Leader Track
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