Questions for you today surrounding Biblical interpretation:
What must one consider when interpreting the Bible?
What must one guard against when interpreting the Bible?
What in our culture works for proper Biblical interpretation? What in our culture works against proper Biblical interpretation?
Can one know what the “Bible says”?
What must one consider when interpreting the Bible?
What must one guard against when interpreting the Bible?
What in our culture works for proper Biblical interpretation? What in our culture works against proper Biblical interpretation?
Can one know what the “Bible says”?
2 comments:
IMHO biblical interpretation is multilayered and faceted. You can read larger sections to see what the macrotheme are, you can meditate on a single verse to plumb the depths. You can go the route of studying the original languages or original cultural images used. You can use the popular inductive method. None of these directions are wrong but they are all incomplete.
Can we know what the Bible says? over a life time yes, definitively in one sitting? No.
I think you have to consider the cultural context in which the scripture was written while guarding against forcing its' Truth into the cultural context you find yourself living in.
In my opinion, our culture doesn't have a lot that commends itself to proper biblical interpretation; what works against it is the distance we can find between ourselves and God's creation (especially in an urban setting), the "success" we enjoy as a nation - which makes us think we have transcended our need to find ultimate answers and our smug belief that we can secure what we need for a holistic life through our own efforts and intellect.
Can we know what the Bible says? Yes - but only through living it in a community of believers on that same quest. Anything else is as silly and hollow as a person believing a parrot understands freedom because it can recite the Declaration of Independence.
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