Ever wonder why
there are so many different viewpoints, even among people who are reading from
the same Bible? Well, obviously there is
naturally room for some differences of opinion based on people’s different perspective,
experiences and background. However, you
begin to wonder when people are coming up with completely opposite viewpoints.
But the real reason
there are so many varying interpretations of scripture could probably best be
explained by the proverbial story of 3 blind men trying to describe an
elephant. One man stands with his hand
on the trunk and describes the elephant.
The next man stands with its hand on its side/body and says “no, you’re
wrong, brother- this is what the elephant is like,” and the thirds blind man
stands at it’s tail and said “you’re
both wrong- let me tell you what it’s really like” and he describes the
tail.
In regard to unseen
eternal things, we are like the blind men.
Because we can’t see God directly right now and ask him to answer every
question, we have to study things out from the evidences he has given us in the
Bible and nature. Truth is like the
elephant we are trying to figure out. And
in order to understand it we must consider the entire body of evidence. We must interpret things according to
everything that is said on that subject throughout the whole Bible, rather than
just picking and choosing the verses that support a cherished interpretation.
It does violence to
the body of truth to cut off a little here and there. Just as it would if you cut the elephant’s
trunk off, the poor animal could probably bleed or starve to death. In the same way, if we separate out a few
chosen quotes or scriptures to support a certain theory it makes chopped meat
out of the words of inspiration. If we leave
the message whole we will let it be the living, breathing animal it was meant
to be.
Just as living
creatures are powerful and can move and do work on their own, truth has the
power to work in our hearts. But a dead
message doesn’t have the same kind of power.
Bits and pieces of scripture cut off, taken out of context and patched
together does not have the same kind of beauty and inspiration as natural,
whole truth. We have to understand the whole message of
truth in order for it to come alive and make sense in our minds.
Photo by Elke Rohn from FreeImages
Jesus’s comparison of the message to grains is also fitting, and it matches the same kind of idea because many people refine out the part they want and discard the rest. This usually results in a kind of “one extreme or another” phenomenon. Some people will filter out an “all bran” interpretation of the Bible and teach works-based religion filled with heavy burdens of obligations and spiritual “tests” that leave people secretly wondering about whether they can ever be “good enough.” Such religion is without the power of the Holy Spirit and lacks the power of a living love relationship with Jesus. It also results in very little natural joy or humor, except for a kind of pasted on, forced smile that is yet another “duty” of goodness instead of something that blooms from a heart that is full of joy.
On the other hand there
are so many “white bread” Christians on the liberal extreme, who believe in “grace
only” and just want a feel-good message that they can swallow without chewing. This message is based on the idea that you
are saved IN your sins instead of FROM your sins. They too have very little true joy because
they are still slaves and captives to the power of mental and physical addiction. They serve a powerless God who can’t rescue
them from themselves and therefore do not understand the incredible phenomenon of being
truly free in mind, heart and spirit.
They may talk of joy
and happiness while the lights and colors flash and music pounds in their ears, but what
they’re really getting sensory thrills that stimulate brain chemical release that is a cheep substitute for a living experience with God. Just saying God’s name over and over is not enough to prove we are
really connecting with him, especially when we are still enamored with sin and
deceived by it. This kind of religion
leaves you with a let down emptiness when the party’s over, instead of an
infusion of renewed strength.
And both of these
groups are using the same Bible to prove their opposite viewpoints. What a pity.
What we really need
is the whole kernel of truth in order for the Word of God to properly nourish
our spirits. We need the grace and mercy
of God as well as his justice and admonishment against sin. The
mercy and justice of God together lead us to repentance, to turning away from
evil.
Now, I’m not trying
to say you should never eat anything that is made from white flower or never eat all bran
either. But as a general spiritual
principle, it teaches us how to find the balance in seeking to understand the
truths of the Bible and avoid some of the pitfalls that so many people get
caught in. It helps us understand that we
need to consider the whole message and everything that is being said on any
particular topic in order to come to a proper understanding. Not just of justice and mercy, but in regard
to every other doctrinal question as well.
You may be able to quote
verses here and there that you’ve chosen to support a certain theory, but if it
doesn’t match everything else that the Bible says on the same topic it, or requires
discarding large portions of scripture in order to believe the idea, then it
cannot be the whole truth. You’ve cut
off the elephant’s trunk and separated it from the great body of evidence. You've refined out the part of your choosing…
…otherwise known
as cherry picking.
The basis for all
doctrines and the only way to accurately understand the Bible is to compare
scripture with scripture to let the Bible explain itself. And you must find a burden of evidence
through multiple texts in order to confirm and establish any doctrine. A
doctrine must never be founded on just a verse or two which seems to say
something different than what other verses on the same subject are saying.
The Bible must be
approached with the same kind of logic and thorough methodical study that is
required for scientific research in order to come to accurate conclusions. But God has said “blessed is he who reads,”
and he made his Word available to any ordinary person. You don’t need special degrees or a PhD in
theology to understand his word. And
many times, those who don’t have any particular special training or degrees are
far more likely to come to accurate conclusions when studying the Bible because
they don’t have a reputation to protect, and their livelihood doesn’t come from
institutions that require them to agree with a previously established
viewpoint.
Humble individuals
who honestly and prayerfully seek to understand the truth are more likely to
understand it than those who have any selfish motivation of wanting to impress
others with their higher learning. The
example of what happened in Jesus’ time should serve as a warning to those in
every generation. The people said in John 7:48 “Have any of the rulers or of
the Pharisees believed on him?” Many in Jesus’ day looked to the highly
educated leaders and teachers instead of looking to the Bible itself for
guidance about what to believe. So, the
suggestion was made that Jesus must not really be the Messiah since the
leaders, teachers and “experts” had not accepted him.
Our world has not
changed. Many people today are not willing to study the Bible for themselves or
believe anything other than what their pastors and professors teach as the
“official” interpretation. Thus, people
trust their souls to erring mortal man instead of to God himself, and they
honor man above God. They are just as in danger of missing the messiah as those
who missed him the first time. And this is how false doctrines have continually
been perpetuated throughout the dark ages of human history.
I’m not suggesting
that education is to be discouraged, by any means, or that those with higher
education are not able to also humble themselves to learn new truths from the
Bible. Education can be a great blessing
if truly committed to God and his service. Many of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time
eventually did believe in him. And Paul
the Apostle, one of the most active Christians who ever lived, was originally a
Christian-hating Pharisee who was very well-educated.
But spiritual things
are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). You must have a heart softened
and humbled by the grace of God through prayer in order to be able to put aside
strong biases and tradition-based thinking while studying the Bible. And it takes a strong measure of courage to
be willing to take a position that people may not agree or that you could
suffer reproach for. But God promises to
protect and provide for those who are willing to follow the Holy Spirit’s
leading.
Many of the
traditional interpretations are solid and should not be thrown out. It’s just that at the same time we hold
firmly to those waymarks, we should not become so rigid that we are not willing
to accept any new revelations of truth. The Bible itself must provide clear
interpretations through comparing multiple scriptures which match to confirm
any interpretation. And we must also
have a prayerful, humble spirit, rather than seeking to hold onto only those
understandings which are in agreement with what we think other people would
approve of.
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17, KJV
In addition to looking
at the whole message, any new doctrine must be in harmony with the other
doctrines the Bible teaches and not conflict with light which has been
previously established. We don’t have to be bound by previous understandings, but
new understandings should make sense in the context of God’s leading in the
past.
Studying the Bible
is almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, in many ways. You have to find the matching patterns,
colors and shapes to help you see the real picture emerging. Following are several helpful
principles of scriptural interpretation. I have given the
principles names to make them easier to remember;
Self-interpretation
principle:
Always assume the
Bible will interpret itself. Look for
other verses to help explain the meaning of any passage or verse you don’t
understand.
Multiple verse
principle:
Never build a
doctrine on just a few verses. Study
everything written on that subject throughout the whole Bible in order to get a
clear view of what it’s really teaching.
The easiest way to do this is with concordances or online Bible searches
that allow you to find the same word or term used multiple times. Also, using the margin or center column
references in some printed Bibles can be very helpful in connecting verses
together.
Symbolisms
principle:
Things like numbers,
animals and objects have symbolic meaning in the Bible. You can find deeper meaning to many passages
if you learn what those symbols mean through looking at other verses that help
to explain them. For example, Revelation
17:15 explains that waters in the Bible symbolize “peoples, and multitudes, and
nations.” But also remember that if verses seem symbolic, or are in a symbolic passage, they should not be taken literally. By the same token, if the passage is not symbolic it should be assumed to be literal. For example, stories such as creation and the flood are not merely allegories, but were actual events. For more on this topic, see my blog Thin Blue Line.
Original language
principle:
It can sometimes
help to look at the original Hebrew or Greek words in a Concordance such as
Strong’s, which is readily available online. But that’s as far as I would take
it – I’m not in agreement with those who seem to think there’s something
magical about reading and speaking in Hebrew.
What’s important to me is for people to be able to understand things in
their native language.
Dual meaning
principle:
Many prophecies have
2 or more interpretations, or applications to different time periods. Don’t be so narrow in focus as to refuse to
consider that something might mean more than one thing, or that it may apply to
more than one circumstance. God had to
pack a lot of things into one small book in order to address his messages to
all the people from all different ages.
Positive/negative
principle:
Based on the idea of
old photographic positive or negative images, like film strips developed by
hand in a dark room. Many Bible stories and prophecies seem to symbolize both
something good and something bad, depending on how you look at it. For example, how the marriage of King Solomon
to multiple women is polygamy in the negative/bad, but also represents Jesus’
spiritual marriage to many believers in the positive/good. Even though Solomon was disobeying God’s will
by doing that (see Deuteronomy 17:17-19) and thus bringing sorrow into his
life, in God’s mercy on humanity he still finds a way to bring symbolisms out of
that which can show us another beautiful view of Jesus.
In many Bible
stories we will find that there is both a positive and a negative view from the
very same image, depending on the light shining through it, just like with old
photographic film. And strangely, our
eyes seem to work exactly the same way (nature did it first). Reading Bible passages in this way is kind of
like one of those memes where you stare at a negative image for a few seconds,
and then when you look down at the white space below a beautiful positive color
picture suddenly pops out at you. Some
Bible stories seem to be describing something negative or bad, but if you look
at it from a positive perspective you will see a clear picture of the face of
Jesus.
The Jesus Principle:
Perhaps the most
important principle of all is the understanding that in most of the Bible, in a
myriad of different ways, glimpses and pictures of Jesus are hidden all throughout. Just as Jesus himself explained in John 5:39,
“Search the scriptures; for … they are they which testify of me.” And how he
showed his disciples in Luke 24:27, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Reading the Bible
can be an amazing journey that leads us into a closer relationship with God. It’s the only book that by reading it, you get
to meet the author. And as the beautiful
picture of Jesus becomes more clear, you might even find that he walks off the
pages and into your life…
So if you haven’t
already, I hope you'll take the chance to embark on the amazing adventure
of studying the Bible for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment