Evaluating Biblical Arguments - Part 1

(This series was presented to the Ezzo Debate Board at iVillage by Pastor Mike Mahurin, or "Metochoi" as he was known by his screenname.  Mahurin pastored a Baptist church in a small town in Texas.  On the Ezzo Debate he put his teaching skills to use to acquaint participants with principles of logic and standard Protestant bible interpretation.  Although he passed away in 2009, his clear and helpful writing is a gift he left behind.)

HERMENEUTICS #1 --- INTRODUCTION

It has often been said that, for any particular passage of scripture, there is only ONE interpretation, but there are MANY applications. But how do you set about to apply a scripture that you have misinterpreted in the first place? If the interpretation is wrong, then the odds are pretty high that just about ANY application will be erroneous, as well. This is why a proper hermeneutic is crucial in any discussion of doctrine, interpretation, application, etc.

"Hermeneutics" is a word used by theologians to refer to the science of biblical interpretation. It is a foundational building block of good theology and good practice . In fact, the major streams of theology within confessing Christianity differ largely because of the distinctive hermeneutical methods they use.

In Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Jesus "explained" to his walking companions the OT scriptures relating to his own life and ministry. That word translated "explained" is the Greek word "hermeneuo" -- meaning "interpreted". Jesus was "interpreting" the scriptures.

Although there are many seminary graduates who seem to ignore what they were taught in this area, the fact is that virtually all evangelical seminaries teach the same basic methods of biblical interpretation. There are several standard texts that are used in most of them. These principles have been developed throughout the history of the church by godly, learned men, and they have formed the foundation of what is considered sound doctrine since the days of the reformers.

The problem of our day is that so many Christians -- including many who would consider themselves quite conservative -- have been infected with the notion that just about any personal interpretation is as good as any other -- that one opinion is as valid as another -- and that one application is as solid as any other. The truth is that, while everyone has a right to his own opinion, NO ONE has the right to have his opinion accepted as valid, or even respected, without showing some evidence FOR that opinion. The same principle applies to scriptural interpretation.

So -- how are we to go about testing competing interpretations? How are we to test Ezzo's assertions about the biblical evidence concerning "spanking," or "order," or "first-time obedience"? How would you go about testing MINE -- or any other Ezzo-critic's? That is what the whole topic of hermeneutics is about.

IMO -- any serious Christian should strongly consider taking a course in hermeneutics from a local Bible college or seminary -- or even by mail order. It is too large a topic for this discussion list, but I will summarize a few of the more important principles that any of us should and could use in our Bible study, and when we hear anyone preaching anything from the Bible.

There are several "do's" that are important to learn. By practicing these methods, the serious Bible student should be able to at least learn to discern the major errors and departures from sound doctrine. There are also several "don'ts" -- things to avoid. And by learning about these wrong methods, and learning to notice when a teacher is practicing one of these wrong methods -- one can protect himself from falling for serious error.

Evaluating Biblical Arguments - Part 2

HERMENEUTICS #2

The first principle of sound hermeneutics is to interpret the Bible LITERALLY. When I say "literally," I am not talking about a rigid literalism that refuses to understand nuances of language. Literal interpretation means that we understand scripture in its NORMAL, NATURAL sense, which includes an understanding of figures of speech like parables, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and symbolism.

How would you read a letter from a friend? You would assume a normal, natural meaning to the words, unless something in the letter alerted you to see it another way. Why do so many Christians refuse to treat the word of God with the same respect?

So many people think that the Bible is a mysterious, exotic, collection of magical sayings that need to be deciphered and read like tea leaves. But this first principle states that, since God inspired the Bible for the purpose of communicating with mankind, then God must have wanted us to understand it. The word of God is not a fetish, to be manipulated in order to get from it what WE want; rather, it is a record of propositional truth that God wants to impart to us. And the most obvious way to understand that truth is to begin by taking the words at "face value."

The words of scripture should be interpreted in the same way words are understood in ordinary daily use. God has communicated his word to us through human language, and there is every reason to assume that his word is to be understood just as we would interpret the language of normal discourse. So the first thing the careful student of scripture should do is to look for the ordinary, literal meaning of the text, and NOT go fishing for some mystical, hidden, deeper, secret meaning that would not be apparent to others.

It is true that some of the apocalyptic passages, and some of the prophecies, contain obvious figures and symbols that must be studied carefully to see the literal truth they are conveying. That kind of symbolic language, however, is not the norm in scripture, and it is conspicuous where it is employed. And -- even the figurative language is designed to represent something literal.

Those who abandon the literal principle of interpretation in favor of mystical or allegorical interpretation are really throwing away all hope of achieving any accuracy or coherence. Instead, we end up with a free-for-all, where only the imagination rules. When we deny the literal meaning -- by finding instead some "mystical" meaning, or a "personal" meaning, or a "principle" that contradicts that literal meaning -- we are not serving scripture by trying to understand it; instead, we are making it our slave by molding to to say what we want it to say.

This amounts to telling God what we think he SHOULD have said, rather than attempting to understand what God actually HAS said. This is known as EISEGESIS -- reading INTO the scripture our own ideas -- as opposed to EXEGESIS, which is deriving FROM the scriptures the meaning that the author intended to convey in the first place. It dishonors the word of God, and it dishonors the God who gave us his word. Again -- think how YOU would feel if someone habitually did such a thing to YOUR words!

Interpret LITERALLY -- that is the first principle of solid biblical hermeneutics. And that one principle will protect you from a host of erroneous teachings.

Evaluating Biblical Arguments - Part 3

HERMENEUTICS #3

The second principle of sound interpretation is the HISTORICAL-CULTURAL principle. One of the crucial steps in understanding what a text means is to have some grasp of the cultural, geographical, historical, social, and political setting in which the passage was written. If one understands this context, the passage often will practically interpret itself.

We have to understand the historical and cultural setting if we are to understand the viewpoint of the writer. For example, to understand Paul's letters to the Corinthians, we must first have a sense of the political, religious, and cultural issues that Paul was dealing with. What do we know about the city, and its times, and its people? What social pressures were involved? What was the culture really like? What was going on in the church?

To understand the historical-cultural setting, we can use Bible dictionaries, Bible handbooks, commentaries, history books, and books about Bible customs. There are many such books available, and many Bibles today include such material in introductions to books and among notations throughout the text. Just be careful not to rely on those books and notes that are written from an obviously biased perspective. There are many Bibles available today that contain notes and commentary from specific perspectives, and I have found that the notes are more designed to push that particular view than to really explain the plain meaning of the text.

The more general books and notes are the most valuable, as the facts in them are generally agreed upon among scholars. I have often had to correct the ideas that some of my church members have gotten from some of their annotated Bibles. For example, whatever position one takes on the issue of "self-esteem," one thing is certain -- the writers of the Bible were not aware of this modern psychological concept, and they did not write the scriptures with this concept in mind. But this has not kept some folks from publishing an entire Bible that twists scripture after scripture in an attempt to preach "self of steam" from the Bible. Understanding the historical-cultural setting will protect you from this kind of "reading-back-into-the-scriptures" all kinds of modern ideas that may or may not be valid.

#1 = Interpret LITERALLY.

#2 = Understand the HISTORICAL-CULTURAL background.