Understanding The Bible
Last Wednesday night, our leader in our study on the life of Christ made a great point about the historical / grammatical method of interpretation. It is the method that I have used since my conversion, adding a dose of “plain reading” method for good measure. Cliff, the man whom the Lord used to lead me to Him, was a good teacher in this regard. In addition to drilling into my brain the importance of measuring everything by the Bible, he also lead me to an understanding of how to read it with understanding, what it means to take thing literally, and why we trust the Word in the first place. So I offer some of those things here in the hope that others will let the Bible speak for itself.
Reading for Understanding
I have always been a propontent of recreational reading of scripture, as well as careful study during devotional times. The important thing is just being regular in your reading, praying along with your reading, and paying attention to context. Most of the Bible is not diffcult to understand. God did not speak in such a way to hide His intentions from His children, except in those places where He clearly says the meaning is hidden from someone or maybe in some of the prophesy literature found in the text. In general, if you read a translation in your native language with a prayerful heart, asking God to open the Word to your mind, and pay attention to the context, you will understand.
What ‘Literal’ means
Taking the Bible literally means that we read it according to the style of literature employed in a particular passage. Poetry is read as such. Prophesy is handled differently that history. There is a sense in which we take things as they are written, according to the “plain reading” of the text. All that really means is that we approach the text without persuppositions about what it is supposed to say, as much as humanly possible, and let the normal sense of the words mean what a common understanding of the word would be. “Is” means “is”. “All” usually means “all”. If the plain reading leads to an obvious meaning, then we don’t have to look around for another meaning.
A case in point is Genesis 1, and the word “day”. If you simple read the text, you see day used with evening and morning, and then numbered first, then second, and so on. The plain reading should lead you to understand this as being literal days, in the same way that you understand that today is Wednesday, and it began at midnight and ends at 11:59 PM tonight. There is no reason to conclude from the text that this means anything other than a day as we know it. I know I will get an argument from some on that, but I contend that their lack of understanding on this matter comes from their desire to inject evolutionary thought into the Bible. That is a topic for another day, and I do not mean one million years from now.
I use this as only one example of the plain reading method. The point is, try reading the Word in its plain sense, using the historical/grammatical method, and you will be in good shape. God grants understanding to His people, and wants you to know His Word and grow spiritually by reading it and understanding it. It is not that difficult as some would suggest.
Why I trust God
Lastly, I believe that this method of reading builds trust in the God who chose to reveal Himself in the written word. The Bible was here before I arrived, and unless the Lord tarries, it will be here long after I am gone. I trust the Bible because I trust God. He says it is His Word to His children, He promises that it can be trusted, Jesus is the living Word, and this Word is still alive. My life changed because of this Word God spoke through His chosen men.
No matter what sinful men may say about the Bible, no matter what methods they use or systems they invent to try and discredit the Bible and Christianity, I will still take God at His Word. God’s Word has never let me down in any arena of life, and it never will.
Trust God, take Him at His Word, and see for yourself if he doesn’t change your life.
Peace.
April 9, 2008 at 3:35 pm
A difficult problem we all face when reading and ‘interpreting’ the Bible is that we invariably come to the task loaded with preconceived ideas of what it says. It’s almost impossible not to do this. Using your example of the ‘days’ in Genesis 1, I’m familiar with most of the arguments for regular 24 hour day intervals, as well as intervals if indeterminate time. The way I approach it is to ask myself the question; is that the real lesson God is trying to get across to us. Far too often we get so bogged down in the details that we fail to see the overall teaching. We tend to do the same thing with Jesus’ parables. We get so wrapped up in the details of the parable, which often don’t have any particular meaning of their own, only to completely miss what Jesus was trying to tell us. I think the same applies to the Creation narrative. Don’t get hung up on what ‘days’ means as that’s not the real point of what God is trying to tell us.
April 9, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hi,
Do you think that we make this task more complicated that it has to be? I believe that the presuppositions are so difficult to lay down, that we who have been believers for a long time rarely see the scriptures with fresh eyes. That is why it is refreshing for me to hang around people who hold different views, but are regular students of the Word. Like those in our Bible Study for tonight.
I don’t necessarily want to argue about the meaning of the word day here , but I see so many in the liberal church who make no provision what so ever that ‘day’ can mean a literal day, because their presuppositions will not allow for special creation in a short time frame.
I would be interested in a study that showed the text of Gen 1 to 100 regular people, and ask them afterward how long it took God to create. That would be interesting. My guess is that most, if not all, would say 6 days. If the test was done in a seminary, I’ll bet the number would be less than half.
April 9, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I know what I’m about to say doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, but my return question would be, why do we assume that the ‘days’ are intended to mean a certain span of time that God accomplished His Creation? What if they actually intended to convey a different message entirely?
April 10, 2008 at 6:11 am
CG,
What message would that be?
I think the first part of your question could be answered by Exodus 20:11.
April 10, 2008 at 6:46 am
The answer isn’t simple, and I knew it wouldn’t be when I made my comment. One of the lessons is familiar, that of instituting the Sabbath day of rest and worship. The other is wrapped up in the world in which Israel was called out of and continued to live among. Almost all of the events described in the Creation narrative are in opposition to the common beliefs of the day. Even the watery abyss, in Babylonian and other myths, was the goddess Tiamat. The earth and sky were supposedly created by the dimembering of her body. The list goes on and on. Sun, moon, and stars were all gods and goddesses, and animal life was created from the blood of one of the gods. So, in a way, God was taking those beliefs, point by point, stating that wasn’t true, but this is what really happened, all of which was wrapped up in setting up for the institution of the Sabbath.
Trust me, I’m certainly NOT claiming this is the real or whole meaning. Personally, I’m quite comfortable with the idea of 6 days of 24 hours each. What I am trying to say is that we need to be careful where we place our emphasis. Yes, it is an absolute that God created the universe. Is it really so important how long He took that we’re willing to, as the saying goes, fall on our swords over it? Is that really what God wants?
April 10, 2008 at 8:55 am
CG,
Question for you: What would cause someone to arrive at that particular conclusion? Would it be exeggetical (sp?) or would it be because of some presupposition held, or something else?
I’ll answer your last two questions at lunch time…
April 10, 2008 at 11:45 am
CG,
You asked: “Is it really important how long He took that we’re willing to, as the saying goes, fall on our swords over it? Is that really what God wants?”
In response, I believe that it is important to defend the faith deilvered once for all to the saints, and that includes the Bible in every respect. While a 6×24 understanding of creation is not required to be saved, I believe that one who claims to be a believer in Christ will take the scriptures to be true and accurate in every way, and will not seek to deny portions of it or insert extra-biblical theories of origins into the text.
I have seen some folks who claim to be Christian work actively to deny the literal understanding of Gen 1. I believe that these people, who may have started out to be Christian, are now apostates because they deny the Word of God as it has been revealed, and stand against the clear and unmistakable language of Scripture.
A trust in God begins with acceptance of His Word, bending the knee and accepting it by faith as true and accurate. There is a campaign underway to attack the Bible and the Christian faith by those within the church as well as those who are outside. People inside the church who inject evolutionary thinking into Scripture, specifically in Genesis, only demonstrate their willingness to be used by the enemies of God to undermine the faith and are working actively to destroy the church.
There have been many words spoken on both sides of this issue. I believe that it is imperative that faithful Christians defend the Biblical account of creation because it is foundational to our understanding of God as He has revealed Himself, and to trusting the rest of Scripture.
If the first words God used are not accurate, or they are considered to be poetry, allegory, unclear, or anything other than a historical account of what really happened and how long it acutally took, then the saints are left in bondage to the interpreter. That is an extremely dangerous position for the people of God to be left in, because we know only too well what sinful men will do with that kind of power.
So yes, I believe that there are fundamental doctrines that Christians should be willing to fight for, and should stand firm against all who oppose, even if they claim to be fellow believers.
I also believe that we make all of this WAY too complicated, and that the account of Creation presented for us in Gen 1 is very clear and understandable, even to a small child. It seems to be only those who have been indoctrinated beyond the point of usefulness in the wisdom of the world, so-called, who have a problem with the text.
In the end, I believe that God wants us to believe His Word as written, without questioning it ad nauseum. I know you are not claiming to believe the alternative views you mentioned. I am aware of these alternatives as well. Coming from the perspective of one not born into the church, but converted later in life, I have wrestled with these questions for many years.
At last, after much fighting, I was led to the place of de-throning myself and submitting to God as He is revealed. His Word became precious to me, and He taught me how to read for the first time in my life. And I believe not only because He has done a marvelous work in my life, but because His Word can be handeled in an accurate way using an historical/grammatical hermeneutic that arrives at doctrines that are consistent with orthodoxy.
I am deeply concerned with people in the church who make the Bible so complex by their doctrinal systems, or make it so obscure because of their human philospohy, that they do not work to edify the saints but work to keep people out of the kingdom through their perpetual questioning of God. They are still asking the same question; ‘Hath God said?’, yet they do not want to listen to the answer.
I say the answer is a resounding Yes!, God HAS spoken, with authority and clarity, and the correct and only response for any human being is to submit to Him, repent, and believe.
Sorry for the sermon, but this is where I stand. Peace out.