Biblical Interpretation

One of the most controversial aspects of Christianity is the interpretations gathered by its followers because multiple sects formed based on different opinions of how to correctly interpret and comprehend the scripture. While not he was not the first to question how to interpret the scripture, the third century scholar Origen had significant influence on how Christians should decipher their religion within his text, Origen: On First Principles. Origen describes the scriptures as having three meanings behind them: bodily, spiritual, and soul meanings. Each intended to illuminate the Christian understanding of how to practice the faith correctly. However, this is not to say that each piece of scripture has each layer of meaning behind it. For instance, each passage of scripture could have only one type of interpretation or any combination of the three.

The bible is an old book written a long time ago for an ancient audience. God is the divine author of the bible and he intended for us to be able to read and understand it, even in these current times. However, those ancient years in the time of the roman empire was were Christianity, as we know it, began its first steps. For this to happen, the authors who were inspired, had to make sure that their audience could understand and relate with their words. While we have learned to translate the language of the bible over the years the words and meanings are still the same. Which is why it is important to understand the context in which the Bible was written.

There are many ways to interpret a text, but for text like the bible it take what we called the senses of Scripture to use as an application to understand the bible. In the Chapter 6 of the book “How Do Catholics Read the Bible” entitled “How do Catholics Interpret Scripture,” the author discuss three senses of Scripture in which are various ways relate how meaning of a text is interpret, which are in literal sense, spiritual sense and fuller sense. According the author, the chapter 7 “How do Catholics Interpret Scripture” “the definition of the literal sense repsect both the divine and human contaranito of the owrd of God in human language… and interpreting the text in its original historical and cultural context. It asserts that one arrives

To understand how each group looks at scripture as well as other documents to back up their view of the law, grasping others perspectives can be different. Paula

If the burden of authorship were laid on man, it would like the foresight of God for the future. Because God divinely authored the Bible, he can also use it to speak to us today despite the difference in culture from the date of its authorship to now. That does not mean that we can just find any meaning we want and assume that God planted it there, it is still our responsibility to ensure that we are using proper study habits to decipher the word. One of the biggest issues I see today is that we have a habit of taking scripture out of context reading only the portion of the verse that supports our thoughts or not taking into consideration the context of who the scripture was directed towards or the culture of that time. During the reading in this week’s session, there were two things that stood out to me. McGrath notes in the Christian Theology Reader that under Hodge’s view “Biblical Authority is specifically linked with the correct Biblical interpretation” (McGrath, 2011, p. 111) and that the Bible is “absolutely infallible when interpreted in the same sense intended, and hence are clothed with absolute divine authority” (McGrath, 2011, p.

In our modern times, Van Til, a Reformed Dutch philosopher and theologian was a major advocate for presuppositional apologetics. He said, “To find out what man is and who God is, one can only go to Scripture. Faith in the self-attesting Christ of the Scriptures is the beginning, not the conclusion, of wisdom!” That means that Scripture is the source of authority, the basis for all beliefs and the deepest conviction of the heart. If our thoughts are subject to God and we have repented of independent thinking than we can present the biblical worldview rightly. The purpose of an apologetic encounter is to bring an unbeliever to repentance and belief. Frame continues to build upon Van Tillian presuppositionalism. “It might seem strange to look in Scripture for teachings about knowledge, reasoning, proof, evidence, logic, and so on, but God often surprises us by getting involved in areas of life we would prefer to keep to ourselves. Indeed, every part of life is his domain, and thus he rules all of life, directly or indirectly, by his Word (1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3: 17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).” In the following discussion, Scriptures’ preeminence must be kept in the forefront.

As an academic discipline, theology should share mutual and erudite goals with other academic disciplines: whereas theology strives for historical accuracy, conceptual consistency, interpretive clarity and systematic uniformity, yet it is much more a hope than a science. Also problematic, there is an eternal perspective, a paradigm that we cannot understand. Theology is theory, there are no proofs, the only proof I have is in my heart, and I call that the Spirit of truth (faith). Still, I am conscience that I bring my own set of prejudices, and hopes to this matter. I have good reason to mistrust many of my conclusions. The systematic method of theology looks at many issues wherein much diversity exists, diversity of historical thought, methods, and approaches. Within all this diversity, there are constants. In examining the methods of theology, we must recognize both the diversity and the constancy. One constant is Scripture. Yet, the meaning of Scripture is divers and restricted to interpretation. I think Biblical authority at its best, most earnestly means one does not affirm it as truth without struggling to understand its meaning. I ascribe to a certain authority of scripture, and trust in a divine nature within it. For me, this means addressing questions like: What is the context and the point of this passage? What is it calling me to do? What does this say about the nature of

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Just as the early church fathers engaged in study, this discipline is popular among modern believers, who have found many ways to practice it. Many successful methods of practicing this discipline exist, but a foundational element of engaging in this discipline that applies to all of these ways is the method of interpretation. In another article, Robert Velarde explains that “when studying the Bible one must keep in mind not only the immediate context of the portion under study, but also other forms of context such as the cultural context, the literary context and more" (“How”). Context is important to studying the Bible because it will help make the passage easier to understand and will justify why certain things are happening. The Bible

The Bible is not read simply because the information it brings about the ancient Israel or the early church, this is irrelevant to the reader searching for more than an ancient story. It is read because men believe that in it they find expressed something about God’s acts, intentions and demands. Among the evangelical world, the Bible is accepted as the word of God spoken to humans. However, are those words intended to be without error in all kinds of fields –science, history, anthropology or psychology? Or, is it necessary to approach them as everlasting principles of faith, addressing only the spiritual sphere? This paper discusses the issue of the Bible’s inerrancy argued by evangelicals,

This week’s passages justify the importance of what is in my heart as one of the believers of God. The passages speak of the heart as the center of the totality of a human activity or existence “…it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23). As a believer, it is important to remember that the heart is the fountain of desire, decision, feeling and thoughts; therefore, it is important to guard my heart in order to have a secure walk on a path through God’s indulgence and grace. This can be achieved if I remain committed to Him and by having a firm desire that his Word be in my heart always “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

We all arise from different ways of interpreting biblical texts and applying them to contemporary life. “I am not to belittle, insult, hate, or kill my neighbor, not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds, and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself, either. Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword (Exodus 20:13, KJV).” The more educated I become about the issues held in the LGBT community the more aware and culturally sensitive I become. Justice and equality should be available to everyone and no one should be treated unequally because of their sexual orientation. In Matthew 22:39 ESV, the scripture states: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We should all treat each other as equals despite our differences.

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The third school of interpretation is Traditionalism. Traditionalists maintain that the Bible is full of truth, God is revealed within the Bible and that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. One of the key characteristics of their approach to the Bible is its emphasis on the need to understand the nature of the different types of literature within the bible. However, traditionalists would not accept the fundamentalist’s notion of inerrancy as many would acknowledge that there are mistakes in the Bible. These are seen as a reflection of both the historical context in which they are written and the human fallibility of the authors. As with Liberals, traditionalists believe that some aspects of the Bible need to be reinterpreted for today. Traditionalists place a lot of emphasis on the process of exegesis. However, after establishing the intended meaning of the author the next step in the traditional approach is the question of how it should be applied to Christian today. However, whereas fundamentalists believe that the true meaning of a text should be clear to each reader;

Biblical Interpretation is important and necessary so that we can understand what the text is saying, what the intended theological message is, and how to personally apply and teach these Scriptural truths to carry forward the Gospel in rescuing others from despair and death to hope and life, thus displaying His glory and growing His Kingdom. It is about finding what God is revealing about Himself and His Son Jesus Christ. Moreover, it is for us to know that God desires to have a relationship with us and for us to be set apart in a covenant relationship with Him to display holy lives that bring Him glory. Interpretation, using hermeneutical principles, help guide us in proper boundaries for interpreting Scripture so that we can reveal the intended meaning of the text. Without this, we run the risk of imposing our own ideas on the text, therefore misinterpreting. Misinterpreting can cause us to miss theological truths, administer the wrong application, and neglect or overlook the meaning of the text which weakens the impact of God’s truth in our personal lives as well as others we are teaching.