Part 2: Bible Studies for the Hungry Christian

A course of study for turning students into teachers

Lesson Two: Know What I'm Saying?

Suppose you sit down to write a letter (okay, email) to a good friend. You grew up together and have a lot in common. In your letter you might use sayings and refer to events that don't mean much to anyone but the two of you. So you don't need to spell out the meaning of everything you say, because you know your friend understands. Neither do you have to first anticipate how many ways your words could be misunderstood if someone else happened to read the letter. And of course you don't hide secret messages encoded into the words (maybe when you were kids you did that, but hopefully not any more!).

Now suppose someone does intercept your letter-- a thousand years later. They don't have first-hand knowledge of your time and culture, and they speak a different language. They do some research to find out some general facts about the time and place you lived, but they still have to do some guessing. In analyzing your words they come to some pretty wild conclusions and even "discover" your secret hidden codes. They don't know much about your friend and practically nothing about your common experiences. Since neither of you was famous, there just isn't much to go on. How accurate of an interpretation would you expect them to have about your letter?

In the real estate business, they say the three most important things are location, location, and location. But when the subject is understanding the Bible (or any other text for that matter), context is everything. This is why there are so many interpretations of the Bible. People ignore the context: time, culture, writer, recipient, language, subject, genre, and relationship to other similar writings. Compounding the problem is that the Bible is ancient and from a culture very different from ours in the west. And on top of that we have to translate from a precise ancient language to a modern and very flexible language. English words change meanings rapidly, sometimes in a single generation. We can't ignore all that and then wonder why people have so many different views about the meaning of any given passage.

Proof-texting and Scripture Twisting

Determining context does take considerable effort. It's much easier to just grab a handful of verses that can be made to say what we like, sometimes to the point of changing the intended meanings to the complete opposite of what they actually say. But even if we get the correct meanings we can still come to wrong conclusions due to faulty reasoning. Although the study of formal logic would be most helpful here, it is outside the scope of this writing, but I would encourage everyone to at least become familiar with some of the basic ways in which words and meanings can be hopelessly twisted without our even being aware of it.

The Bible is not a collection of mystical words, and it was not written in a vacuum. Real people wrote to other real people about real events, faithfully recording real words from the real God. This was done in a variety of times, cultures, and languages, by people of different walks of life. We can't simply gloss over these important aspects of context and expect to properly understand the Bible. I don't mean anything sacrilegious by this, but put yourself in the writers' shoes for a moment, and think back to the opening paragraphs of this lesson. Do you see now why it is so important to consider all these factors? For example, you may have heard someone rip 2 Peter 1:20 out of context using the KJV ("... no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation") to justify demanding that only one person or denomination has the correct interpretation of all scripture. They twist a verse out of context to justify twisting even more!

And that verse is a very good example of how not to read the Bible. Let's look at the passage:

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet"s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The point the Holy Spirit is making here through Peter is that the prophetic writings were not made up from people's imaginations, but were the very words of God. What it does NOT mean is that ordinary people are forbidden to come to their own understanding of what the text says, but must unquestioningly obey their particular denomination's or church leadership's official interpretations. In Acts 17:11 we read of the people of Berea, who listened to Paul's preaching but would go home every night to check what he said against the Bible. These Bereans were not leaders or theologians, they were ordinary people who had the right and responsibility to double check even someone like Paul. God commends such people.

Another typical but more subtle example is found in Proverbs 23:7. The KJV reads, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." The TNIV reads, "for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. 'Eat and drink,' he says to you, but his heart is not with you." The typical interpretation is that this verse means "you are what you think about" and is used to teach people to be careful about guarding their thoughts. While this certainly is a Biblical teaching in general, this particular verse has absolutely nothing to do with that. It's all about not being fooled by people who flatter you with ulterior motives, because you will later find yourself wishing you'd never have said such nice things about them.

Other examples can be found frequently in the Psalms, which are primarily poetry. Hyperbole (exaggeration) is typical form of expression in Hebrew, such as in Psalm 51:5 where David laments about what a sinner he is. This is used as a proof text for the idea that man is a born sinner but it completely disregards the context. After all, if this were meant to be taken literally, then why is only his mother called a sinner and not also his father? And how, as in Psalm 58:3 for example, can newborn babies be charged with speaking lies? This is not doctrine, it's poetic expression by exaggeration. Likewise with Paul's quotes of similar laments in Romans 1 and 3, which are twisted into doctrinal statements of the alleged total depravity of all mankind.

One of the most aggravating trends in the modern Bible study is the question, "what does this verse/passage mean to me?". That's a totally backwards way to read the Bible. We're not here to impose our beliefs on the Bible, we're here to get our beliefs from the Bible. The idea is to figure out the writer's intended meaning, not how we can make the words support something we want to believe and then call it a Biblical teaching. We're supposed to be getting something out of the Word, not putting something in.

Keep in mind that not every mystery can be solved in this life. There really are problem areas that scholars argue about but will probably never be able to resolve to everyone's satisfaction. A cardinal rule in these cases is to never base an important doctrine on a disputed reading. Interpret the difficult by the plain, never the other way around. In other words, if 50 passages clearly teach salvation by faith alone for all who believe, don't let one obscure verse put them all in doubt (such as 1 Timothy 2:15). And if an unbeliever cites these problem areas as alleged proof that the Bible is contradictory, challenge them to first "take the plank out of their own eye" by getting rid of all the conflicting things they believe (such as believing that God somehow created people to be smarter and more just than He).

So whenever you are doing more than a casual reading of the scriptures, you must do your best to determine all the contextual factors. This is where a commentary can be of help, but as a consideration and not a substitute for your own understanding. How can the Holy Spirit speak to you if you only listen to other people? It is He who gives understanding and enlightenment, if you will allow it to happen. Read and study, consider the opinions of others, but in the end you are personally responsible for your beliefs. Take a fresh look at some things you've always assumed and make sure they aren't based on an inaccurate interpretation.