How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, Session I

The Need to Interpret

A teaching by Jack Haberer

based upon the book by the same title, written by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

September 5, 2004

 

INTRO:

      A.  I love to teach Bible

            I really love to teach others to teach the Bible

                  Now, to be sure it may sound arrogant to suggest that you might need me to teach you how to read.

                  You learned in elementary school

                        …and learned to do literary interpretation in HS & college English

                  And, most stuff you read, means what it says.

                  You don’t need to take a class on reading the newspaper, or a Michael Crichton novel, or a biography of a

                  famous US president.

      B.  So why take a class on reading the Bible? 10 reasons.

            1.  The Bible suffers from the problem of…

                  “familiarity breeding” …what?  …à “…complacency”

                   …and dullness …and blindness

                  In fact:  a common statement (p. 15 in book):

                        “You don’t have to interpret the Bible;  just read it and do what it says.”

“After all, any person with half a brain can read it and understand it.  The problem with too many preachers and teachers is that they dig around so much they tend to muddy the waters.  What was clear to us when we read it isn’t so clear anymore.”

            2.  The Bible suffers from the problem of dogmatism

Having heard a powerful preacher tell you that some verse means “such-and-such” and having said so with passion, and with obvious confidence, you always read that text through the lens of that embedded conclusion—even if you forget who planted it there.       

            3.  The Bible suffers from the “China doll syndrome”

                  The desire to protect it from scrutiny—especially scrutiny within ourselves

                  …fed by an anxiety that our doubts & questions will rise up to overwhelm us

4.  The Bible suffers from too many sweeping assertions made about it. The confident assertions of scripture’s

inspiration by God

                  …leading to resistance to read verses at face value

                  …resistance to throw a curve in beliefs long held to be consistently one way

            5.  The Bible is an overwhelming book.

                  The flip side of the simplistic claim to “just read it and obey it” is the opposite problem of “It’s so hard to

understand!  I can’t figure it out.”

                  Whereas:  The Bible WAS GIVEN in order to make God and God’s will known to humans,

                        …not to make God more obscure,

                        …nor to be just a book for experts.

            6.  The bible is such a fascinating book!

                  written over a stretch of time totaling around 1500 years

                  written by many authors, with many of the books making no assertion of their authorship

                  written in many literary forms

                  YET:  with many cohering themes

            7.  The Bible is an ancient book in a foreign language (actually 3 languages):

                  we are separated from its original authors

                        …by 10,000 miles and 2-3,000 years

                        …and the writing is unmistakably ancient!

                        …it must be translated into our English for most of us to read it.

            8.  The Bible is both the greatest problem for the church and the central solution to the church

                  MOST problems, most conflicts, most divisions in the church are rooted in the way people read and misread the

                  Bible.

                  The only way to solve those problems is to learn to read better.

            9.  The Bible is God’s Word to us: 

                  …God’s primary form of communication to the modern person.

            10.  The Bible ought to be obeyed

                  …but you have to understand it first.

 

 I.  The Challenge of Biblical Interpretation

      A.  The Goal of Biblical Reading and Interpretation

            is to get to the plain meaning of the text is hear what God wants us to hear in it

                  In CONTRAST:  “Interpretation that aims at, or thrives on , uniqueness can usually be attributed to

                  pride (an attempt to “out clever” the rest of the world), OR a false understanding of spirituality

                  (wherein the Bible is full of deep truths waiting to be mined by the spiritually sensitive person with

                  special insight), )OR vested interests (the need to support a theological bias, especially in dealing with

                  texts that seem to go against that bias).” (p. 16)

            We are seeking to understand the plain meaning of the text!

      B.  Problem:  to read is to interpret

            Imagine the newspaper headline:

                  “Man on the Moon”

            Now imagine that the headline appears in 1969

                  what’s it mean?  Apollo landing

            Now imagine:  1700

                  what’s it mean?  moon looks like a human face

            Now imagine:  2200

                  what’s it mean?  perhaps human travels to moon to do maintenance on the androids

                  OR – human en route back from some other galaxy stops by moon community to visit

            IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE IN APPROACHING IT.

      C.  In order to get to the plain meaning of the text, you need to reconstruct as accurately as possible the

            perspective of those writing it at the time!! 

 

II.  The Nature of Scripture

      A.  A working Definition we will use:

            “The Bible is the Word of God, expressed in human words in history.”

            1.  God’s Word:  We take it by faith

                  and we join with witness through centuries in asserting it

                  It has eternal relevance and eternal importance

                  It is not inspired in the same way that good poetry is inspired or a piano recital was played with inspiration.

                  It is God-inspired!

                  II Tim 3:16 – All scripture is inspired by God

                  NRSV:  16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in

                  righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

                  NOTE:  Inspired by God = one GREEK WORD:  theopneustos

                        theo:  God

                        pneustos:  from pneuma:  wind, spirit, breath

                        …hence:  TNIV:

            TNIV:  16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

                  17so that all God’s people  may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

            2.  Human words:  written by particular individuals to particular audiences

                  words that had particular meanings to those folks that may not completely correspond to today.

                  e.g.,:  Romans 13:14 – (KJV):

                              “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”

                        sounds like:  ‘Don’t eat any food.”

                        BUT for Paul, the “flesh” doesn’t = human body per se

                              does = a spiritual malady, a sick spiritual state called the

                              …‘sinful nature’

                  THOSE human words are also arranges in different forms of communication:

                        history

                        biography

                        genealogies

                        laws

                        poetry

                        proverbs

                        prophetic oracles

                        parables

                        personal letters

                        circular/public letters

                        sermons

                        apocalypses – revelatory visions

                  The task of interpretation needs to take those forms differently

                        just as we naturally do when reading the newspaper

                              hence:  we read in one way the news reports, in another way

                              …the Sports Page

                              …in another way, the editorial page,

                              …in another way the classified ads,

                              …in another way the commercial ads,                    

                              …in another way the obituaries

                  “words of humans” = particular human writers

            3.  In history:  particular places and times

                  “Each document is conditioned by the language, time and culture in which it was originally written.”

                  God’s word to us was first God’s word to them.

                  hence it comes with an “historical particularity”

            4.  RESULT: 

                  Bible reading always lives within the tension between its eternal relevance and its historical

                  particularity.

           

II.  The 2 Essential Tasks of Interpretation

      A.  to decipher what it meant there and then

                  == exegesis

                        p. 21:  “Exegesis is the careful, systematic study of Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning.”

                  often we need to consult with experts to do this well

                        e.g., to gain actual definitions of ancient Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic words

                  BUT:  one need not be an expert to do good exegesis!

                  On the other hand, it is important that, when consulting with experts, we consult with GOOD experts.

                        For example:  After story of Rich young man, Jesus says, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter into the

                        kingdom of God .  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the

                        kingdom.”

                        An expert interpretation on that is that there used to be a gate into the city of Jerusalem called the Camels’

                        Gate, so called because camels had to squat down to enter in thru it.  The point being:  the rich can get in, but                         only with difficulty! 

                        Have you ever heard that interpretation?  Makes sense!

                              Only problem:  there never was any such gate there!

                              The idea crops up first in the 11th century in a commentary by a Greek church leader Theophylact.

                        So how do we do good exegesis?

                              Well, in 12 weeks you will know how to answer that question yourself.

                              For now:  the main thing is:  “To learn to read the text carefully and to

                              ask the right questions of the text.” (p. 23)

                        The essential questions will relate to 2 things:

                              context, and

                              content

                        The context questions will focus on 2:

                              literary context – the flow of thoughts within a book

                                    defining words

                                    diagramming sentences

                                    following paragraphs

                              historical context – the historical situation into which the writing is speaking

                                    who wrote it?

                                    to whom?

                                    why?

                                    where?

                                    when?

 

            B.  to translate that meaning to the here and now

                  == hermeneutics                            

                  à NOTE:  a text cannot mean here and now what it never could have meant there and then

                        the proper control of a text’s meaning is the original intended meaning

                  I often use the term:  hermeneutical bridge

                  NOTE:  Enlightened common sense will be much needed in this process

 

CLOSING:
      A.  Need to read in a way that consciously is interpreting

            and to be aiming to understand the original intention of the text.

      B.  Next week                               

            Focus on Bible translations

      C.  Following weeks

            Interpreting via framework of different genres.

      D.  BOOK PURCHASE

            How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth - $16

            AND

            How to Read the Bible Book by Book - $17

 

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