Bible Interpretation

I just finished another college discussion board post for my inductive Bible study class. This assignment called for interpretation of and application to today's Christians of the following Passages: I Corinthians 7:25-28, Proverbs 22:15, I Corinthians 11:2-16, Numbers 18:21-32, and Deuteronomy 14:22-28. I'm sure my post will be a little controversial (especially over Proverbs 22:15); but this is what I wrote:

I believe in I Corinthians 7:25-28 Paul is addressing a specific question from the church in Corinth - a question that is just as relevant today as it was then. Is it better to marry or remain single? Paul answers this question with an honest answer - it is better to remain single and fully devoted to God than to marry and be devoted to both a spouse and God. However, there is no sin in marrying. I think today, so many churches look down on people who choose to remain single. They automatically try to start match-making. However, I do agree with Paul that there are so many more worries that a married person has that a single person may not. And, all too often, it is difficult for a married person (especially with children) to follow God's call upon their lives. I found this to be the case with my college. I began college classes prior to marriage and children. However, I had to stop after the birth of my first son. I just could not keep up. Now I am back in college and loving it! Now, this does not mean that I feel as though I should not have married and had children. I know that marriage and children were also a part of God's call upon my life. I believe this conflict is exactly what Paul is addressing - neither is wrong; but, if possible, it is better to remain single.

I believe Proverbs 22:15 is one of the misinterpreted Bible Verses there is. All too often, Christian people (I state Christians because usually it is a Christian who quotes the Bible to support a viewpoint) use this Verse and others mentioning "the rod" of correction as a reason to spank their children. However, a check in the concordance reveals that the Hebrew word sebet can be translated several ways - including discipline and guidance - and definitely not just as "rod." I, personally, believe guidance or even discipline would have been a much better choice than "rod." Ironically, sebet is the word used many times in Proverbs in controversial Passages dealing with child discipline. I believe, all too often, all too many Christians forget that God commands us to not exasperate our children with our methods, but to bring them up in the training of God (Ephesians 6:4). Matthew 18:1-6 reminds us that unless we become as a child, we will never see heaven; and that if one ever causes a child to turn from God, it is better that this person be drowned in the sea than to live. This particular Verse is a perfect example of why I believe sometimes we need to go beyond exegesis to search all of Scripture. All of Scripture is in harmony. Context does include the immediate surrounding Verses; but, oftentimes, we have to go beyond just the immediate surroundings to understand what God is trying to tell us.

I believe the surrounding Verses are important when interpreting I Corinthians 11:2-16. For instance, Verses 18-19 addresses the groups - the cliques - that have formed within the Corinthian church. Perhaps these cliques were formed because of doctrinal views - such as should a woman prophesy without a head covering. Although this is not as popular today as in time past, there are still many Christian churches that believe it is sinful for a woman to cut her hair. They do quote I Corinthians 11:15 as their reason. I do believe a woman's hair was given to her as a covering. And I have nothing against Christian women who choose not to cut their hair. There are many explanations as to why this Passage specifically says it is shameful for a woman to be shaved or shorn. Verse 10 states that a woman is to remain covered because of the angels. I remember reading somewhere (where exactly escapes me now) that this could refer to the sons of God in the Old Testament that are said to have cohabitated with the daughers of men - their union producing the Nephalim. That is a possibility. However, I, personally, believe this is more about culture. I also believe, in this Passage, Paul is addressing legalism. How is today's church the same as that of the Corinthian church? Do churches today have cliques? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Are there doctrinal disputes? Of course, there are. Is there legalism? The unfortunate answer is yes. Should we allow a woman's short hair or a man's long hair to separate them from other Christians or to consider them less Christian? I do not think that we should. I believe hair style is a personal choice for each of us. We should not allow it to cause divisions - as it may have in the church in Corinth.

Numbers 18:21-32 and 14:22-28 deal with the important issue of tithing. All too often, this is the lesson we least like to hear about. I'm sure the people of the Old Testament had many of the fears that we have today - if we give even 10%, will we have enough to live on? But God is not a God of fear, but a God of promise. That said, I also believe that it is important to not only give of our money, but of our time and talents as well. The Bible is very specific that we are to use our talents for the Lord or what we have been given will be taken away. This being said, while I do agree that it is important to give to our church, I do not believe this is the only way to give of our tithes. When these Passages in Numbers and Deuteronomy were written, there was no church. These Passages state that we should give back to God. I remember a few years ago attending a church in which a sermon around Christmas time was on the subject of tithing. The pastor delivering the sermon said the following words almost verbatim, "This time of year, we get hit up by a lot of organizations. I have already been hit up by Billy Graham. I have already been hit up by prison ministries. But our tithe is to go to our local church family." In all honesty, this sermon seemed hypocritical to me. I had attended this church for over a year, and this pastor had never so much as said "hi, boo," or "get out of the way" to me. I honestly felt that when I saw him go to deathrow inmates and witness to people who were convicted of murdering others, then I would admit he had the right to say he had been "hit up" by prison ministries. Until then, I did not think he had earned that right. Now, I'm not saying he meant this sermon the way I took it. I hope and pray he did not. But that was the last time I attended this particular church. I believe my tithe could be used just as well with prison ministries as it could with a local church body. This is not to undermine the importance of giving to our church. I totally believe that we should give to our church. This is also something that I instill in my own sons. However, I believe God will reveal to us where we should give our time, our talents, and our money. As long as these are being used to further the cause of Christ, that, to me, is all that matters.

Kandy

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals with the interpretation of Scripture. My inductive Bible study class in college is a hermeneutical class. My textbook for the class is an eye-opening work entitled Grasping God's Word by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays. I do agree a lot with what the authors state; but there are some things that just bug me about their interpretations. One of my most recent assignments for college was to discuss the topic of illumination of the Holy Spirit. With some of the things that have been occurring lately, I had to make this assignment personal - perhaps more personal that the authors of the textbook advocate. Some of you may be interested in this assignment, so I decided to share it here on my blog. This is what I wrote about illumination:

It has taken me a while to post in this thread, because I wanted to find exactly the right way to express what I believe about the important topic of illumination. First off, if I may begin by stating that while I do agree with the authors of the text on many issues; I think they are limiting God's work in some ways. Yes, I do agree that allegorical interpretation is not the best way to interpret Passages from either the Old Testament or the New. However, I also see nothing wrong with examples. There are even examples in the New Testament of what many believe are Passages from the Old Testament taken out of context. Paul Copan gives several exmaples in his book That's Just Your Interpretation, including this: "In Matthew 2, we read of how Herod had the boys of Bethlehem under age two put to death... Matthew cites this as a fulfilled prophecy of Jeremiah. Yet if we look at the context of Jeremiah's original quotation (Jer. 31:15), we see that Rachel's weeping refers to the Babyolonian invasion of Judah and its exile in 587/586 B.C. Jeremiah does not seem to predict that Herod would kill Bethlehem baby boys at all. How, then, should we interpret the New Testament understanding of 'prophecy' and 'fulfillment'?" (page 189). Copan goes on to list several reasons why there are Passages such as this example found in the pages of the New Testament. I, personally, believe that God used these Passages to help people understand. In the same way, I see nothing wrong with using an example in a sermon to drive home the message of the Gospel. Many pastors rely on examples from their own lives. Others rely on examples from Scripture. Just as Jesus used real examples, I think that is what many pastors do as well. I do not believe in or advocate an allegorical interpretation of Scripture; but I do believe that examples help people to understand more. Who is to say that the Holy Spirit has not guided these pastors to use these examples?

This leads us to the next point - specifically about illumination. Charles Ryrie writes in his book Basic Theology, "Two principal passages describe this ministry of the Spirit (John 16:12-15 and I Corinthians 2:9-3:2)... The experience of illumination is not 'by direct revelation.' The canon is closed. The Spirit illuminates the meaning of that closed canon, and He does so thorugh study and meditation. Study employs all the proper tools for ascertaining the meaning of the text. Meditation thinks about the true facts of the text, putting them together into a harmonious whole and applying them to one's own life. The end result of the illumination ministry of the Spirit is to glorify Christ in the life, or to promote healthy doctrine - teaching that brings spiritual health and wholeness to the believer's life. Illumination is not concerned merely with understanding facts but with using those facts to promote Christlikeness" (page 132).

I love this definition given by Ryrie. While I do agree with the authors of the textbook that we do need to understand the history behind the Passages found in Scripture to get a complete picture; I do also think that it is important to apply those Passages to our own life. Hebrews 4:12-13 reminds us, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged swort, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughs and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (NIV). Just as Ryrie recommends, when we study and meditate on God's Word, the Holy Spirit will illuminate Passages for us. I can say from personal experience that God has never let me down in the area of illumination. A good example occurred several years ago. I was having some difficult times, and God led me to study the story of Jesus calming the sea for the disciples. The words that really jumped out to me were "Where is your faith?" Yes, the literal context of the story is Jesus calming the sea for the disciples who were literally scared they were going to die. But was it wrong to consider that the Holy Spirit led me to this Passage because I was having my own "storms"? Jesus spoke to me through this story, just as He spoke to the disciples. He calmed my emotional storm, just as He calmed their physical one. Right now, I can honestly say that I feel that I am in the midst of a spiritual battle - in more ways than one. I have felt this way for over a year. Through my own studies (and even this class), the Holy Spirit has illuminated several Passages of comfort and encouragement. He has reminded me that I should be anxious for nothing, but to pray and make my requests made known to God. He has encouraged me that when my will is lined up with God's will, that I can ask anything, and God will provide. I have been reminded that we do not fight against natural things, but against principalities and powers. No, my spiritual warfare is not the same as those of the early Christians. My circumstances are totally different. However, the Holy Spirit has illuminated to me, for my life, these Passages that also brought comfort and encouragement to the early Christians in their circumstances.

I think the most important thing to remember about illumination is that we need to allow God to guide us. To quote Ryrie once more, "Leading is a confirmation of sonship, for sons are led. This work of guidance is particularly the work of the Spirit. Romans 8:14 states it and the book of Acts illustrates it... This ministry of the Spirit is one of the most assuring ones for the Christian. The child of God never needs to walk in the dark, he is always free to ask and receive directions from the Spirit Himself" (page 440). I know that I, personally, am so thankful for the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Kandy