Scripture Interpretation

Next to the Bible, the writings of the early Christians (A.D. 90-300) are the most valuable documents of Christianity. Like the Bible, they are part of the heritage of all Christians. Although these writings are not inspired, translation of them should be undertaken as carefully as that of the Scriptures. Every professing believer should read them and listen to what the early believers had to say. This requires humility and the swallowing of our pride.

Even though the Bible is the inspired Word of Yahweh, some Bible passages are not clear—they are ambiguous. Some verses even seem to contradict other verses. As a result of these uncertainties, Christians have splintered into over 20,000 different denominations and sects. Because "Sola Scriptura" is a myth, Christians eventually turn to other sources of authority in order to clarify the Bible: church publications, Bible commentaries, creeds, and the instructions of "pastors" or seminary professors.

How valuable are these additional sources of authority? What basis do we have for saying that our church publications are right and someone else's are wrong? How can we say that our seminary professors know more than those of another seminary? Since every denomination has their "scholars" ("experts"), which ones should we listen to? Ones of our own persuasion? How does a 17th century Bible commentator like Matthew Henry know what Jesus and the apostles really meant? Is there not some other source of authority closer to the New Covenant? Fortunately for us, there is: the writings of the early Christians.

The early Christians are of the same culture as the New Covenant authors. Who better to understand what they meant? Since we cannot ask the apostles, nor those to whom they wrote, the next best thing is to ask those who flowed out of those original communications: the early Christians. Christianity is an eastern religion. Westerners have been influenced by Aristotelian logic and do not have the same thought patterns as Easterners. (Would you have cited Hosea 11:1 as a fulfillment of Jesus?) However, something can sound very logical and still be false!

The early Christians have a lot to teach modern Christianity if we would but humble ourselves and listen. Too often, however, we are too proud and stubborn to let go of how we were raised, what we were taught, or what we might presently believe. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into unity with one another in the likeness of Christ Jesus the King. For 300 years, from country to country, the early Church possessed such unity in the Spirit. From the Reformation onward, modern Christianity has never possessed that unity. If we genuinely aspire to that unity again, we must learn from the early believers. Otherwise, we, like Israel, "[do] what [is] right in [our] own eyes."

The Eight Ways Christians Have Been Taught to Approach the Bible:

Approach #1: You look for verses that inspire you. Upon finding such verses, you either highlight, memorize, meditate upon, or put them on your refrigerator door.

Approach #2: You look for verses that tell you what God has promised so that you can confess it in faith and thereby obligate the Lord to do what you want.

Approach #3: You look for verses that tell you what God commands you to do.

Approach #4: You look for verses that you can quote to scare the devil out of his wits or resist him in the hour of temptation.

Approach #5: You look for verses that will prove your particular doctrine so that you can slice-and-dice your theological sparring partner into biblical ribbons. (Because of the proof-texting method, a vast wasteland of Christianity behaves as if the mere citation of some random, decontextualized verse of Scripture ends all discussion on virtually any subject.)

Approach #6: You look for verses in the Bible to control and/or correct others.

Approach #7: You look for verses that "preach" well and make good sermon material. (This is an ongoing addiction for many who preach and teach.)

Approach #8: You sometimes close your eyes, flip open the Bible randomly, stick your finger on a page, read what the text says, and then take what you have read as a personal "word" from the Lord.

The Seven Common Sense Principles of Scripture Interpretation

Principle #1: To find truth, you must begin with a blank slate.
We all have preconceived ideas. We have all been conditioned to see Scripture through a certain lens. When you have no theological system to defend, when you have no prior conclusions to which Scripture must be moulded, then, and only then, are you reading Scripture with a blank slate. If you were raised in a pagan society and had never read the Bible before, what would this verse or passage be communicating to you?

Principle #2: Start at the beginning of the New Covenant, with the teachings of Jesus.
"A disciple is not above his teacher" (Matt. 20:24). Our systems of theology tend to make Paul, the disciple, greater than Jesus, the Teacher. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the author of Christianity—not Paul.

Principle #3: Give each verse its natural meaning.
Give each sentence in Scripture its most natural, literal meaning. Forget what you think a verse says or means; how does it naturally read? If it reads differently than what you have been conditioned to believe about it, then your belief is incorrect and you must unlearn and relearn, reforming and conforming yourself to the truth of Scripture. Not to do so is disobedience and rebellion.

Principle #4: Consider every Scripture that relates, or could relate, to the subject.
Are there any passages of Scripture that relate, or might relate, to the subject under consideration? Carefully compare contexts. If the context of one statement (verse) in one letter does not agree with the context of another statement (verse) in another letter, then they are not related in any way, shape, or form, even if they sound similar. To use them as if they were is proof text methodology (making Scripture say what you want it to say).

Principle #5: Reject any interpretation that would render some of the Scriptures void or unreasonable.
When we write, we intend for everything to have meaning. We do not intend for some of our statements to be totally ignored. Neither do we intend for part of what we write to be interpreted in such a way as to totally nullify the other things we have written. The belief that Scripture is like this is utterly nonsensical. "Let the clear passages interpret the unclear," "Let the many interpret the few," and "Go to the root of the words" are systems that do not work. They render some of the Scriptures void or unreasonable, telling us to completely ignore them. Does Jesus want us to ignore statements He made, or to understand what they truly meant?

Principle #6: When Scripture is ambiguous, look at the "course of performance": how did the first several generations of Christians understand the Scripture.
Since we cannot ask Paul or the Corinthians what 1 Corinthians means, we must look at their "course of performance" (their practices). We can find out how they interpreted Paul's letter by looking at their practices. Where do we get the evidence of their practices?

Principle #7: To determine the "course of performance," always go to the primary sources.
When searching for the truth about any subject, you always go to the primary sources! These are the sources from which all other material is derived. Do not trust someone else's word for it, where they can selectively cite the original source; check it for yourself. Especially if ellipses are used. (You do not know if they are forcing the text to agree with them by cutting out key parts of it.)

^*Much of the information on this page was inspired from David Bercot's book Common Sense and Frank Viola and George Barna's book Pagan Christianity.