All of the Above

#1 · May 29, 2008, 1:49 am

Quote from Forum Archives on May 29, 2008, 1:49 am
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
This Bible Note was originally sent out six or more years ago.

After re-reading it, I felt that it would be good to send it again.

All of the Above

(Some Thoughts on Interpreting the Bible)

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works." II Timothy 3:16,17

Many people seem to like taking multiple choice tests rather
than the essay or fill-in-the-blank type. You are probably
well aware of the often used choice "all of the above".
Sometimes such an answer is correct, while other times it is
absolutely wrong. With such in mind, please consider with me
the matter of interpreting the Bible, the Word of God.

Multitudes of people have found that upon numerous readings
of any particular book of the Bible, or of the whole Bible, they
find nuggets of truth that they had not previously discovered.
While it is possible to have a similar experience while reading
works claiming no supernatural inspiration, it is not entirely the
same. The Bible is so uniquely and wonderfully filled with truths
from the God of truth that it is often referred to as a gold mine
awaiting the most attentive, persistent laborer upon whom to
yield its greatest stores of treasure.

Because of this fact and because of some other not so glorious
facts, we encounter today a vast amount of interpretation and
instruction that all claim to be "the truth according to the Bible".
While I am ready to concede that much of this is indeed consistent
and in accord with the Bible, much of it is also far from it.

Two possible extremes, therefore, come into the picture:

1. Anything Goes -- One may interpret the Bible in any manner he
desires and suppose that in doing so he will come out alright in the
end. This is error and will likely lead to gross error of all sorts. This
leads some to hold to doctrines for which we would need to answer,
"None of the above" as to their correctness.

To illustrate this extreme:

I once sat across the table from a woman who was in an adulterous
relationship with a married man (who was also present). I prayed
aloud for the two of them that God would "save them from their sins"
without having mentioned their particular sins.

After prayer, she said to me, "I don't think that we have done
anything wrong. As long as we love each other everything is okay."
My answer was something like, "That's not what the Bible says about
it." She replied, "Well, you know there are different interpretations
of the Bible." My answer: "Yes, there are; but, some interpretations
God approves, and some He does not."

2. One Meaning Only -- If one thing is true about a certain verse
or passage of Scripture, or if the Bible teaches one truth about a
particular subject, then nothing else could possibly be true. This
one is a little more tricky, but I have seen some people literally tear
the church apart by insisting that their interpretation is the only
one acceptable before God. Again, this could very well lead to great
error.

Again, by way of illustration, there was a well-meaning Christian man
who listened as a preacher gave a whole message about prayer
based upon the Biblical account of Peter's miraculous deliverance from
death at the hand of Herod. After the service, the man wisely spoke
to the preacher in private. The man said that he was convinced that
Peter was not delivered as a result of God's answering the church's
prayers, but rather that God only did this to fulfill Christ's prophecy
concerning Peter's death late in life (see John 21:17-23).

Here we see that this man thought one truth taught in the Bible made
another truth impossible. While the preacher could understand how
the man would come to such a conclusion, he also saw that there
was no real contradiction. In this case, Christ's prophecy is true
and so also is the verse that says, "Peter therefore was kept in prison:
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him."
(Acts 12:5) This very likely implies that prayer made a difference on
Peter's behalf. Since, Christ, being God, could see all of the future, He
could see all of the direct and indirect causes in particular. This was a
case of "all of the above" being the correct answer.

A Balanced Position

I suggest that there is a happy medium, a balanced position between
these two extremes that will enable us to practice and experience
biblical wisdom. It is of utmost importance that we seek the help of
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, in obtaining this balance.

Perhaps, I will attempt to delve more into interpretation later, but
some guidelines may be in order here:

1. First, last, and all through the interpretation process is the absolute
necessity of prayer. The Bible is a spiritual, supernatural book requiring
the Author's assistance in discerning its deep meaning. (I Cor. 2:9-14)
I have found that God delights to answer specific prayers in this regard.

2. As a rule, unless the Bible itself states or implies a vision, metaphor,
figure of speech, etc., we should take it to mean exactly what it says.

3. If using the King James Version (which I highly recommend), one
should take note of the differences in some words' meanings between
Old English and modern English.

4. Always, always, always, consider the immediate context of a verse
or passage of Scripture. Also, consider the more general context as in
near chapters, the particular book (i.e. I Corinthians), New or Old
Testament, or even the entire Bible.

5. If you would be a serious student of Scripture, some study of the
original words is quite helpful. One does not necessarily require an
in-depth learning of Greek or Hebrew to do this. A good Strong's
Concordance (with numbered words and corresponding Greek and
Hebrew definitions) will help greatly with this as long as other
principles of interpretation are not ignored.

6. Extra-biblical, or outside sources of knowledge are often helpful.
In particular I mean works that help us to better understand the
Jewish and pagan cultures, and the geography of the times and
places about which the Scriptures were written.

I do not claim the above list to be complete, but I do believe
that any true interpretation of the Bible will agree with "all of
the above" principles and suggestions.

May the Lord bless you as you learn more about Him!

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

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Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

This Bible Note was originally sent out six or more years ago.

After re-reading it, I felt that it would be good to send it again.

All of the Above

(Some Thoughts on Interpreting the Bible)

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works." II Timothy 3:16,17

Many people seem to like taking multiple choice tests rather
than the essay or fill-in-the-blank type. You are probably
well aware of the often used choice "all of the above".
Sometimes such an answer is correct, while other times it is
absolutely wrong. With such in mind, please consider with me
the matter of interpreting the Bible, the Word of God.

Multitudes of people have found that upon numerous readings
of any particular book of the Bible, or of the whole Bible, they
find nuggets of truth that they had not previously discovered.
While it is possible to have a similar experience while reading
works claiming no supernatural inspiration, it is not entirely the
same. The Bible is so uniquely and wonderfully filled with truths
from the God of truth that it is often referred to as a gold mine
awaiting the most attentive, persistent laborer upon whom to
yield its greatest stores of treasure.

Because of this fact and because of some other not so glorious
facts, we encounter today a vast amount of interpretation and
instruction that all claim to be "the truth according to the Bible".
While I am ready to concede that much of this is indeed consistent
and in accord with the Bible, much of it is also far from it.

Two possible extremes, therefore, come into the picture:

1. Anything Goes -- One may interpret the Bible in any manner he
desires and suppose that in doing so he will come out alright in the
end. This is error and will likely lead to gross error of all sorts. This
leads some to hold to doctrines for which we would need to answer,
"None of the above" as to their correctness.

To illustrate this extreme:

I once sat across the table from a woman who was in an adulterous
relationship with a married man (who was also present). I prayed
aloud for the two of them that God would "save them from their sins"
without having mentioned their particular sins.

After prayer, she said to me, "I don't think that we have done
anything wrong. As long as we love each other everything is okay."
My answer was something like, "That's not what the Bible says about
it." She replied, "Well, you know there are different interpretations
of the Bible." My answer: "Yes, there are; but, some interpretations
God approves, and some He does not."

2. One Meaning Only -- If one thing is true about a certain verse
or passage of Scripture, or if the Bible teaches one truth about a
particular subject, then nothing else could possibly be true. This
one is a little more tricky, but I have seen some people literally tear
the church apart by insisting that their interpretation is the only
one acceptable before God. Again, this could very well lead to great
error.

Again, by way of illustration, there was a well-meaning Christian man
who listened as a preacher gave a whole message about prayer
based upon the Biblical account of Peter's miraculous deliverance from
death at the hand of Herod. After the service, the man wisely spoke
to the preacher in private. The man said that he was convinced that
Peter was not delivered as a result of God's answering the church's
prayers, but rather that God only did this to fulfill Christ's prophecy
concerning Peter's death late in life (see John 21:17-23).

Here we see that this man thought one truth taught in the Bible made
another truth impossible. While the preacher could understand how
the man would come to such a conclusion, he also saw that there
was no real contradiction. In this case, Christ's prophecy is true
and so also is the verse that says, "Peter therefore was kept in prison:
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him."
(Acts 12:5) This very likely implies that prayer made a difference on
Peter's behalf. Since, Christ, being God, could see all of the future, He
could see all of the direct and indirect causes in particular. This was a
case of "all of the above" being the correct answer.

A Balanced Position

I suggest that there is a happy medium, a balanced position between
these two extremes that will enable us to practice and experience
biblical wisdom. It is of utmost importance that we seek the help of
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, in obtaining this balance.

Perhaps, I will attempt to delve more into interpretation later, but
some guidelines may be in order here:

1. First, last, and all through the interpretation process is the absolute
necessity of prayer. The Bible is a spiritual, supernatural book requiring
the Author's assistance in discerning its deep meaning. (I Cor. 2:9-14)
I have found that God delights to answer specific prayers in this regard.

2. As a rule, unless the Bible itself states or implies a vision, metaphor,
figure of speech, etc., we should take it to mean exactly what it says.

3. If using the King James Version (which I highly recommend), one
should take note of the differences in some words' meanings between
Old English and modern English.

4. Always, always, always, consider the immediate context of a verse
or passage of Scripture. Also, consider the more general context as in
near chapters, the particular book (i.e. I Corinthians), New or Old
Testament, or even the entire Bible.

5. If you would be a serious student of Scripture, some study of the
original words is quite helpful. One does not necessarily require an
in-depth learning of Greek or Hebrew to do this. A good Strong's
Concordance (with numbered words and corresponding Greek and
Hebrew definitions) will help greatly with this as long as other
principles of interpretation are not ignored.

6. Extra-biblical, or outside sources of knowledge are often helpful.
In particular I mean works that help us to better understand the
Jewish and pagan cultures, and the geography of the times and
places about which the Scriptures were written.

I do not claim the above list to be complete, but I do believe
that any true interpretation of the Bible will agree with "all of
the above" principles and suggestions.

May the Lord bless you as you learn more about Him!

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note along to any who might be interested or helped by it. To SUBSCRIBE to FREE Bible Notes, send an empty email to this address: bible_notes-subscribe@welovegod.org and respond to the confirmation email that will automatically be sent to you.

To read Bible Notes on the Internet and/or search the archives click on the following link:
http://welovegod.org/groups/bible_notes/

To visit the Bible Notes message board, where you can post your testimony, prayer request, or Bible question, please follow this link:

http://www.runboard.com/bbiblenotes

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14) --To unsubscribe, send ANY message to bible_notes-unsubscribe@welovegod.org