Hermeneutics

Bible Study Mistakes

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I have recently posted a series of videos on common Bible study mistakes. We have probably all made some, or all, of these mistakes. Please take a look and see if these are helpful to you, or to anyone else you know.

Mistake 1: Proof-Texting – It is just so convenient to find a line of text that says what we want to say. But the danger is that we will not see the richness of the text as it was intended to be understood. It seems obvious once you say it, but it is good to remember that what God made it say is always better than what we can make it say! Click here for this video.

Mistake 2: Collapsing Correlations – When you are reading and you see something that reminds you of something else . . . perhaps a saying of Jesus, or a different epistle, and then you collapse both passages in together, then you are collapsing your correlations together. Easily done, but what if that other passage doesn’t mean the same thing? Click here for the video.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Background – Sometimes it is just easier to read the passage and ignore whatever background may be relevant to your study. Who has the time to think about distant geography, ancient customs, and foreign politics? Well, if we want to understand the Bible, we need to make sure we don’t ignore the background. Click here for this video.

Mistake 4: Genre Override – Apart from sounding like a cool concept, what is genre override? It is when you take some of the rules of interpreting a genre and let those rules run roughshod over your interpretation of the passage. “Since this passage is apocalyptic literature…” is the start of many misleading sentences! Of course, we need to be sensitive to the genre, but that is always a support to our being sensitive to the passage. Click here to find out more.

Mistake 5: Imposing Meaning – Our goal in Bible study is exegesis, that is, drawing out the meaning of the text as intended by the author. But when we impose meaning, we are doing eisegesis. That is, reading into the text what we want to see there. God’s Word is better than yours, or mine! Click here for more.

Mistake 6: Isolationist Confidence – Bible study is something we may do on our own a lot of the time. But we must be wary of isolationist confidence. When it is just me and the Bible, I can easily become overconfident in my own opinion. I may be on the right track, but very superficial. Or I might be wandering off into new (therefore heretical) theological territory. We need to think about the role of the community in our Bible study! Click here for this video.

Mistake 7: Tone-Deaf Reading – The Bible is not just a data store that we are to mine for theological truths or applicational points. It is interpersonal communication and so we need to make sure we are sensitive to the writer’s tone as we seek to make sense of what is written. Here is the link to this video.

I will probably add a few more, in due course. As ever with these things, if you are able to like, share, comment or subscribe to the YouTube channel, it is all helpful in encouraging the algorithm to share this content. Thanks!

Here is the playlist that contains these videos, plus others that are all related!

Studying the Bible – Learn!

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I have completed a series of videos that detail the Learn phase of the Bible study process. Using 1 Peter 2:1-10, I look at the kind of thinking that goes into learning what a passage means. Good observation of the details in a passage will set us up to accurately learn what the text means as we study to determine the original author’s intended meaning. So, what goes into interpreting a Bible passage?

First, Look! We need to take time to notice what is in our passage. Here is a one-video summary of the Look! stage for this passage. So, onto the Learn stage:

1. Context: Historic – When was the passage written? What was happening at the time? What prompted the author to write it? What can we understand about the relevant cultures, the occasion for the writing, the situation at the time? (Click here for the video.)

2. Context: Written – The passage you are looking at sits within a book and therefore there is a written context to consider. What has come before your passage? What flows out from it? To understand a passage, you have to wrestle with the flow of the whole document. (Click here for the video.)

3. & 4. Content: Details – Remember all the details that we spotted in the Look stage of our study? Now we need to seek to understand them in light of the context of the passage. (Click here for the first video and click here for the second video on details!)

5. Content: Flow – How do the details work together in the flow of thought in this passage? It is so important to not only understand details, but to understand them in their most immediate context! (Click here for the video.)

6. Intent – What did the author intend to achieve through writing this passage? Are there clues within the passage, and are there indications within the book as a whole? (Click here for the video.)

After the Look! and the Learn! stage of Bible study, we will then move on to the Love/Live response (what should the text stir?) Here is a one-video summary of the Love/Live phase for this passage.

I will release another series that uses a different passage but focuses on the Love/Live phase instead of the Learn phase as I have this time. Hopefully, that makes sense! Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can see the new videos as they are released.

Studying the Bible

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

The first half of preparing a sermon is studying the biblical text.  More than that, a fundamental feature of the Christian life is feasting on God’s word.  We all need to be able to study the Bible and enjoy the great gift of God’s word to us.  So, how should we do it?

In this video, I give a brief overview of the Bible study process.  Let’s think of it in terms of three questions, or four stages:

1. Look – what does the text say?  We need to develop our observational skills to be able to see what is actually written in the text before us.  Too many of us are too good at feeling familiar with the text and therefore skipping ahead.  A lot of Bible-handling errors and heresies would be avoided if we slowed down to see what is actually there.  What does the text say?

2. Learn – what does the text mean?  Once we have looked carefully at the text, we will get to the point of determining what the text means.  That is, not what does it mean to me – this is not an exercise in modern art appreciation.  What was the author intending to communicate?  Learning what the text means requires me to travel back in my mind to the original author’s situation, and try to make sense of what he wrote, in context, for the sake of the original recipients.  I have to go back then before I can think about lasting implications for today.

3. Love/Live – what should the text stir? Bible study should never end “back then.”  God did not give us the Bible as a historical curiosity.  It should ultimately have an impact on my life today.  So what should it stir?  Since it is primarily a revelation of God’s heart, character and plan, it should stir my heart to love Him.  Bible study that does not lead to greater love for God has gone astray.  My heart should be stirred by the God I am discovering in my Bible study.  But it is not enough to have a stirred heart.  This is not about a mere emotional response.  The Bible is intended to exact transformation in my life.  And that transformation works from the inside to out.  So my heart is warmed to God, and then my life should bear fruit as I am not just a hearer, but a doer of God’s Word.  Good Bible study will stir my heart to worship, and it will stir transformation in every area of my life.

What does the text say?  What does the text mean?  What should the text stir?  This is the Bible study process.  It might seem cumbersome at first, but this can, and should, become second nature to us as Bible readers.  Make sure you see what is actually there.  Look closely.  Go back then before considering today.  Expect God to change you from the core of your being out to the most specific activities of your day. 

In the coming weeks, I will be breaking down these stages on YouTube.  There will be a series of videos on Look, then another on Learn, and another on Love/Live.  I will offer some in written form here, but to catch it all, be sure to subscribe to the channel on this link.

Is Biblical Interpretation Boring?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

When Paul wrote to Timothy, the senior apostle urged the younger Timothy to do the work necessary to “rightly handle the word of truth.”  The implication is that it is possible to mishandle the word of truth.  You only need to listen to a few sermons online or visit a few churches to start your collection of scary examples! 

Nuanced technical caveats notwithstanding, it is essential to recognize that every passage says something specific.  Our job as we study is to determine, as best we can, what that something is.  That is to say that each passage has one accurate interpretation.  It cannot mean anything, and it does not mean everything.  It means something.

Once we determine that meaning, that one interpretation, we can then begin to evaluate the many potential applications of the passage.

Here is a video on this specific matter:

But if we are going to talk about the rules and principles of interpretation, then are we not embarking on a tedious task?  After all, who wants to memorize rules?

You could say the same thing about other processes too.  Learning to ride a bike feels tedious, but it opens a new world of adventures for a child.  Learning to drive a car safely can feel overwhelming, but it creates new freedom that is a wonderful blessing.  Learning anything will involve some rules or principles.  The real question is this: is it worth learning?

When we learn to handle the word of truth rightly, we start to see the richness God has put in our Bibles.  We get to understand his glorious message to us.  We get to enjoy the beauty of the divine revelation in all of its literary splendour.  We get to experience the life-change that comes from living a Bible-marked life.  The rules of interpretation sound dull, but they are a means to infinite treasure!  Boring is not the word; let’s try exciting instead!

Check out the video to see which Bible passage I use to introduce this point!

5 Reasons to Study the Bible

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Some Christians seem excited about Bible study, while others seem scared of the concept.  Why should we invest time in studying the Bible?  Here are five good reasons!

1. For spiritual life.  Some years ago, I was pointed to a fascinating book about conversions in the Muslim world.  I am sure you have heard of how God is using dreams and visions to bring Muslims to Jesus.  The book’s author pointed out that when these testimonies are investigated, the dreams are a key link in a chain, but they are not the whole chain.  In each case, the person had to encounter God’s written word before coming to faith in Christ. 

When Jesus spoke to the religious leaders in John 5, he shocked them by saying they did not know God or have his word in them.  These were men who spent hours in their scrolls every day.  Jesus pointed out that they thought they could find life in the scriptures themselves, but actually, those scriptures were pointing to a person – him!  (John 5:39)  As we study the Bible, it points us to Jesus.  As we meet Jesus, we find spiritual life itself.  Knowing God the Father, through Jesus the Son, is the very essence of eternal life. (John 17:3)

2. For spiritual growth.  Six times we have had the joy and privilege of bringing a newborn into our family.  Life is relatively simple for the baby.  Eat and sleep.  And those regular meals with Mum result in the biggest growth spurt of their lives (even more than a teenage boy!)  So Peter positively uses the analogy of milk to describe how the Bible will nourish us and grow us as believers.  We should long for that sustenance so we can grow spiritually.  (1Peter 2:2)

3. For spiritual maturity.  That same analogy is also used in Hebrews but in a negative sense.  The preacher to the Hebrews is concerned because these believers have not matured as they should.  Instead of solid food, they are still on a liquid diet.  Mature believers can discern between good and evil because they have been trained for the challenges of spiritual adulthood.  Where should we look for solid food if the Bible provides spiritual milk?  Still, the Bible – that part of the analogy remains consistent!  (Hebrews 5:11-14)  Have you ever met a genuinely mature believer who had arrived at that stage without a steady diet of the Bible shaping their life and character?   No, nor me.

4. For spiritual effectiveness.  We live in an era of unlimited opportunities.  Where do you go if you want thorough equipping for ministry in the church, home, and workplace?  There are so many seminars, workshops, books, courses and institutions inviting us to come along and learn.   Paul wrote to Timothy and described the God-breathed usefulness of Scripture.  It teaches, reproves, corrects and trains us.  What is the result of that biblical influence in our lives?  It is that we may be complete, equipped for every good work.  That is quite the promise! (2Tim.3:16-17)

The Bible offers us salvation, spiritual growth, maturity and equipping for all aspects of life and ministry.  Some might stop there, but there is another reason to study the Bible:

5. For spiritual delight.  Psalm 1 introduces us to the righteous man who doesn’t allow the world’s message to shape his life.  Instead, his delight is in the revelation of the Lord; on that word, he meditates day and night.  Have you ever paused to ponder the word “delight” in Psalm 1:2?  He does not merely concern himself with the message or even simply find his life instructions there.  He delights in it.  There is something about God’s very character, and therefore his inspired Word, that means we can read and study it for sheer delight.  The ultimate reason to spend time in God’s Word is not that we have to, but because we get to!  The heart of eternal joy and never-fading delight is opened toward us in the revelation of Scripture!

There are more reasons to read and study the Bible, but that’s a good starting point. 

Learning from a Different World

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Travel can be transformational. By travel, I don’t mean layovers in airports en route to somewhere else (I’ve unsuccessfully visited some significant countries this way!)  No, I mean genuinely visiting.

Let me share two examples and then make my point for us.

A “Third World Country” – How often have you heard people return from a missions trip and say that the local people taught them so much? It is a consistent message! I remember visiting an East African country and experiencing a completely different life. 

There was the food, the wildlife, the weather, and the transport. The cultural differences hindered my teaching, but then again, they also supported it. There was that more remote tribe where the children could pick out their friends in a picture on my camera. And yet they could not recognise themselves because they had never seen a good reflection before. And there was much to learn from the simple lifestyle, not to mention the sacrificial hospitality. It was like stepping into a different world, and I came home changed by my visit.

A “Second World Country” – I visited an Eastern European country some years ago. We walked past the jail where political prisoners, including pastors, used to be held and tortured. Communism never has room for dissenters, free thinkers or any God except the state. Therefore church leaders and Christians are always a threat. 

I remember asking a man driving me to a meeting what it was like to live under communism. He spoke of how some things worked, but nobody was free. He gave me two examples. He described living in a world where one in three people worked for the government as an informer. It meant that you would never speak openly about politics or religion. You never knew who would inform and lead to your arrest and the suffering that might also come to your family. And he described how everyone would dutifully buy the newspaper, signalling that they were good citizens. But they would never read it because everyone knew it was all government-controlled lies.

I have thought a lot about that conversation over the years. It was like a haunting warning from another country at another time. I often think about how our culture is moving towards that kind of community spying. We now live around people ready to call out anyone who breaks the brand new moral codes related to gender, sexuality and race. And we have technology constantly monitoring every click of the mouse, message from our keyboard or even word uttered by our mouth. And perhaps most concerning is the number of people who digest the messaging disseminated through our news media but don’t realise how controlled the messaging is. It is not hard to imagine our world morphing into another iteration of communism with millions of people naively celebrating such a sinister transformation of society! After all, it always comes out of a crisis for the good of the people.

The bottom line – Travelling to a different culture and meeting people who’ve lived in other times can hugely impact us. It should have a significant impact on us. Insightful lessons that will enrich our lives. Haunting warnings to protect us. If we have the privilege of travelling and go eager to learn, it will change us.

So, what do we do as Christians when we open our Bibles? What happens when we preach the Bible to others? We get to travel to a different world.

1. A different world geographically & culturally – Good bible study and biblical preaching will take our imaginations to the battlefields of ancient Israel, the throne rooms of ancient kings, the living rooms of ancient peasants, and the discussion forum of ancient philosophers. We will visit the Sinai peninsula’s wilderness, the fishing villages of Galilee, the arid hills around Jerusalem, the stormy Mediterranean sea, and strategic cities around one section of the Roman empire.

2. A different world educationally – Good bible study and biblical preaching will take our hearts right into the crowd hearing Moses preach. Or we might join the crowd hearing an Old Testament prophet proclaim God’s message. We might sit on the grass and hear Jesus teach. Or perhaps overhear the apostles announcing the resurrection. We will spend time being mentored by the experience of a young shepherd fighting for his nation, a want-away prophet running from his calling, or a height-challenged tax collector hiding in a tree. Wonderful enrichment for life and haunting warnings await us if we just travel into the Bible with our hearts open and ready to learn.

3. A different world entirely – Good bible study and biblical preaching take us to faraway lands and insightful mentors and, beyond that, give us a glimpse into another world. The Bible is not an old travelogue. We are earthbound and tend to think very “down here” kinds of thoughts. But heaven has broken into our world, and we can hear from the world of love where God is forever reigning, without caveat or coup. We might pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In the Bible, we get not only those words to pray but also the life-changing revelation of what that all means. 

Every day we have the privilege of travel with all its life enrichment, haunting warnings and unique mentoring opportunities. Open your Bible with an open heart. And every time we share our biblical travels with others in conversation or preaching, we can take them with us. Don’t shortchange yourself or others by simply grabbing for an applicational point or a quick anecdote. 

Too many of us visit the world of the Bible like a traveller in transit through an airport. We might pick up a local bar of chocolate in a kiosk, but we haven’t truly been to the country, and our lives show no evidence of impact. What would it look like to really go? To meaningfully visit? To spend time with the people, to see the sights, to be lastingly changed? 

_________________________________

By the way, after going through the Psalms in 2022 on YouTube, I am planning to spend the next months offering short videos related to the subject of studying and enjoying our Bibles. Please let me know, at any time, if you have an idea that would help that playlist become more useful to you or your church!

Evaluating Exegetical Options

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

When you are making sense of a passage, you will often have to evaluate several options. Perhaps two or three possibilities quickly emerge to make sense of a detail in the text. Maybe different commentators offer different explanations. If you take biblical study seriously then you will face this frequently. How can we evaluate the options and weigh the evidence in support of each?

This feels like a preacher’s concern. Of course, it should be. I suspect too many preachers don’t wrestle with their passage enough to notice different exegetical possibilities. But it should not be just a preacher’s concern. What about the people in your church? Where will they get a taste for really wrestling with the biblical text and coming to thought through and informed conclusions?

The approach I use is not a formula guaranteeing results. It is not spreadsheet-based with automatic formulae. It is a guideline that helps me weigh evidence. If I have level 1 evidence then it will generally be given more weight than level 2 or level 3 evidence. At the same time, if I have evidence at several different levels, it may outweigh evidence at a higher level. This is a guide, not a formula. I still need to subjectively do the weighing, even when the guide gives me an indication of the relative weight.

So from most valuable down to the least valuable:

Level 1. Syntactical Evidence – this is support for an interpretational option that is found within the passage’s own structure or grammar.  This is the internal contextual support for an understanding of the passage.

Level 2. Contextual Evidence – this is support for an interpretational option found in the context of the passage.  The closer the context, the higher the value (immediate context is stronger than section context, which is stronger than book context, which is stronger than same writer context, etc.)

Level 3. Lexical Evidence – this is support for an interpretational option found in the specific meaning of words used.  Since the meaning of a word is determined by the company it keeps, this category actually overlaps with both syntactical and contextual evidence, but a lexical argument lacking in syntactical or contextual support can sit here at level three.

Level 4. Correlational Evidence – this is support for an interpretational option found in more distant biblical support where the same word or concept appears.  After all, a different writer may be using the term in a different way.  (Remember that a distant passage that directly influences your focus passage, such as an Old Testament section that is quoted, is highly significant and may be considered as a form of contextual or level 2 evidence.)

Level 5. Theological Evidence – this is support for an interpretational option found in theology, rather than elsewhere in the Bible.  This is like correlational evidence, but the correlation is with a theological creed or system.

Level 6. Verificational Evidence – this is support for a position found in “experts” (i.e. commentators, authors, sermons, etc.)  It is easy to fall into a false reliance on published books. Simply because a published name agrees with a position is of minimal value.  It is so much better to integrate their arguments into the five categories above. That way the commentary becomes a conversation partner rather than a shortcut that always determines your understanding. Much better to weigh the evidence and come to an informed conclusion, rather than reading a commentator and come to someone else’s conclusion.

Remember, this is a guideline, but I think it is helpful.  It pushes us to look for understanding within the text itself and within the context. 

I do see a lot of people who either don’t wrestle with the meaning of the text in any meaningful way or else are too quick to accept the conclusions of others – either their preferred system of theology or their favourite commentator or preacher. Looking up a passage in two or three commentaries does not equate to exegetical effort.

We have to recognize the spiritual gravitas and countless other personal and ministry benefits that only come from diligent exegetical labour.

Handle the Text Carefully

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

When we preach we explain the meaning of details in a Bible passage. We do more than that too, of course. But here are five quick reminders about handling the text carefully:

1. Remember that the passage was originally written in another language, even though you probably don’t need to mention it. As one of my teachers put it, “Greek is like your underwear, it is important to have it on, but don’t let it show.” I think there is wisdom in both halves of that thought. We should use the languages as best we can in preparation, and generally, there is wisdom in not talking about it when we preach. For people who have never learned Hebrew and Greek, it is important to remember that there is both linguistic and cultural distance between the original text and our translation. It is wise to consult serious commentaries as you are preparing, and it is very wise to not support your presentation by appealing to the original language, especially if you are not comfortable translating the passage for yourself.

2. Be grateful for the English translation you have. While it is good to interact with some heavyweight commentators to help you with the original, be thankful for the translations we have. We don’t need to undermine our listener’s confidence in good translations by how we explain the text.

3. The meaning of words will change over time, so don’t build a point on the origins of a word. I read a few deliberately outrageous examples in a Moises Silva article that reinforce this point. He demonstrated, for instance, how we should not trust ranchers because of the old French etymological connection to our term, deranged. Or the argument that dancing should be forbidden for Christians because the word ballet comes from a Greek term that also shows up as part of the origin of the term translated “devil.” Don’t do that. Words mean what they mean in their context, in their contemporary usage at the time of writing.

4. Don’t read every possible meaning of a word into a specific instance. Let the context identify the meaning of a word. The other possibilities listed in the dictionary or lexicon need not concern you as you preach it. Take the term “chip” in this sentence – “The problem with your computer is a burned-out chip.” It doesn’t matter that the term can be used for a deep-fried potato chunk served hot in England, or a fried slice of potato served cold in America, or a piece of wood flying as the lumberjack chops at a tree trunk, or a useful shot for a golfer stuck in a bunker. Other possible meanings do not matter when the sentence itself clarifies the intended meaning.

5. Context really is king. When it comes to explaining the meaning of a detail in a text, context is always the golden guideline. Don’t get caught up building a point on a nuance of grammar, or a subtlety of vocabulary. Those finer points can usually be left in your study notes, or used to support what you are saying, but if you are going to make a big point about meaning, generally it should be made using context as your primary evidence.

We have to explain the meaning of the text whenever we preach. Let’s keep prayerfully pondering how we can do that in a way that is clear, helpful, instructive and not distracting.

_________________________________________

Why Humility Makes Sense

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Last time I wrote about genuine humility in Bible interpretation (click here to go there). We live in a time when there is an increasing pseudo-humility, and a decreasing genuine humility in biblical interpretation. Why does humility make sense?

Increasing Pseudo-Humility – As truth apparently becomes more personalized, people can sound increasingly gracious if that is the tone they choose (there is a militant version of it too, which is also dangerous). The gracious tone and pseudo-humility sound like this: “I can’t tell you what this means to you, but my personal interpretation, for me, is this…” If anyone ponders whether this is a humble approach to the Bible or not, they will end up thinking about the horizontal dimension. That is to say, I don’t insist that my truth must also be your truth. Horizontal.

Decreasing Genuine Humility – But what about the vertical dimension? After all, if the Bible is God’s Word, then humility in interpretation should be evaluated vertically. Beneath the shroud of pseudo-humility lies an incredible arrogance. It says: “I have sufficient knowledge of every relevant subject, and have no worries about being culturally conditioned, so that I can evaluate the content of the Bible and sit in judgment over what it should mean in the realm of ‘my truth.'”

So why does humility make sense? Three quick facts to anchor our hearts as preachers and as readers of the Bible:

1. I am not God. Seems obvious, but in a fallen world, it certainly bears repeating! What I actually know is an infinitesimally small fraction of all there is to know. I am so shaped by my environment and culture, and yet incredibly unaware of how much my values reflect that reality.

2. God is God. He always has been and always will be. He is very good at being God. (Included in this statement of the obvious, but worth stating nonetheless, is that God is a wonderful communicator…why do we think we should sit in judgment on his inspired Scriptures?)

3. God is humble. It is easy to think that God values humility in us because it serves the pride in him. Dictators demand subservience. But the Bible reveals a God to us who is anything but a demanding dictator. His other-centred, self-giving and self-sacrificing nature appreciates humility in the human heart for the right reason. It is not to crush us, it is to lift us up and embrace us. God values humility in us because it resonates with who he is.

Let us be and help others to be humble and gracious. Vertically, we sit under the teaching of God’s Word with humility. Horizontally, we can speak of the meaning of God’s Word with gracious attitudes but also with boldness. This is what our “subjective truth” world desperately needs.

Handling God’s Word With Genuine Humility

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Hermeneutics matters massively for us preachers.  It also matters for the people to whom we preach.  How we interpret the Bible makes all the difference in every aspect of faith and life. 

When hermeneutics is taught, you will typically find some standard elements.  There will be a foundation in bibliology – establishing the unique nature of the inspired Word of God.  There will usually be a set of general hermeneutical principles – guidelines that work whatever passage we may be studying.  Then comes the special hermeneutical principles – guidelines for each specific type of literature or genre.

I want to suggest that we need to include humility in our hermeneutics.  I don’t just mean humility that we may be misinterpreting a passage – although that is always helpful.  I mean humility as a foundational attitude. 

Humility or Hubris?

We live in an age when many believe it is not right to claim any definitive interpretation of a text.  Most people in our increasingly subjective age dismiss the idea of authorially intended meaning that retains any authority.

Many will see this subjectivity as a source of genuine humility in biblical interpretation.  Bombastic declarations of a definitive biblical interpretation have always been the antithesis of humility, have they not?

The logic of this position seems to make sense.  After all, people will say, there are many interpretations out there in the wider church world.  Furthermore, nobody has the right to claim to be right in their interpretation and thereby critically evaluate the interpretation of others.  And so, the logic goes, we are free to make of each text what we think best in our context.

Many people will feel this approach is the epitome of humility.  In reality, the tone may feel humble, but the core posture here is hubris, not humility.

Any Fixed Points?

Let’s be simplistic and imagine two marks in a diagram.  One represents the Bible.  The other represents you or me.

The Bible is a fixed point.  I know the Word of God is active, but hear me out.  The biblical text is an objective and fixed point.  God inspired the Scriptures so that every word in the original manuscript of each document is precisely what he wanted it to be.  We may release new translations, but the original text does not move.  And it still has absolute authority. 

We are not fixed points.  When I come to the Bible, I bring all sorts of assumptions.  My culture, my place in time, my worldview, my experiences, etc., will all influence how I understand the biblical text as I read it.   

Human nature, and the tendency of our time, is to subject the Biblical text to my subjective evaluation.  So the Bible becomes “unfixed” while I sit fixed in my position as the evaluator.  Chronological arrogance creeps in.  I start to evaluate what the text should mean in light of my great cultural insights.  Rather than acknowledging my arrogance, I can avoid the problem of sounding proud if I simply declare my interpretation to be personal to me. Then I won’t tread on any toes by declaring it to be the truth for anyone else. 

The reality is that the Bible is not subject to us; we are subject to it.  We are the moveable ones in the diagram.  Swayed by every wind of fashionable thinking, we don’t know as much as we might think we do.  So wherever we live in the world, or whenever we live in history, we are subject to evaluation by the Bible.  The Word of God comes against our assumptions.  It speaks against the spirit of the age.  It opposes the arrogance of our minuscule knowledge. 

On a horizontal level, our tone toward others may be humble.  But vertically, our subjective approach to God’s Word is the height of arrogance. 

Humble Hermeneutics

So what does it look like to interpret the Bible with humility?

  1. Let us be humbly thankful for God’s Word.  What a privilege we have to read, in our language, an accurate translation of the Bible.  What an honour it is to have this gift from outside of our world.  What a blessing to be able to read God’s self-revelation – we would be grasping in the dark without it.  What an encouragement it is to have God shepherd us through His Word.  He knows what we need and works in our specific circumstances, by His Spirit, and through His Word.
  2. Let us be humbly responsive to God’s Word.  Instead of arrogantly evaluating the Bible against what I think I know to be true, let’s humble ourselves.  Humbly respond to God’s Word as He challenges your thinking, beliefs, attitudes, habits, and every possible aspect of your life. 
  3. Let us be humbly confident interpreting God’s Word.  As we carefully apply a sound hermeneutical approach to the Scriptures, we can confidently assert the meaning of the text.  Always humbly recognizing that we could be wrong, or there could be a better way to state it, we can speak the Word of God as God’s Word.  This does not mean our tone should become bombastic or unloving.  But let’s not settle for the pseudo-humility of subjectivity in our Bible reading.

We need a humble hermeneutical approach to the Bible as we prepare to preach. Our hearers need to learn that same posture and approach. We live in an era of subjective pseudo-humility. Let’s pray that God will raise up generations with a genuine humility in handling God’s Word and a courageous willingness to respond to it and proclaim it!