Elements of Productive Bible Study: Interpret, Part 2

Elements of Productive Bible Study: Interpret, Part 2

by John MacArthur

Faithfully reading Scripture is fundamental to your spiritual growth. But reading alone isn’t enough to sanctify you—it’s just the first step in the process.
To truly get the full meaning—and the full benefit—of Scripture, you’ve got to be able to interpret it accurately. While you might be able to glean some eternal truth from a basic, surface reading of the text, God’s Word deserves and demands our careful attention and diligent study.

We already looked last week at some of the common, dangerous mistakes people make when it comes to interpreting the Bible. Today, I want to highlight five key principles of sound biblical interpretation. These are tools I use regularly when I’m preparing to teach, and I know they will help you in your own study.

The Literal Principle

In simple terms, this means you take the words of Scripture in their literal, normal, natural sense. A literal view of God’s Word will help guard you against spurious interpretive methods like numerology, extreme allegory, and bizarre mysticism. What each word means is what it means.

Obviously, that’s not a call for slavish, rigid literalism. But even where Scripture employs parables, hyperbole, similes, metaphors, and symbolism, we’re to read and understand those figures of speech in their natural, normal sense.

Fans of allegory will point to the figurative language deployed in some apocalyptic prophecies, but that’s far from the norm in Scripture. And even in those passages, a clear understanding relies on historical study and not the imagination of the reader.

Don’t approach Scripture as if it’s a treasure map or a puzzle that needs to be solved to access some secret meaning. If you ignore the literal understanding, you discard any hope for an accurate, coherent interpretation. With few exceptions, the simple, direct meaning of the text is its original, intended meaning.

The Historical Principle

We need to work to understand the Bible in its original, historical context. Ask yourself this question: “What did this verse or passage mean to its author and its original audience?” A text without a context is a pretext.

To fully understand any book of the Bible, you need to be aware of the history involved. Who was the original audience? Where did they live? What were the political and cultural conditions like? What were the tensions, problems, and crises in that community at the time of the writing, and did the writer address those issues? Were there specific customs or rituals that have a bearing on the meaning of the text?

Answering those questions and others like them helps bridge the gap between the culture of the Bible and our modern society, bringing you to a clear, thorough understanding of the writer’s original message.

The Grammatical Principle

Often the syntactical construction of a passage is the key to its meaning. Verbs, nouns, pronouns, prepositions—just as in any other language, the usage and placement of the individual words help determine their meaning.

Sentence diagramming isn’t as stressed in grammar classes as it once was, but identifying the grammatical parts of a verse or passage and how they work together is very helpful when studying Scripture. If you don’t accurately and precisely follow the sequence of the words and phrases, how can you hope to know what God’s Word truly says?

The first thing I do when I prepare to teach a passage is study the biblical text in its original language. I want to make sure to get the full meaning of each word in the passage, and not overlook some nuance that can be lost in the translation to English. You can do the same in your personal study, even if you don’t know Greek and Hebrew. Interlinear translations, Bible dictionaries, and good commentaries ought to give you insight into the original languages, and help you break down what the words and phrases meant to their original audience.

The Synthesis Principle

If the Bible is God’s Word, it must be consistent with itself. No part of Scripture can contradict any other part. It was all inspired by one Author—the Holy Spirit—and consequently, it reflects a marvelous, supernatural unity.

That means that obscure passages can—and should—be understood in light of clearer ones. The synthesis principle puts Scripture together with Scripture to arrive at a clear, consistent meaning. If you hold to an interpretation of one passage that does not square with something in another passage, one of the passages is being interpreted incorrectly—and possibly both of them.

Using Scripture to interpret itself will also guard you from many heretical, extrabiblical doctrines, as it forces you to submit your interpretation to the standard and context of the rest of Scripture. It protects you from spiritual contradictions.

The Practical Principle

You can’t end your Bible study without asking, “What does all this have to do with me?” What does the passage have to say about faith, godliness, growth, sin, and repentance, and what are the implications for your life?

Regardless of what you’re studying, there will be some practical connection to your life. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

Once you’ve considered the literal meaning of a passage, its historical and grammatical context, and how it harmonizes with the rest of Scripture, you need to draw out the practical implications for your life. That’s what productive Bible study looks like—digging down to the original meaning of a text and applying it to your life.

Does that seem like something you can do faithfully in your own, personal study of God’s Word?

Book Review: Has God Spoken?

The book, Has God Spoken? By Hank Hanegraaff has the subtitle, Proof of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration. The purpose of the book is to provide reasons one can trust the Bible to be the Word of God. To do this, Hanegraaff breaks his book in to four parts or MAPS. Part one deals with “Manuscripts C-O-P-I-E-S”, which deals with how the manuscripts were transmitted and some information on textual criticism. Part two deals with the “Archaeologist S-P-A-D-E”, which gives some of the archaeological evidence used to support the Biblical texts. Part three deals with “Prophetic S-T-A-R-S”, which helps the reader understand the fulfillments of Bible prophecy and part four is “Scripture L-I-G-H-T-S”, which deals with Biblical interpretation, because many misunderstandings can be cleared up by proper interpretation.

Hanegraaff really likes acronyms. Each of the parts is broken down with an acronym that addresses a different line of reasoning. I know that this can be helpful for many folks to remember some of the points and the different lines of reasoning that Hanegraaff offers.

When I got the book, I first noticed its size. It was nearly 400 pages, but then I noticed that about 80 of those pages were in the form of chapter notes, bibliography, and indexes by subject and verse. This turns out to be a good thing, not just because it shortened the length of the book, but also because it added a lot to the extension possibilities for topics to be further investigated.

This is especially helpful because the presentation of information is not done at a high level, that is, Hanegraaff does a good job and making this information accessible to the layperson. Most individual points are only about 10 pages each. Again, this is good because he gives a quick overview of each section versus an in-depth look at the topics. Using the valuable resources in the appendix will help extend the learning for those interested in going deeper.

For anyone interested in a good introductory book that will help you understand the uniqueness of the Bible and reasoning for why we can trust the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, this is a good place to look.

(Disclosure: In exchange for an honest review, Booksneeze had provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Hyperlink Two-fer

Triablogue: Chuck Smith Needs to Repent

Triablogue: Trying to be a Christian

Haven’t followed the former story, but it serves as a reminder that all people stumble or falter, including King David and his son Solomon, hence the later turmoil and division of their kingdoms.

Concerning the latter article, it bears noting that even modern American narrative structure allows for the thematic/chronological distinction: one of the sorts of things that give rise to charges of biblical self-contradictions. Examples: the intro to 16 Blocks and Mission Impossible III.

“The Bible Was Only Written by Men...and Men Make Mistakes.”- A Response

Greg Koukl, of Stand to Reason makes an interesting point concerning this objection to the inerrancy of the Bible. Your thoughts?

First, it doesn’t follow that because the Bible’s written by men, that it therefore must be in error. Human error is possible, not necessary. If human error were always necessary in anything man said, this challenge would be self-refuting (“suicide tactic”). If all human claims were necessarily in error, then the claim that the Bible was written by men and men make mistakes would also be in error because it’s a claim made by men who err, defeating itself. It is possible for human beings to produce something without errors. It’s done all the time. What is 2+2? What is the formula for nuclear fission?

Second, this is circular reasoning. If there’s good evidence the Bible can be trusted, then the issue of man’s involvement is moot. A simple question illustrates this: “Are you suggesting with this objection that if God does exist, He’s not capable of writing what He wants through imperfect men?” This is hard to affirm. If the answer is “No,” then the objection vanishes. If the answer is yes, then ask, “Did you ever own a dog? Could you get your dog to sit? If you can get a dumb dog to sit, what makes you think an all-powerful God can’t get a man to write just what He wants him to?” If you first establish that the Biblical record can be trusted, then the second problem—human involvement is irrelevant. If God inspires it then it doesn’t matter if men or monkeys did the writing; they’ll still write exactly what God intends.

Another way of stating it: God can’t err; the Bible is God’s Word; therefore, the Bible can’t err, even if men are involved.

10 Questions 6-10

Question number 6) “Why didn’t any of Jesus’ miracles in the Bible leave behind any evidence?”
Interesting question, well, some of his miracles were healing people, those people then became believers, who influenced others around them to also become believers so that by today we have over one Billion Christians -- if that’s not evidence, I don’t know what you’re looking for -- Jesus’ footprints from walking on water?




Question number 7) “Why do bad things happen to good people.”
Bad things happen to everybody, but once again, show me someone who is truly good. There is no such thing as “good on the whole” or “basically good”; bad things and good things happen. What I’d really like to know is why good things happen to bad people? There are some evil, evil people out there that are BILLIONAIRES! This life happens the way it happens, but ultimately we’re going to end up face to face with a God who is going to judge our souls and our hearts. At that point you’re going to find our just how good you think you are verses how good God thinks you are.

Question number 8) “How do you explain the fact that Jesus has never appeared to you?”
Speak for yourself. Once again the author has mistaken that since Jesus has not appeared to him, Jesus therefore hasn’t appeared to anyone. The fact is that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to tens of thousands of people, and when he appears bodily again, it will be to end the world and cast all unbelievers into the lake of fire. I would think that as an unbeliever, the author should be careful what he is asking for. The mistake is also made in the assumption that the only way Jesus could prove his existence to anyone is to appear bodily. Again, this is foolish. We are all aware of the existence of people we’ve never met (both contemporary and historical) because of the tangible evidence of their existence. I suppose the author might deny the existence of John F. Kennedy on the same grounds.

Question number 9) “Why would Jesus want you to eat His body and drink His blood?”
Again, I’d like to know what Bible you are reading because Jesus clearly points out the symbolic nature of the bread which was BREAD and the wine which was WINE -- not flesh and not blood. The symbolic nature is that when you eat bread and drink wine OR eat an apple or have a drink of water, you are putting something inside your body. It is inside you, it is now part of you, and will now work through you -- that is what Jesus wants. He doesn’t just want us to know about Him or be friends with Him; He wants to be inside us; He wants to be so much a part of our lives that we consume Him so that He is inside of us and therefore, controlling and motivating us so that our actions reflect this fact.

Question number 10) “Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?
The reason is because most of the people claiming to be Christians today are not truly Christians. The word “Christian” means to be “Christ-like” anyone who is like Christ would not get a divorce. Now some of these people might be saved, but please, be careful when you call them Christians. In the instance of a genuine, true Christian that gets in a divorce, I’d like to take a look at their spouse and see just how hard-hearted that person might have been. When you have two people that are totally committed -- totally and thoroughly committed to the will of Christ and that spend daily devotions together seeking the will of God and praying together, the statistics on divorce are less than 1 in 2000 -- not even one tenth of one percent!

10 Questions: 1-5

The following is a response to “Anti-gag” (Chris Hill).

First, thanks for your interest. I decided to answer your questions in the hopes that you really are seeking God. If not, then I hope everyone else will appreciate my answers.

For everyone else, last night a link to an anti-christian video was posted in the comments section of my blog. Upon watching the video I was both disappointed and glad at the same time. I was disappointed because I couldn’t believe that someone actually thought this was logic, and glad because I had a chunk of meat to dig my teeth into. The video posed 10 questions in an attempt to prove that God is imaginary.

All right, my friends. I have an answer to every single one of those questions...

I would first like to point out that the video begins with a vain attempt to induce pride in the viewer by making the claim that, “You have all the answers. You have the ability to answer these questions because you have knowledge and power,” (sounds like they might believe in God after all.) The truth is that we are tiny human specks in the universe and to think that we might have the knowledge to understand and explain everything there is to know: 1) in the universe and 2) about God, is ludicrous... But on with the questions.

Question number 1) "Why won’t God heal amputees?"
Why won’t God heal the flu? Why won’t God heal warts? How about this: why should He heal anybody? Does God obey our whims? How dare you try to make the King of the Universe your personal vending machine! Just because someone has an amputation doesn’t mean that God won’t give them a better life in all eternity. To look at the momentary discomfort of any human being and say, “Therefore, that is proof that God doesn’t exist,” is ridiculous. This life is so infinitesimally short that to spend it complaining to God is a waste!

Question number 2) "Why are there so many starving people in our world?"
I suppose the author of this video would prefer that God to zap food into people’s mouths, once again betraying their ignorance of what God’s purpose is. While I would not disagree that there are some instances where there are individuals that are having very difficult times providing for themselves, most instances where there is mass starvation is caused by plague, natural disaster or an oppressive government, because we have plenty of land and plenty of food that we can get. Once again, since God is a god of eternity, to look at the temporary discomfort during the few years that we live on this earth and say, “Therefore, there is no God,” is sheer lunacy. The author would do better spending a little time learning about who God is and what He wants from us rather that assuming that He’s a magic genie that should jump up and dance every time we demand it.

Question number 3) "Why does God allow the death of so many innocent people?"
Once you show me someone who is truly innocent, then I will answer your question. No one on this earth is pure and innocent in the eyes of Almighty God. Every single person on the planet is fallen and sinful. The video puts up the points of:
Exodus 35:2, “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy {day,} a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.”
God was making a point that He is to be obeyed. Anyone who disobeys this simple commandments should be put to death because since they cannot be trusted to do this simple thing how can they be trusted to obey a greater thing?
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 Disobedient youth are to be put to death.
Once again, God understood that if a child is continually disobedient, then that child will be disobedient through adulthood and may entice others to be disobedient as well. This would quickly corrupt the society.
Leviticus 20:13, “If {there is} a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood-guiltiness is upon them.”
Once again, as with the previous section, God is dealing with disobedience. Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible because it is an attack on the institution of the family and marriage. God knows that without these pillars to uphold society, society is doomed to collapse.
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 Girls that are not found to be virgins when they marry are to be put to death.
Once again, harlotry corrupts a society, just open up your high-school history book an take a look! God does account for rape and incest (in which case the girl is not to be put to death). But God understands that once the people no longer sanctify virginity, the society is headed for disaster!

Question number 4) "Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?"
Once again, show me a verse in the Bible that is truly nonsense. The video firsts tries to create an assumption that God might be against technology -- which He is not! God gave humanity the ability to learn, improve and invent. The video then tries to put up “evidence” of unscientific verses:
“God did not create the world in 6 literal days 6,000 years ago.”
(I could devote an entire blog to proving this point, but I’ll try to keep it brief.) Any student of physics understands that matter, space, time and energy were all created at the same time and yes, they were CREATED. Our universe’s law of entropy demands that there had to have been a creation event some time in the past. How far in the past? Well, I could give hundreds of examples that would demonstrate irrefutable evidence for a young earth, but here are just two: first, we are loosing our moon (it used to be closer to us,) and second, the Earth is moving farther away from the sun (we also used to be closer.) These facts rule out that our solar system is billions of years old since as little as 100,000 years ago the radiation from the Sun would make the earth uninhabitable and the moon so close that land tides would destroy all life on earth.
“There was never a worldwide flood that covered Mount Everest.”
You are assuming there was a Mount Everest that needed to be covered. Let me first point out that students of geology agree that there had to have been a massive flood that covered the earth to create the observable evidence that we have today. Before the Flood, the earth was relatively flat, but when the crevasses in the ocean (check any ocean floor map) opened up, the pressure of the water caused the ocean floor to get lower and the mountains to get higher. Mount Everest didn’t exist until after he Flood.
“Jonah did not live inside a fishes stomach for 3 days.”
Once again, you are assuming that Jonah lived. No where in the Bible does it say that Jonah lived in the fish’s belly. Jonah died and was resurrected – an Old Testament foreshadowing of Jesus being buried and resurrected.
“God did not create Adam from a handful of dust.”
Prove he didn’t. Since it is so easy to check out so many facts presented in the Bible, and therefore demonstrate that God can be trusted, it is therefore logical to also trust Him in the areas that we cannot check out.

Question number 5) “Why is God such a huge proponent of slavery in the Bible.”
I don’t know what Bible your reading, but simply because the Bible documents the existence of slavery in no way means that God approves of it. The Bible is a history book; that’d be like saying since Abraham Lincoln talked about slavery he was a proponent of it -- now do you see how this is ridiculous? Some people point out that since Paul regulated slavery (rather than abolishing it) he must therefore have approved of it; Let me say that in no way is Paul approving of slavery -- the Government at the time is the one that mandated slavery (once again an oppressive government.) So, Paul said “you know what, since you are a slave, why not make the best of it? Become a Christian and receive the gift of eternal life, and maybe along the way your master will become saved too, since your life is such a great example.” The Old Testament account of Joseph, who started out as a slave but then became the ruler of all Egypt and got the Pharaoh saved as well, would be a good example.

Biblical Errors?

Here's a quick video discussing what we should do with Biblical "errors".

Check it out.

The Essential Bible

In the Essentials post from a few days ago, I posted an article from the Bible Answer Man in regard to the essentials of the Christian faith. Believing in Christianity takes putting one's faith, or trust, in something (or rather Someone). It is not a blind faith; it is not wishful thinking.

There are solid reasons for believing in the One who made us; Jesus Christ. Today will be some links to several articles on the reliability of the Bible, which is our source for understanding who God is and what He expects from us. These are from the Bible Answer Man site.

The Reliability of the Bible

Reliability of the Biblical Manuscripts

Is the Bible Myth?

How Do We Know the Bible is the Word of God?

These are fairly short articles so be sure to check one or two out. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts. For a more detailed reason for the reliability of the Bible, check out Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict.

Derrick