Here we are with Episode 3 in my series called “The Bible Does NOT Mean That!” The goal is not to tell you definitively what the Bible does or does not say. The goal is to talk about how we can look at the Bible with intentionality and understanding. Since it is God’s revelation to humanity it’s not supposed to be filled with secrets locked away to all but the elite. It’s designed to guide us ALL!
The problem is that many of us are simply never taught how to read it.
So today we’re talking about hermeneutics (her-men-oo-tics): the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation. It can be used with interpreting anything, really, but is often used when we talk about interpreting the Bible.
The other day I published a post about Feminist Theology and how it damages the text of Scripture. While there is a spectrum of thought within Feminist Theology, most of the thinkers within the movement tend to move away from affirming the authority of the Bible.
Long story short, I upset some people who thought I was marginalizing feminists. One went so far as to tell me:
There isn’t a singular interpretation of any religious text. It’s a 2000 year old comic book in my eyes. To say one reading is holy and another reading is “destroying the bible” is the most ridiculous, selfish, onerous thing [you] can say.
But here’s the thing. There is only one meaning to a text. Fee and Stuart say, “The Bible can not mean now what it never meant then.” That means that the author’s original intent is the foundational guideline for understanding any given text.
“What does this mean to me?” is not a valid method of interpreting a text. How I respond as a reader is not as important as what the author was trying to say. The author’s meaning is what we need to be looking for. In that sense, then, there is only one meaning to any text.
There are, however, multiple applications to a text. Era, culture, technology, and other elements all play a role in how a text is applied to our lives today, but the original meaning never changes.
In that regard, theologies that attempt to skew the original meaning of the text, whether they be feminist, liberation, systematic, whatever…all damage the text when they set aside the original intent in order to pursue their own agendas.
So the next time you read the Bible, the first question need to ask is, “What was God trying to say when this was first written?” Only then can you follow it up with, “How can I work to apply this to my life?”
Follow @chrislinzeyRelated Posts:
– The Bible Does Not Mean That! – Episode 1
– The Bible Does Not Mean That! – Episode 2
Chris Linzey 
Pastor Linzey,
You are on point when talking about how an author-centered approach is the only correct way to interpret scripture. Liberals of all types only take what their more conservative counterparts have done for decades to the fullest extent. That is, employ a reader-centered approach (i.e., “what does this mean to me?”). God is the object of scripture, not us. We are the subjects. It irks me when I hear someone say, “As a ____, I come to scripture with…” Who cares? The first-century church cannot be compared to current events or Western culture wars.
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Precisely!
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The fact that some people would even read the bible with a feminist idea instead of using spiritual eyes and heart really irked me…..reading the bible this way is a dangerous thing, that’s like taking snippets from the OT, then Proverbs, Psalms and the NT and then Revelations and saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” …. let’s read our bibles with our head and our hearts and not as foolish children. Coming off the soapbox now.
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Preacher, preach!
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What is God saying when this was written, what was going on in the background, read the scriptures above and below and pray and ask the Holy Spirit ” How can I apply this to my life”. And don’t be afraid to study, ask questions, read a commentary, dive into a bible dictionary. Get hungry and stay that way!
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Yes! 🙂
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