Interpreting the Bible The need to Interpret Part 1

THE NEED TO INTERPRET. Part 1.

THE BIBLE: The need to Interpret Series Icon.

I commenced my Scripture Series on the topic of BibleReading Methods. Feel free to check out this 4-part series. During the next 5 weeks, I will write a weekly post providing an Overview on the Need to Interpret the Bible and how this might be possible.  

Scripture like Christ is both Divine and human.  It is divine because it has eternal relevance to every age and culture and God chose to speak human words through the language, time and culture of the authors in a particular era of history.  There are those who believe the Bible is human only.  Their interpretation is restricted to historical questioning such as exploring the meanings of the words to the people living in that time and what they thought of God and themselves.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ONLY DIVINE INTERPRETATION.

There are problems relating to only divine interpretation. These include:

1. These people believe that the Bible is only a collection of propositions and imperatives and they can pick and choose between these propositions and imperatives to be obeyed.

2. They deny that God speaks in the context of human history both past and present depriving them of hope that God will speak to them in their own time and place.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ONLY HUMAN INTERPRETATION.

Aspects related to human interpretation include:

1. We are far removed from the culture, vocabulary and meanings in which the books were written, but the need is to interpret the words and understand them in the former context as well as the present.

2. God chose almost every mode of communication such as narrative, history, poetry, proverbs, letters and parables. Our duty is to know the rules that apply to each of these genres and understand the words so that we can interpret more appropriately the biblical texts.

3. Some old laws no longer exist or are relevant to present day whereas moral law, which applied in the old law, is still operative today.  We need to be able to distinguish which of the old laws are still relevant to the present time and how we might put them into practice.

WHY DO WE NEED TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE

It is necessary to know how to interpret because:

1. Our life experiences, culture and prior understanding of words and ideas affect our interpretation.

2. Translators have already made an interpretive choice of meanings.

3. We are actively involved in the process of interpretation as a reader.

4. Some people use Bible tests to augment their pet ideas rather than explore the meaning of the text.

5. We need to aware of the false pride in the interpreter in an incorrect interpretation.

6. We need to have a true understanding of spirituality and be able to pick a false one.

7. We need to able to pick a particular theological bias and discern between a good and not so good interpretation.

SUGGESTED REFERENCES

However, we are not alone because there are many highly skilled scripture scholars who can assist us.  Having a good Concordance to helps us interpret can enhance our learning and understanding of Holy Scripture enormously 

There are many from which to choose to suit all needs and budgets. Why not explore some of these Concordances further. 

•  The Concise Concordance to the New Revised Standard Version.
• The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the bible ( Red-Letter Edition).
• The Catholic Bible Concordance for the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition         ( RSV-CE)