Studying the Scriptures

I try to take a holistic approach to the scriptures. I attempt to avoid a proof-texting approach, as I believe it leads to distortions. I have been reading the entire bible over and over again for forty years. I did this to develop a biblical way of thinking. I now find it hard to think in any other way.

So when I come to a new issue, I do not just look for relevant proof texts, I bring the entire scriptures to it (that I have absorbed over many years). When I look at a particular scripture I often see things that others don’t, because I read it through the lens of the rest of the scriptures.

I also try to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. He often points me to other scriptures that I had not considered relevant to the issue.

When I write an issue up, I do not list every relevant scripture because there are usually too many.

I realise that my approach has some risk, but on the whole, I think that it has worked fairly well.

I do not claim that everything I write is absolute truth. I do not care if people reject some or all of my teaching. They are accountable for their own lives.

Prodigal Christianity (5) Scriptures

David Fitches’s response at his ordination interview when asked if he believed in the inerrancy of scripture is worth the price of the book. It is a pity he does not have a photo of the expressions on the faces of the interviewing committee. He could have added $10 to the price of the book.

His response was that the expression is too liberal. Get Prodigal Christianity and read the story and his explanation of what this means.

Getting on to the substance of the chapter, this signpost begins by noting that the modern world is hostile to the scriptures.

The Bible is nothing more than a cultural artefact; it actively disdained when offered as an authority in the public realm.

Add to this the fact that our culture is suspicious toward interpretation. The automatic rejoinder to any authoritative statement is the proverbial, “ Well that’s your interpretation.”

Authority in general has a bad name.

They note that many Christians trying to defend the scriptures end up undermining their position.

From uniting the inspiration of the scripture to the scientific methods comes a concern for inerrancy and a focus on propositions.

Many pastors and leaders have sought to defend the Bible according to the most accepted of all standards in Western society: science. We have been tempted to deploy the scientific method to prove the authority of scripture.

We inadvertently put a human authority above the bible.

Scripture, when viewed that way can seem like a static collection of divinely perfect scientific propositions.

Some have reacted to this approach by over emphasising the human nature of scripture and the importance of personal experience, but his does not work either.

Each approach accommodates to a different cultural attitudes. One side capitulates to scientific rationality and the other to a “hermeneutics of suspicion”

Fitch and Holsclaw say that the authority of scripture is something we receive, not something we control. When we preach the gospel, the scripture receives its authority from be connected to God’s mission.

Scripture is not some great ideological document that seeks to dominate or control.

We must understand the scriptures authority as principle component through which the kingdom comes.

We should rarely find ourselves defending the bibles authority. Rather its authority becomes undeniable when its compelling reality becomes visible among us. The story of God as displayed in a people speaks for itself.

We approach scripture first not to analyse it or subject it to study as on object, but rather to allow ourselves to be immersed in it.

They quote NT Wright.

The authority of Scripture makes the sense it does within the world of God’s kingdom, at every level for the cosmic and political through to the personal.

I have always felt that the concept of inerrancy claim is not helpful. My thoughts on the authority of scriptures are as follows.

• The scriptures were written by people. They used their own vocabulary and style, and they did not realise that they were writing scriptures. They put stuff in that is irrelevant to us.

• According to 2 Tim 3:16, the scriptures are God-breathed (theopneustos). We do not fully know what that means, but I believe that the Holy Spirit got everything into the scriptures that he wanted in. The scriptures contain everything that he wanted to about God and the world.

• When interpreting the scriptures, I am not so worried about understanding the author’s intent. I always want to know what the Holy Spirit intended . I try to read the scriptures listening to him. Reading and listening at the same time are important. (We sometimes need to be in a group to hear clearly).

• The Psalms teach that loving the law leads to wisdom. I find that loving the scriptures leads to insight (we must not worship them). The more I read them the more insights I get.

• Spurgeon said that you should defend the scriptures the same way that you defend a caged lion. You let it loose.

• All people and all cultures have blind spots. My culture has blinds spots, but I do not know what they are, because I am part of my culture. I have some blind spots that cause me to miss part of what God is saying, or to get some things wrong, but I do not know what they are. It is really hard to escape from our culture and see it as God sees it. They best we can do is to read humbly and be as open as possible to the challenges of the Holy Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit chose to use verbal revelation. He could have given us twenty pictures, but he did not. He could have waited until the modern age, and given us a movie or an audio-visual, but he did not. The Holy Spirit chose to use words, so words are important. This means that we need to listen to the words carefully, but in the context of the whole message.

• The scriptures should be read as they are written. The epistles are more propositional than other parts of the scriptures. The gospels contain more story, with a bit of proposition. Much of the Old Testament describes events, although the law is much more propositional. Propositional writing is a clear precise way to communicate. Communicating in this way is fine, as long as we understand the limitations.

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (4) - Tough Task

The Holy Spirit had a few problems getting the scriptures written. He could whisper thoughts in the author’s ears, but he could not force them to write exactly what he wanted. So he sometimes had to have a second go, just to get everything that he wanted in. That is why we have the book of Deuteronomy. Much of it already written in Exodus, but Moses missed a few important things. So the Holy Spirit got him to write down the law again many years later, after he put those missing ideas and concepts into Moses mind.

If the Holy Spirit had been able to control Mark, we would probably have just one gospel. But Mark missed out some important parts of Jesus teaching, so the Holy Spirit got Luke and Matthew and John to have a go. Between them they got down everything that the Holy Spirit wanted in the gospel.

The theology stuff was really hard to get right. Paul did really well with Romans and got a lost of stuff tied down. However, he had to write quite a few more letters before he had recorded all the technical stuff that the Holy Spirit wanted in the scriptures.

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (3) - Late Additons and Hard Passages

Some passages may have been added later by a different author. That does not matter, provided the Holy Spirit wanted them included. Mark 16:9-20 and John 8:1-11 are good examples. They are absent in the earliest manuscripts, which suggests that they were either added by a different author later or copied from a different piece of writing by the original author. Neither passages adds anything that is not stated elsewhere in the scriptures. They are inspiring passages, so I am certain that the Holy Spirit wanted them there.

When dealing with hard passages, I do not focus on the problems, but ask what the Holy Spirit is saying. I ponder his reasons for putting the passage in the scriptures. This has lead to many interesting insights.

When considering a controversial modern issue, my first thought is to ask, “What has the Holy Spirit put in the Bible to deal with this issue?” This usually leads to some interesting insights.

A good example is the modern dispute about genetic engineering. Most people would just assume that the Bible has nothing to say, because genetic engineering did not exist in the biblical world. I actually found some interesting teaching in the book of Leviticus. The author did not understand the full implications of what he was writing, but he was giving insights into how we should deal with this difficult issue.

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (2) - Differences

Some people worry about difference Jesus words being recorded differently in different gospels. We should remember that preached almost every day for three years. He would repeat the same message numerous times using slightly different wording each time. The different gospels just record the version spoken on different occasions. The Holy Spirit provided these different versions so that we can get a fullest possible understanding of Jesus message.

Translation was also an issue. Peter’s response to Jesus question about who he was is recorded differently in different gospels.

The Christ of God (Luke 9:20)
You are the Christ (Mark 8:29)
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16).

The most likely reason for these differences is that the gospels were written in Greek, whereas Jesus and Peter spoke in Aramaic. The Holy Spirit often needed slightly different Greek versions to get the full meaning of what was spoken in Aramaic. We should be glad for the fuller insight this provides.

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (1)

I take a fairly simplistic approach to the scriptures. I just assume that the Holy Spirit got everything that he wanted into the book.

He gave the authors lots of freedom. Their writing style reflected their personalities. They put in lots of personal stuff and bits of their family history that are not very important. However, the Holy Spirit ensured that they got the key stuff right.

The actual text was written by humans, so understanding the objectives and culture of the author may sometimes be helpful for translating and interpreting the Bible. For example, it is helpful to understand that Matthew used the expression Kingdom of Heaven because he was writing for Jewish readers.

My key question when interpreting the scriptures is “What is the Holy Spirit saying in this passage?” This question leads to real insights.

The Holy Spirit's meaning is not limited to the understanding of the author. The Holy Spirit sometimes put ideas in the author’s heads that they did not fully comprehend. They sometimes thought they understood what they were writing, but the Holy Spirit was using them unwittingly to communicate something they did not understand.