It’s a Matter of Interpretation!
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
The Bible is the breathed-out word of God. God has revealed what He wants us to know about Him and His plan of redemption. God has told us that all men are creatures, and He is the Creator. The Bible reveals His only Son, Jesus, through whom we know God personally. This unique and precious book is a collection of 66 books. Men whom the Spirit of God carried along wrote it. It contains everything necessary for life and salvation. God has preserved what we have today. Moses told the church in the Old Testament that “the secret things belong to God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
God is a God of revelation. He desires that we would know what He has revealed about Himself and us. It is reasonable to assume that the Bible can be understood and thereby be interpreted. But Christians are faced with a myriad of interpretations. We are faced with choices. Who has the “right” interpretation? Whom should we follow? What is “right” doctrine? If we look at this issue of biblical interpretation logically, we must conclude that all interpretations cannot be right. When there are contradicting views of the Bible, one or both may be wrong. One thing for certain is they all can’t be right. There is only one right interpretation of a passage of Scripture. For difficult passages, we may never arrive at the right interpretation this side of heaven.
But don’t lose heart. The entire Bible does not fall into the category of “difficult”. The vast majority of biblical doctrine is clear. For example, the doctrine of salvation is simple enough that a child can understand it and so deep that it drowns theologians. For example, men are saved from God, by God, for God. Every step along the way salvation is by God’s grace alone!
Considering interpretation there are two principles by which we are able to interpret Scripture. I call the first the biblical principle. The second I call the literal principle. The biblical principle is also called the analogy of faith. The Protestant Reformers recovered this principle of interpretation. They understood that the Bible interprets itself. This means that the clear passages of Scripture shed light upon the more obscure ones. It is also understood that one passage of Scripture must not be placed against another. In other words, there are no contradictions in the Bible. There may be apparent contradictions, but once we’ve studied the issue, we find that the Bible is consistent with itself, because God does not speak with a forked tongue.
My second principle, the literal one, is also called the historical/grammatical principle of interpretation. You may have heard the saying that “Text without context is pretext.” The words of Scripture find their meaning within the broader context of the passage. For example, because of the difficulty in understanding a passage like Hebrews 6:4, which says, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit” (ESV), it would not be accurate to base a theology on the possibility of losing one’s salvation! Keeping that verse within its context makes it clear that the writer is speaking of one who may profess faith but does not possess genuine saving faith. In other words, the writer was speaking of those who are called apostates.
Further, to interpret literally means to understand that which is plainly meant. It is how we read and understand any literature. Therefore, grammar, meaning of words, context, time in which it was written, etc. are involved in understanding the meaning. It is important to remember that the literal interpretation of the Bible is not the same as a literalistic interpretation. For example, we know that when the prophet Isaiah wrote that the “trees of the field shall clap their hands” he didn’t mean that trees have hands. God was describing the joy of all creation when His plan of redemption is finally consummated. Or, when Jesus said that He was the “door of the sheep”, He did not mean that He looked like a door! John 10 was declaring that Jesus is the only way for His people to have safety and security.
Finally, the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice that God has given to His people. He means for us to understand it. I encourage you to apply these principles of interpretation so that your life will be lived for His glory and for your blessing. It is indeed a matter of interpretation!
