Last week I mentioned inductive and deductive Bible study and how both are necessary. In my opinion, the best way to combine these two ways of study is first to do the inductive study, examining the text alone and finding out as much as we can about it through prayer and insight. Then, after we have picked the text apart, we can refer to reference materials (commentaries, dictionaries, word-study tools, etc.) in order to compare our conclusions with those of others. Hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) is best done with others, but we can't just take someone else's word for it. (FYI: The term hermeneutics comes from the messenger of the Greek gods, Hermes. He would bring the people a message from their gods, and they had to figure out what the message meant. So we call principles of how to interpret the Bible "hermeneutics.")
The main ingredient of inductive Bible study (apart from the Holy Spirit) is context. Context is a lot like Google Maps. :) When you view a map, you can zoom in or zoom out to see where your location is. If you zoom way in, all you see is the street. If you zoom out a little bit, you can see the block or neighborhood, giving you more of an idea of where you are looking. Zoom out farther, and you can see highways, cities, etc. Context is necessary for an understanding of what the author was saying. We start by examining the words in a sentence, then zoom out to see what the paragraph says, then we zoom out further to see what that book of the Bible says, and even go so far as to see what the rest of the Bible says (especially with a book like Revelation that has over 500 Old Testament allusions). This is called the literary context. But why is literary context so important?
Moises Silva puts it this way: "context does not merely help us understand meaning; it virtually makes meaning." For example, let's look at Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." We have all used this verse before, usually to make ourselves feel better at a poorly attended gathering. Now at first glance, this seems like a straight-forward promise; however, read in context of Matthew 18:15-20, the meaning becomes apparent. Jesus is pointing out an Old Testament principle about matters being established by two or three witnesses in order to bring a brother to a conviction about a sin. If your brother rejects correction in front of two or three witnesses, and even the church, in essence, he is rejecting God as well!! (By the way, many call this a passage about "church discipline," but I really don't think that was what Jesus had in mind. I am pretty sure Jesus desires for us to win our brother over...just my opinion based on the context.)
Everything we study in the Bible is made up of words. We need to see how they relate to each other and what they are communicating, which is a great reason to throttle back when you are reading. And Remember! Context, context, context!! I cannot stress this enough. We have all pulled verses out of context to prove something before, but as we study, we need to be ever-so-observant of the literary context. We will mention the situational, or historical-cultural context next week, but for now, let's mull over and discuss a couple of things:
- How important is it for us to have read all the way through the Bible in order to grasp a passage's context within the entire Bible?
- Is it rude or insensitive to point out to someone when they are taking a passage out of context? Why or why not?
- (Cautiously I ask this) Should our theology be influenced by interpreting the Bible, or should our interpretation of the Bible be based on our theology? How do our interpretation and our theology both influence our discipleship?
- What other thoughts or questions do you have?
Just a quick note on "Context". It is important to know the whole or context and not just lift out a part when you are leading, speaking, or just trying to get through your daily walk. Two examples. First on not knowing the context when you speak. I attended a service several years ago where the wearing of a headress in church by women was discussed. We ended up with hurt feelings and women who believed that without the headress, they may be disrespectful. However,in my study, some have said that the context here was that the headress at that time was a sign that you were married and was a sign of respect to your husband. Today we substitute the wedding band for the headress. A lot of ill will could have been avoided, if this was indeed the context of this passage. A second example in my walk was Ephesians 5:5 which had been a troublesome verse to me on I got the full context. It says, "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." Taken alone, in that we are still subject to our sin nature, one could believe that we could lose our salvation. However, one must keep this verse in its context and realize that the word "therefore" in verse 7 is a linking device which links verse 5, verse 6 (furhter clarification of what is being described in verse 5) to verse 7 - "Therefore do not be partakers with them." Paul is simply saying that you know that the old self is not a partaker in / of the grace of Christ, so why would you want to associate with this type of individual or lifestyle. Thus, study hard and broad.
ReplyDeleteRoy Brehm
I like what you are pointing out, Roy! Those are great examples of how the context makes the meaning of the passage or verse. The two examples you just gave are great examples of how our interpretation could form our theology. If we miss the context, then our theology will be off as well. Parables are interesting birds because they have a surface level and a teaching level. The surface level is a story, which can be considered as a truthful teaching. But there is also a teaching level, where the truth represented by the story is meant to be portrayed in some other "narrative," such as how the kingdom of God operates. Great stuff!!
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