THE TRUE BIBLICAL METHOD OF INTERPRETATION

[Eddie Ramos]

Since our method of biblical interpretation is the backbone of our doctrine, would God simply provide a book for us without teaching us how he intended for us to understand what he wrote? It's common knowledge that the most widely known and accepted method of biblical interpretation is the "Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method". This means that most doctrines people hold to be true are built upon this foundation.

My first question, to those who hold to this method is, can you provide any scripture that teaches this method as the correct method of biblical interpretation? For example, Timothy 2:15 tells us to rightly divide the Word of Truth, but we can't infer that this means to look for the Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method. It simply says to rightly divide it. And who can teach us how God intends for us to rightly divide it, if not the one whose very words these are? God himself.

It seems that so much trust has been placed on the scholars and theologians and church leaders who've handed us a method of hermeneutic that they've come up with, but that isn't actually derived from the scriptures themselves. Does anyone find that strange? But did you know that God has indeed provided us with scriptures upon scriptures that teach us just how he intended for us to approach His Word and rightly divide it?

I will begin by posting just a few and expounding from there as the conversations progress.

1. The Bible is a spiritual book, therefore, in looking for the literal understanding of a passage as our source of truth, we have missed the mark and the intended meaning of the deeper truth that God has provided, which is the gospel message.

Romans 7:14 (KJV 1900)
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

2. As a spiritual book, the Bible teaches us that we must compare, not literal with literal, but spiritual with spiritual if we expect the Holy Ghost to teach.

1 Corinthians 2:13 (KJV 1900)
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

3. When we merely search for the Literal-Grammatical-Historical rendering of a passage, then we will miss the spiritual meanings contained within the Word of God. And that is exactly how God designed His Word, to conceal spiritual truth. God's hermeneutic is by design and easily rejected by those who trust more in man's wisdom than in God's.

Isaiah 28:9–10 (KJV 1900)

9  Whom shall he teach knowledge?
And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?
Them that are weaned from the milk,
And drawn from the breasts.
10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;
Line upon line, line upon line;
Here a little, and there a little:

[Miles]

Since our method of biblical interpretation is the backbone of our doctrine, would God simply provide a book for us without teaching us how he intended for us to understand what he wrote? It's common knowledge that the most widely known and accepted method of biblical interpretation is the "Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method". This means that most doctrines people hold to be true are built upon this foundation.

A rather dubious claim.

Concerning the (Literal) Historical-grammatical Method

It is the primary method of interpretation for many conservative Protestant exegetes who reject the historical-critical method to various degrees (from the complete rejection of historical criticism of some fundamentalist Protestants to the moderated acceptance of it in the Roman Catholic tradition since the Divino afflante Spiritu encyclical letter), in contrast to the overwhelming reliance on historical-critical interpretation in biblical studies at the academic level.
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The aim of the historical-grammatical method is to discover the meaning of the passage as the original author would have intended and what the original hearers would have understood. The original passage is seen as having only a single meaning or sense. As Milton S. Terry said, "A fundamental principle in grammatico-historical exposition is that the words and sentences can have but one significance in one and the same connection. The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture."
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Technically speaking, the historical-grammatical method of interpretation is distinct from the determination of the passage's significance in light of that interpretation. Together, interpretation of the passage and determining the meaning define the term "hermeneutics".


___________________________

Other literal methods

The historical-grammatical method is not the only method based on a literal reading of the Bible. Among other methods are the exegesis of the ancient School of Antioch, the approach of the Karaites, the Golden-age Spanish Jewish rationalism, some scholastics like the School of St. Victor, the philogical method of the Reformers, the Protestant scholasticism of the Puritans and Francis Turretin, the devotional reading of the Pietists, and the Biblical Reading method of the evangelicals Victorians. What makes the Historical-grammatical method unique is its insistence on the possibility of attaining a single objective reading, based upon the Enlightenment's Cartesian rationalism or Common-Sense realism.


Reader-response method

In the reader-response method, the focus is on how the book is perceived by the reader, not on the intention of the author. While the methods focused on the Aesthetics of reception the objective is how the book is perceived by the reader without worrying about the authorial intent or original audiences, the historical-grammatical method considers the reader-response irrelevant.


Historical-critical method

The historical-critical method is used by many academic Bible scholars in universities, including many Roman Catholic and Protestant institutions. The method uses different approaches, like source criticism, genre criticism, tradition criticism, and redaction criticism in an attempt to discover the sources and factors that contributed to the making of the text as well as to determine what it meant to the original audience.

There also a systematic use of historical, sociologia, archeological, linguistic, anthropological and comparative mythology data. Scholars who use the historical-critical method treat the Bible as they would any other text
source: Wikipedia

It seems that so much trust has been placed on the scholars and theologians and church leaders who've handed us a method of hermeneutic that they've come up with, but that isn't actually derived from the scriptures themselves. Does anyone find that strange? But did you know that God has indeed provided us with scriptures upon scriptures that teach us just how he intended for us to approach His Word and rightly divide it?

I will begin by posting just a few and expounding from there as the conversations progress.

Keep in mind that this isn't a conversational forum but one of debate, and that you're required to present an issue for debate.

So what, exactly, do you want to debate?



.

[Eddie Ramos]

Keep in mind that this isn't a conversational forum but one of debate, and that you're required to present an issue for debate.

So what, exactly, do you want to debate?



.

I suppose the answer to my question would be the debate. I'll post it again here:

"My first question, to those who hold to this method (or any method you described above) is, can you provide any scripture that teaches this method as the correct method of biblical interpretation?"

[myth-one.com]

Since our method of biblical interpretation is the backbone of our doctrine, would God simply provide a book for us without teaching us how he intended for us to understand what he wrote?

The words of the scriptures are sealed from mankind"s understanding. Your "Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method" has yet to unseal them, and never will.

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

The scriptures will remain unsealed till the time of the end:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

In this time of the end, shortly before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth, knowledge shall be increased and the scriptures shall be unsealed.

Until that time, man is basically ignorant in regards to the scriptures!

But God does tell us the way to understand the book!

The trouble is that the answer is written in the sealed book!

The scriptures form the most amazing book ever written. The answers to man's every question are placed into a book which is brilliantly sealed from his understanding!

Satan immediately sets man off on the totally wrong path when he instills in man the concept that, "Ye shall not surely die" in the first few pages of the Bible.

[Eddie Ramos]

The words of the scriptures are sealed from mankind"s understanding. Your "Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method" has yet to unseal them, and never will.

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

The scriptures will remain unsealed till the time of the end:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

Thanks for your reply, but I didn't suggest that the Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method (or any other man-made method) was the method I used. When I said "our" in my OP, I meant Christians in general. I thought the rest of my OP made my position clear.

That being said, the entirety of the scriptures are not hid from God's people. Only information which God has kept sealed until the time of the end. We can be sure because the very same scriptures you speak of were opened up to the disciples (and the now readers), at which time God opened up their understanding of a particular scripture.

[i]Luke 18:32-34 (KJV) 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

John 20:9 (KJV) 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Luke 24:44-45 (KJV) 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,[/i]

We can be confident that God has given his people understanding of His Word (the scriptures), but has indeed sealed much information that he has begun to reveal in this time of the end.

Revelation 22:10 (KJV) 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

In this time of the end, shortly before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth, knowledge shall be increased and the scriptures shall be unsealed.

Until that time, man is basically ignorant in regards to the scriptures!

But God does tell us the way to understand the book!

The trouble is that the answer is written in the sealed book!

The scriptures form the most amazing book ever written. The answers to man's every question are placed into a book which is brilliantly sealed from his understanding!

Satan immediately sets man off on the totally wrong path when he instills in man the concept that, "Ye shall not surely die" in the first few pages of the Bible.

As I stated earlier, the reason God gives us the proper way of understanding His Word, is because it can be understood. Otherwise what does the Holy Ghost teach as we are faithfully comparing spiritual with spiritual? Certainly not historical facts, or moral truths, but spiritual truths indeed.

Psalms 119:18-19 (KJV)
18 Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a stranger in the earth:
hide not thy commandments from me.

[Miles]

Since our method of biblical interpretation is the backbone of our doctrine, would God simply provide a book for us without teaching us how he intended for us to understand what he wrote?

The words of the scriptures are sealed from mankind"s understanding. Your "Literal-Grammatical-Historical Method" has yet to unseal them, and never will.

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

The scriptures will remain unsealed till the time of the end:

"Scripture" here doesn't refer to the Bible, and neither does the "the vision of all."

What cannot/will not be unsealed is the Book of Life. The book in which God records the names of every person who is destined for Heaven and the World to Come.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. [/color]

No such verse.

.

[myth-one.com]

But did you know that God has indeed provided us with scriptures upon scriptures that teach us just how he intended for us to approach His Word and rightly divide it?

I will begin by posting just a few and expounding from there as the conversations progress.

1. The Bible is a spiritual book, therefore, in looking for the literal understanding of a passage as our source of truth, we have missed the mark and the intended meaning of the deeper truth that God has provided, which is the gospel message.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Literally, John 3:16 states that believers will live forever and non-believers will perish.

Is there some deeper spiritual truth which I do not see?

. . . the entirety of the scriptures are not hid from God's people. Only information which God has kept sealed until the time of the end.

God said the entire book is sealed.

[Eddie Ramos]

But did you know that God has indeed provided us with scriptures upon scriptures that teach us just how he intended for us to approach His Word and rightly divide it?

I will begin by posting just a few and expounding from there as the conversations progress.

1. The Bible is a spiritual book, therefore, in looking for the literal understanding of a passage as our source of truth, we have missed the mark and the intended meaning of the deeper truth that God has provided, which is the gospel message.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Literally, John 3:16 states that believers will live forever and non-believers will perish.

Is there some deeper spiritual truth which I do not see?

It is this type of mentality that places (or tries to) man's thinking above God's. Which is precisely the purpose of this discussion. So, since you are suggesting that we are to take the word of God at face value (literally) then I will ask again. Can you show me from the scriptures where the Bible teaches us that the literal-historical-grammatical method of interpretation (or any other literal method) is the correct way to understand the scriptures? I would like to suggest that the reason this method (or any other literal method) is most widely adopted is because it makes logical sense to us. But therein lies the problem. We are not the authority of how the Bible is to be understood, God is. And since it's God's book and they are His Words, then we are to search out His Words in order to see if God does in fact teach us how we are to understand His Holy book, and He does.

So, let's go ahead and take a look at perhaps the most popular verse in all the bible, John 3:16. According to the literal-grammatical method of interpretation, people take it to mean that God loved the world (meaning all the people in the world) so much, that He sent his son to die for all of them. And that anyone (whosoever) who believes in him, will not perish, but will have eternal life. And so, this passage, understood this way, becomes the foundation for many doctrines, because they figure if John 3:16 makes plain sense when read literally, then that must be the way to understand all of the Bible. But if this understanding is faulty (because the whole of the scriptures don't agree with that way of understanding John 3:16), then not only is the foundation faulty, but everything you build upon it, along with the manner in which you build upon it, will also be. In other words, no one scripture stands alone for proper understanding. This is the mistake made by so many who hold to the literal method of interpretation. But God's Word teaches us that everything we believe to be true must harmonize (find agreement) with the entire biblical record.

1 John 5:6–9 (KJV 1900)
6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record (witness) in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness (record) in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness (the record) of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

The witness/record/words of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost agree as one record. This is where God teaches us that we must search for harmony within His record, the Bible.

. . . the entirety of the scriptures are not hid from God's people. Only information which God has kept sealed until the time of the end.

God said the entire book is sealed.

You will believe what you want, but the truth comes from the scriptures alone. Let's ask the Bible, is Isaiah 29 stating that the entire book (the Bible/scriptures) is sealed?

Isaiah 29:9–13 (KJV 1900)

9  Stay yourselves, and wonder;
Cry ye out, and cry:
They are drunken, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep,
And hath closed your eyes:
The prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11  And the vision of all is become ****unto you**** AS the words of a book that is sealed,
Which men deliver to one that is learned,
Saying, Read this, I pray thee:
And he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,
Saying, Read this, I pray thee:
And he saith, I am not learned.

Who is God speaking about? All of mankind? NO, the next verse teaches us that it's the teachers of Israel. It's the Pharisees and Saducees who are supposed to be teachers of the law, yet they know not the scriptures.

13  Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
And with their lips do honour me,
But have removed their heart far from me,
And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

And here is the fulfilment:

Matthew 15:7–9 (KJV 1900)
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Isaiah is teaching us that God had closed the eyes of those "learned" who claimed they can see. And so, God is likening this vision to someone who is trying to read and understand a sealed book. And truly, the Bible is a sealed book in the sense that God has hid spiritual understanding within it. But neither this nor any other scripture teaches that the entire Bible is sealed from everyone's understanding. You still have to contend with the scriptures I provided (Lk 18:34, Lk 24:45) which teach otherwise, and the Bible does not contradict.

Matthew 11:25–27 (KJV 1900)
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

[Eddie Ramos]

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

The scriptures will remain unsealed till the time of the end:

"Scripture" here doesn't refer to the Bible, and neither does the "the vision of all."

Although the word "scripture" is not mentioned in any of these verses, the "vision of all" is most certainly referring to the Bible. The rest of the passage shows us that it is God's very words, given in the form of a vision to Isaiah regarding the rejection of Christ by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The reason they rejected Christ was because God had blinded their understanding of the scriptures. Please see post #8 where I explain this.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. [/color]

No such verse.

.

He was actually quoting Isaiah 29:18 which is speaking of the same timeframe, during the ministry of Christ. The deaf hearing the words of the book is referring to salvation by the hearing of the Words of Christ, or the Word of God, what we now call the Bible.

[myth-one.com]

So, let's go ahead and take a look at perhaps the most popular verse in all the bible, John 3:16. According to the literal-grammatical method of interpretation, people take it to mean that God loved the world (meaning all the people in the world) so much, that He sent his son to die for all of them. And that anyone (whosoever) who believes in him, will not perish, but will have eternal life.

That is not a literal reading of John 3:16. You have made what is called a "private interpretation."

Nowhere in that verse does it state that God sent His only begotten Son to die for us! That is not what saves us.

Nowhere does it state that all the world will be saved. Only whosoever believeth will be saved.

Try again.

<======================================>

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And so, this passage, understood this way, becomes the foundation for many doctrines, because they figure if John 3:16 makes plain sense when read literally, then that must be the way to understand all of the Bible. But if this understanding is faulty (because the whole of the scriptures don't agree with that way of understanding John 3:16), then not only is the foundation faulty, but everything you build upon it, along with the manner in which you build upon it, will also be. In other words, no one scripture stands alone for proper understanding. This is the mistake made by so many who hold to the literal method of interpretation.

Quote one verse which contradicts a literal reading of John 3:16. If you can't, then the literal reading is the correct reading.

But God's Word teaches us that everything we believe to be true must harmonize (find agreement) with the entire biblical record.

It does.

The witness/record/words of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost agree as one record. This is where God teaches us that we must search for harmony within His record, the Bible.

So God wrote the record harmonious, but not obvious, as one has to search for the harmony within His record.