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How to Read the Bible Well: An Opening Guide · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the show where we take
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critical topics concerning God's Word and really execute a
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precise analysis of the discipline needed to understand
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them. Today we're tackling a mission
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that affects every single person who picks up a Bible.
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That's right. We want to gain precision and
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accuracy in understanding God's message, and we're going to do
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that by looking at the core principles of interpretation.
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And this isn't, you know, just another theological debate.
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We're looking at the method, the actual, you could say, science
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and art of engaging with divine revelation in a responsible way.
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So what's the technical term for this?
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We call it hermeneutics. It's a bit of a specialist term,
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but it really just means biblical interpretation.
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OK, but the task, the real essential task is to do it
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correctly. Why is that so critical?
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Because when you really look at what the Bible claims for
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itself, the stakes couldn't be higher.
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I mean issues of life and eternity hang on whether we have
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properly understood and applied God's message.
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So guesswork is just not an option.
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Not at all. We can't afford it.
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And I think the context we're in today makes this whole
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conversation just desperately necessary, doesn't it?
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It does. We're seeing this widespread
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biblical illiteracy even among people who would call themselves
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Christians. Right.
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A lot of people treat scripture like it's some sort of mystical
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self help book. Yeah, you flip to a random page
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and hope for the best. Or, and this is maybe worse,
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they read these ancient texts only through the lens of, you
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know, today's cultural sensitivities.
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Which makes this call for responsible, careful studies so
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urgent. So our objective here, based on
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the material we're looking at, is to become Christians who
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don't just, you know, claim the Bible's authority but actually
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practice it. People who learn what God's Word
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says and then with humility and a deedance, actually live it
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out. And that takes intellectual
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rigor. It's not just about having a
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warm feeling. No, it takes intellectual rigor
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right alongside spiritual submission.
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So if the consequences are eternal, where do we start?
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What's the first step? The first step is recognizing
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the need for careful and valid hermeneutical principles.
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So, rules for interpretation. Rules, yes.
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We don't just invent them. They come from the very nature
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of how God has communicated. OK?
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And these principles are what allow us to understand His
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revelation and then respond to it in a way that shows we're
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actually being obedient and faithful.
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If we hear the message wrong. Then we get the response wrong.
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It's that direct. It really context straight to a
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scriptural mandate, doesn't it? I'm thinking of what the sources
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point to and James. James 1.22.
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Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.
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Do what it says. Right.
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And that deception James talks about, it's so often starts with
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just mishearing. How so?
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Well, if we think the word means one thing when it actually means
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another, our actions are going to be misguided.
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We're functionally deceiving ourselves about our own
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spiritual state. That's a.
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Sobering thought. It is.
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And this whole imperative, this need for rules, it starts with
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just accepting the nature of God's revelation as it is.
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What do you mean by that? Well, people often wish the
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Bible were simpler. You know, like a straightforward
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checklist or an ethical pamphlet.
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A rulebook. Simple rulebook, yes, but look
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at what God actually gave us. 66 books written over 1500 years.
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With history, poetry, letters, law, prophecy.
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All of it. If God had wanted us to have an
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index card with rules on it, He could have given US1 But He
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didn't. In his wisdom, he decided that
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this vast interwoven book would be how he communicates with His
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people. And as interpreters, we have to
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bow to that choice. We have to.
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We can't edit his chosen form just because it's hard.
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And that immediately pushes back against trying to reduce it all
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down. Absolutely.
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If we try to boil the Bible down to say it's simplest ethical
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points like be nice or do justice, we're ignoring all of
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this massive context and literary form that God chose to
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deliver those messages in. We have to resist that
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temptation, the temptation to reduce the entire biblical
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library to just a list of beliefs to hold or attitudes to
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have or actions to take, things to avoid or things to avoid,
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right. When we do that, we ignore the
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historical settings, the covenable structure, all the
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specific literary devices used to convey truth.
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Can you give an example of that? Sure.
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Think about a Psalm. A Psalm communicates truth
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through emotional imagery, through hyperbole.
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OK, but a New Testament epistle communicates truth through
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tightly reasoned theological arguments and very explicit
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commands. And you can't read them the same
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way if. You treat them identically.
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You're basically denying God's choice in how he decided to
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communicate. When you look at the sheer
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reality of the text itself, it just screams out for specialized
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rules. It's not just one book, it's a
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library. It is truly voluminous, and our
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sources point out how daunting that can be, not just for a new
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reader, but even for someone who's been reading it for years.
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You're faced with what feels like alien genealogies.
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Alien genealogies, Barbaric practices, These strange
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prophecies, eccentric epistles. I mean, think about the book of
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Numbers, all the census details, the movement of.
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Israel or Leviticus, the highly detailed sacrificial rules, the
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clean and unclean distinctions. How does that text speak to a
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21st century life? It takes serious effort just to
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figure out the content before you even get to application.
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Right precision means we have to approach the text and
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acknowledge its age, its difference.
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So when the source material says, the interpreter's job is
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to come to terms with the Bible as it is.
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That's what it means. It means accepting the
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historical distance, the cultural differences, the
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literary variety. So it requires a methodology.
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A methodology that moves beyond just reading the words on a page
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as if they were written this morning in English specifically
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to you. We need specialized skills to
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unlock that ancient voice. OK, so once we agree that
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interpretation is necessary because the text is so complex,
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we hit what the sources call a pivotal question, a sort of
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philosophical hurdle. And that question is, what
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exactly is our objective? Where does the meaning actually
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reside? That's one, because if we don't
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agree on where the gold is buried, we won't know which map
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to follow. And the answer has huge
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implications for the whole task. It really does this foundational
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question about where a texts meaning is located.
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It defines 3 competing schools of thought.
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In hermeneutics. We have to decide if meaning is
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stable or if it's fluid, and who gets to control it.
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So what's the first school? The 1st, and the one that's most
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aligned with hysterical Christian understanding and
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Reformed thought, is that meaning resides with the
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authors. The original writers.
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The original writers, yes. The goal is to seek the single
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meaning the human authors intended when they wrote the
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text, and we believe that's synonymous with the divine
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author's intent. So the meaning is fixed.
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It was set when it was. Written.
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It's fixed at the point of composition.
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That's the view. OK, what's the second school of
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thought? The second school shifts the
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focus just a little bit to the text themselves.
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So not the author, but the words on the page.
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Right. This position argues that
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meaning is in the inherent structure, the grammar, the
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vocabulary of the text, and that meaning might exist independent
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of the author's ability to perfectly articulate it.
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So the text could mean more than the author realized.
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Potentially it suggests the meaning is still fixed, but it
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might be richer or more complex than the original writer fully
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grasped. This approach tends to
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prioritize literary criticism over historical context.
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And then there's a third one which seems to have gained a lot
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of ground recently. It has.
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The third school shifts the focus entirely to the modern
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interpreter. To the reader.
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To the reader, in this view, meaning isn't fixed at all.
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It's produced when the text and the modern interpreter interact.
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So the text is more of a catalyst for an experience.
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Exactly, and the meaning becomes fluid and relative to the
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readers experience, their culture, their feelings.
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And the choice between these three, Author, text or reader,
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it sets the whole course, doesn't it?
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It absolutely does. If you choose the author, you're
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going to spend your time digging into historical context and
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grammar. But if you choose the reader.
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Then you're going to spend your time focusing on personal
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relevance and emotional connection.
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And given that issues of life and eternity are on the line.
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The consequence of choosing that fluid interpreter centered model
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is the loss of objective truth. Because if meaning is relative,
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then authority just dissolves. It does, and we're left with
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nothing more than human opinion dressed up in spiritual
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language. OK, so beyond where the meaning
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is located, we also have to settle its scope and validity,
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right? Should a text give us only one
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possible meaning, or can we look for different meanings or levels
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of meaning in it? This is where we run into the
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tension between a single meaning and, well, multiple
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applications. Explain that.
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The best hermeneutical models argue for a single author
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intended meaning, but that one meaning can have countless
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applications across different times and cultures.
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So it's not that the meaning changes, but how it applies to
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us might look different. Precisely the danger of seeking
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different meanings is that it often leads you back into the
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errors of allegory. Where interpreters would look
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for hidden spiritual meanings. Yes, hidden meanings underneath
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the literal text, completely ignoring the historical reality
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that was a big pitfall in the early church and the medieval
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periods. And then there's this other very
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specific and critical question, Divine addition.
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This seems especially relevant to how the New Testament uses
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the Old Testament. It's.
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Vigal. Can texts hold the meaning their
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human authors intended, but also contain an extra meaning placed
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there by the Holy Spirit for later readers to find?
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Specifically for later inspired readers to find, namely the
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apostles and the prophets. Right?
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This is so important because the apostles didn't just read the
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Old Testament, they interpreted it through the lens of Christ's
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finished work. So when Matthew quotes Hosea
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11.1 out of Egypt, I called my son and applies it to Jesus.
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What's happening? There, that's the question.
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Was Matthew assigning a totally new meaning, or was he
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recognizing A typological reality that the divine author
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had woven into the original meaning all along?
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That changes the question completely.
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It does. The divine addition idea
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suggests that the Holy Spirit who oversaw the initial writing
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intended both the original historical meaning and the later
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Christological fulfilment. Correct.
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It's not an abandonment of the author's intent, it's an
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expansion of the divine author's intent, which the human author
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may not have fully grasped at the time.
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So getting these questions right isn't just a theoretical.
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Exercise. Not at all.
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Yeah, it's necessary to make sure our interpretations are
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valid. If we believe in the unity of
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Scripture and God's sovereignty over His own revelation, we have
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to aim for the greatest precision and accuracy we can,
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always looking for that one meaning God intended to convey.
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Regardless of whether that meaning is a simple historical
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fact, or a prophetic fulfillment, or a typological
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foreshadowing. All of the above.
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So we've spent a good amount of time on the text itself and the
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philosophical questions around meaning, but historically that's
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where the focus almost exclusively was.
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The sources remind us that we also have to address the person
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doing the interpreting, the reader.
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Right, and this is where we get into the interpreters
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qualifications and presuppositions.
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And that brings us to this critical concept of pre
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understanding. What is that?
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It's a simple idea really. It's everything an interpreter
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brings with them to the task. Like what?
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Their social location, their culture, their experiences,
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their doctrinal commitments, their historical moment, even
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their emotional state when they open the Bible.
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And the big recognition here is that interpreters are not blank
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slates. We're not empty sponges.
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Not at all, and that's a huge point.
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So if you're reading a passage about wealth, your personal
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experience, whether you grew up poor or privileged, that's going
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to shape how you hear Jesus's warnings.
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Inevitably, or if you read Paul's letters on church
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authority, your own cultural exposure to hierarchy or
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democracy will influence how you interpret leadership roles.
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Who the interpreter is is contribute so much to the entire
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enterprise of understanding. It does, and the danger of
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ignoring our pre understanding isn't just misinterpretation,
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it's confirmation bias. We just find what we were
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already looking for. Exactly.
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We don't read the Bible neutrally.
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We read it through the lens of what we already believe.
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So if we deny that, we're carrying this baggage.
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We can never properly account for the filter through which
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we're reading the ancient text. A good interpreter subjects
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their pre understanding to the text, allowing the text to
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reshape their assumptions. Rather than forcing the text to
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fit their assumptions. Which is what we're all tempted
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to do. So if we accept that pre
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understanding has this pervasive influence, what are the
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practical requirements for the interpreter?
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What makes an interpreter qualified?
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The primary requirement is a matter of posture and intention.
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OK, the person has to approach the text with the intent to
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respond to what God has communicated in ways that show
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obedience and faithfulness. It's the posture of a disciple
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before their master. It is.
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The interpretation isn't just for personal enrichment.
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It's for life, transformation and obedience.
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That posture also seems to require a certain intellectual
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humility, which means learning from history.
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Absolutely. We have to investigate the
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approaches used historically by our spiritual predecessors We
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have. To see what they did right and
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what they did wrong. Right.
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We appropriate what's valid and valuable in their methods while
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actively avoiding their mistakes and their pitfalls.
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The history of interpretation is just filled with cautionary
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tales, isn't it? It is.
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I mean, you look at the allegorical method practiced by
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the School of Alexandria. They essentially divorce the
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text from its historical setting.
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And you see the danger of making the libel mean anything you want
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it to mean. You do, or you look at overly
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literalistic readings that completely neglected genre and
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you learn that you have to apply literary awareness.
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So learning from history is a way of checking our own methods.
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It's a way of vetting them against centuries of trial and
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error. And when this whole rigorous
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process is done properly by a qualified interpreter, the
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result is spiritual maturation. That's the goal.
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The goal of all this methodological discipline isn't
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just knowing more about God. No, it's knowing God better.
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When a person applies these principles, they grow in a
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relationship with God. They develop into more
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spiritually wise disciples. And they become increasingly
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useful servants of God. Precisely the objective of all
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this hermeneutical precision is, in the end, faithful practice
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and spiritual maturity. All right, let's turn to the
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practical tools we've established.
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The Bible is a literary document, so we have to use
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commonly accepted principles for how literature functions.
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This is why the Bible structure demands genre specific
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methodologies. Reading a letter to a specific
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church about a specific problem is totally different from
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reading a collection of poems about praise and sorrow.
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That distinction is non negotiable.
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Our sources list 10 specific genres in Scripture, and each
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one demands its own distinct methodological approach.
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You can't just apply one rule to all of them.
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You can't. The genres include law, Old
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Testament historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, wisdom,
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literature. There's also Old Testament
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apocalyptic, the Gospels, New Testament historical narrative
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like Acts. And in the epistles and finally
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Apocalypse. Just hearing that list gives you
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Vertigo. If you tried to interpret the
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poetic laments in Job using the same rules you use for the law
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in Exodus, you'd make a tragic mistake.
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You would. Can you walk us through the
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practical difference in approach for a couple of key contrasting
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genres? Sure, let's take law versus
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poetry. When we interpret the law like
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the 10 commandments or the Levitical rules, we're looking
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for prescriptive commands. And that requires a deep
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understanding of the covenant context.
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Right, you have to ask, is this moral, civil or ceremonial law?
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We're seeking the single intended prescriptive rule.
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We interpret it literally unless the context tells us not to.
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But with poetry, like the Psalms, the goal is completely
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different. It's just dramatically.
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With poetry you have to look for metaphor, parallelism,
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hyperbole, figurative language. So if a Psalm says God covers
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himself with light as with a garment.
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We don't try to figure out the fabric of God's clothing.
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We understand it's a metaphor expressing his glory and purity.
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Applying literal rules to poetry just leads to absurd
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applications. It does.
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Another crucial distinction is between epistles and narrative.
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The epistles, like Romans or First Corinthians, they're
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highly didactic. They're teaching documents.
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Yes, they present systematic theology and explicit commands.
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They really offer the straightest path to doctrinal
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formulation. Whereas narrative the stories in
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Genesis or the history in Acts, it primarily shows us what
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happened. Right.
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And we have to be very cautious not to turn everything that
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happened into a mandate for modern practice.
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Can you give an example of that? Sure, just because Peter saw a
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sheet descend from heaven and Acts 10 doesn't mean that every
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Christian from then on has to wait for a vision to get
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theological direction. Narratives illustrate
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theological points. They don't always prescribe
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doctrine. Not unless that doctrine is
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explicitly taught elsewhere. The method for narrative is to
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ask what did the author intend to teach us through this story?
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And to get the greatest precision and accuracy across
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all these genres, we need thorough contextual
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investigation. We can't just rely on the
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English translation in our hands.
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That's right. This means serving the various
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literary, cultural, social, and historical issues.
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So, for example, understanding the specific social dynamics of
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slavery in the Roman world is critical for interpreting Paul's
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letter to Philemon. It's crucial if you ignore that
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socio historical setting, it's so easy to impose modern
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interpretations that miss the original meaning and even
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challenge the text authority. And beyond that, we have to
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understand the specific rules and principles of the original
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languages. Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
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grammatical analysis is always the foundation for semantic
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understanding. Always.
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In recent years, interpretation has seen the rise of newer
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methods, often coming out of postmodern philosophy.
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They're generally categorized under literary, critical, and
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social scientific studies. And they require very careful
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assessment by the qualified interpreter.
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They seem to. They absolutely do.
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These methods often challenge traditional views on authority
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and objectivity. For example, in literary
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critical studies you have deconstruction.
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Which argues what? It basically argues that a text
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has no stable meaning at all. It reduces interpretation to a
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power struggle over who gets to define reality.
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The text sort of implodes on itself.
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That sounds hostile to the idea of a fixed meaning.
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It is often, but Even so, it does force traditional
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interpreters to be more rigorous in defending the stability of
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the text's meaning and addressing its inherent literary
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tensions. And then there are social
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scientific approaches, like feminist hermeneutics.
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Yes, feminist hermeneutics, which is a social scientific
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approach, comes the text with a pre understanding that the
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Bible, or at least it's traditional interpretation, has
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a patriarchal bias. So it seeks to reinterpret the
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text through the lens of marginalized experience.
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That's the goal now. While we can't endorse any
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approach that subjugates the texts authority to a modern
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social agenda, we can acknowledge that these methods
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sometimes offer some assistance. For instance, by drawing our
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attention to historical or cultural biases we might have
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previously overlooked concerning women's roles in the ancient
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world. It forces us to assess our own
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interpretations more carefully. So their presence requires us to
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assess their procedures and usefulness.
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While keeping the final authority firmly fixed on the
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authorial intent of the scripture itself.
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All right, we now arrive at the ultimate practical challenge,
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the moment where all these principles have to hit real
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life. Where the rubber meets the road.
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The biblical message moves across centuries and cultures.
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The Bible was written to ancient Israelites, prophets, 1st
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century churches which makes application today, well, not
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always easy. That's an understatement.
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The modern Christian is often puzzled about how literally they
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should implement commands given so long ago.
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This is the application problem, moving from the principle that's
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embedded in a 2000 year old passage to an appropriate,
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faithful modern practice. And if you don't have a
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responsible method for that. Your obedience can become
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inconsistent or worse, impossible or even absurd.
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The sources we looked at give three really pivotal examples
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that illustrate this cultural and time based divide perfectly.
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These are like the ACID tests for any working hermeneutical
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method. They are the first one deals
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with dietary prohibitions. OK, so if pork and shrimp were
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clearly forbidden for God's people around 1200 BC based on
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the laws in Leviticus 11. The crucial question for the
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modern Christian is on what basis, if any, can that
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prohibition be rescinded today? How does the reformed
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perspective handle that? It relies heavily on covenant
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theology. It recognizes that Christ's
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coming inaugurated a new covenant.
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So we look to the New Testament for guidance.
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We look to Acts 10 where Peter has that vision, explicitly
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declaring all foods clean. This signals the end of the
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ceremonial distinction between clean and unclean that was
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unique to the Mosaic covenant. So the principle is universal,
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but the expression was temporary.
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Exactly the principle God demands obedience is universal.
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The ceremonial expression those dietary restrictions was
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temporary and fulfilled in Christ.
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OK, the second example addresses social and clothing
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requirements. A real battleground.
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If the apostle Paul required women in the Corinthian Church
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of 8057 to wear head coverings, as he says in First Corinthians
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11, do 21st century women have to disregard his instructions or
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follow them? It is a battleground of
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interpretation for sure. We have to identify the
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difference between the transcultural theological
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principle and the culture bound expression.
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Unpack that for us. Paul's argument in that chapter
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relies on the created order, man's relationship to God and
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woman's relationship to man. That's universal, but the
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requirement of a head covering itself was the cultural symbol
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that demonstrated that principle of submission or order in that
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specific Corinthian society. So the symbol might change even
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if the principle doesn't. It might if the symbol of
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submission is a head covering in Corinth.
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But in a modern Western culture, the symbol of disrespect is
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something else entirely. We have to determine if the
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command is to maintain the symbol, the piece of cloth, or
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to uphold the principle which is the created order.
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So a careful hermeneutic looks for the underlying principle
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that goes beyond the cultural detail.
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That's the task. And the third example deals with
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rituals of service. Christians consistently insist
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on following Jesus's instruction to celebrate the Lord's Supper.
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But should we also perform another clear instruction,
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washing one another's feet, which Jesus mandated in John 13?
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It's a great question. If both were clear instructions,
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why is 1 universally practiced as an ordinance while the other
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is often seen as a secondary act of service?
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This forces us to differentiate between what we'd call
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ordinances of lasting remembrance and acts that
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illustrate general moral duties. How do you tell the difference?
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The Lord's Supper and baptism are tied explicitly to Christ's
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finished work, and they're commanded as perpetual signs of
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the New Covenant. But foot washing?
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Foot washing, well, it's a definite instruction.
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It functions differently. Jesus command in John 13 is less
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about instituting A perpetual ritual and more about
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illustrating the principle of servant leadership and humility.
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So the universal moral mandate is humble service.
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Right. The act of washing feet was a
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specific cultural embodiment of that humility in a world where
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feet were dusty and that was a servant's task.
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So the challenge is figuring out if the command is to repeat the
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act or to reproduce the attitude behind the act.
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That's it. And these issues are genuinely
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pivotal for any Christian who sincerely wants to apply the
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Bible correctly to their life. They really expose why you can't
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can't just do a surface level reading, no?
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The conclusion is that overcoming this application
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challenge requires moving far beyond viewing the Bible as a
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simple checklist. It demands a responsible
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approach. A responsible approach to
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discerning meaning using careful, valid, and historically
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informed principles. Principles that help us
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distinguish between God's eternal moral law, His temporary
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ceremonial law, and those culturally specific expressions
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of timeless truth. And without that?
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Our practice will be inconsistent and our theology
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will be unstable. So to summarize our discussion
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today, what's a big picture? The big picture is that
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hermeneutics is the disciplined, meticulous pursuit of accuracy
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in biblical interpretation. And this discipline is
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essential. It's essential because the
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stakes are eternal and the text itself is astonishingly vast and
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genre specific. We have to recognize the
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influence of the interpreter. Captured in that concept of pre
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understanding, yes. And we have to rigorously
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wrestle with that philosophical question of where meaning
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resides. And the core practical struggle
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is still bridging that gap between ancient commands and the
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life of a modern believer. That remains the challenge.
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And our final take away gets back to the driving force behind
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this whole process. The purpose of correct
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interpretation is not just intellectual enlightenment.
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It's about spiritual growth. It's about finding the
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information you need to grow in a relationship with God.
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To develop into spiritually wise disciples and to become
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increasingly useful servants of God.
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The goal is always fidelity to the revealed word.
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Always. So what's a final thought for
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our listeners to take with them? Well, that leads to a final
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thought for you to consider, and it builds on this necessity of
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learning from history. OK, we've established today that
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interpreting the ancient text requires extremely careful
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attention to historical context, cultural settings, and literary
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genre. So if that principle of precise
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contextual understanding is so essential for accurately reading
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the Scriptures, how about we apply that same diligent
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approach when reading the historical accounts and
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theological debates of the Church itself?
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So reading church history with the same care.
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Yes, understanding how past believers arrived at their
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conclusions, appropriating what was valid, and avoiding their
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missteps. That requires the same
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hermeneutical rigor we applied to the Bible.
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Knowing how to read the Bible correctly might just teach us
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how to read church history correctly, ensuring we build our
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faith on the purest possible understanding of Scripture.