Method | Knowable Word

The Danger of Staying the Same

December 6, 2013 By Peter Krol

I wrote last year that the greatest enemy of application is insight, but I’m having second thoughts. An even greater enemy may be inertia.

George M. Groutas (2010), Creative Commons

Physical science defines inertia as “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.” Picture a boulder. Inertia keeps a stationary boulder still, and inertia keeps a moving boulder barreling on in the same direction. Moving the still boulder, or redirecting the moving boulder, requires force.

We are the boulders, and application produces change. Since we can’t apply the Bible without overcoming our inertia, application done right will always be a challenge. And we should expect this challenge to take two forms.

First, we face the challenge of movement.

Inertia keeps us in the same place, but the Lord wants to move us. We grow comfortable with how things are, but through the word, the Holy Spirit moves us toward what might be. He pushes, pulls, nudges, convicts, cajoles, begs, batters, and compels. He does whatever he needs to do to get us moving toward Christ. Thus the ignorant person gets a clue. The indifferent person begins to care. The idle person gets to work.

Second, we face the challenge of redirection.

Inertia keeps us moving in the same direction, but the Lord wants to turn us toward him. We like to keep doing what we’re doing, but through the word, the Holy Spirit adjusts our trajectory and directs our path. He disciplines, directs, bumps, pursues, pesters, collides, invites, and overwhelms. He does whatever he needs to do to alter our course so we face toward Christ. Thus the angry person learns to love. The argumentative person learns to listen. The manipulative person learns to let go.

Application is terribly inconvenient.

It makes us doers of the word, unlike inertia, which encourages us to remain hearers of the word. As James writes:

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25, ESV)

James takes issue not with hearing but with hearing and not doing. Hearing is good; it means that you “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). But hearing without doing is inconsistent. It’s like viewing your own portrait and honestly wondering who’s the looker. You’re not acting like yourself, and people should wonder what’s wrong. God’s perfect law promotes a life of liberty, but obstinate inertia eventually becomes an imprisoning insanity. Jesus likened it to building a beach hut in a hurricane zone (Matt 7:26-27). Make every effort to overcome your inertia and be not only a hearer but also a doer.

Hearers of the word go to church. Doers of the word discuss the sermons later and find connections to their daily lives.
Hearers of the word love theology. Doers of the word know when to attempt persuasion and when to abandon a quarrel.
Hearers can identify what they’ve learned. Doers can identify how they’ve grown.
Hearers have questions. Doers get answers.
Hearers talk about obeying the civil authorities. Doers don’t exceed the speed limit.
Hearers feel convicted. Doers make changes.
Hearers see how people need to change. Doers see how they themselves need to change.
Hearers know who Jesus is. Doers look more like him every day.

When the founders of the United States of America declared their independence from Great Britain, they based their actions on certain self-evident truths, including the Creator’s endowment of inalienable rights to all men. Among those immutable rights was the pursuit of happiness. What is the pursuit of happiness? According to an 1884 Supreme Court ruling, it is:

…the right to pursue any lawful business or vocation, in any manner not inconsistent with the equal rights of others, which may increase their prosperity or develop their faculties, so as to give them their highest enjoyment.[1]

The pursuit of happiness is the improvement of life. King George’s threat to the colonies wasn’t so much a threat of sadness as a threat to maintain the status quo. He wanted things to continue as they had been, with the colonies under his thumb, paying well, and unable to improve their communities. In other words, the greatest threat to the pursuit of happiness is inertia.

Change is worth fighting for.

Question: How do you see and resist the problem of inertia in your life?

[1] Butchers’ Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746, 757 (1884).

Don’t Miss Jesus in the New Testament

November 8, 2013 By Peter Krol

I once wrote about how to see Jesus in any Bible passage, where I focused on interpreting the Old Testament. I showed how Jesus’ words in Luke 24:46-47 provide a straightforward template through which we can interpret any Old Testament passage.

Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47, ESV)

Every passage of Scripture reveals Jesus by explaining at least one of the following truths:

Truth #1: The Messiah would suffer (die)
Truth #2: The Messiah would rise from the dead.
Truth #3: We must repent of our sin and be forgiven.
Truth #4: This message—that the Messiah’s death and resurrection make forgiveness possible—must be proclaimed to all nations.

I’d like to add a brief word about interpreting the New Testament, because, astonishingly, we can often miss Jesus when we read it. Jesus’ four truths in Luke 24:46-47 apply just as much to the New Testament as to the Old Testament, and we miss the point when we miss the connection. Here are three examples.

1. All four Gospels magnify and climax on Jesus’ death and resurrection; they present Jesus as much more than a role model. Thus, Jesus’ healing miracles often show Jesus “trading places” with sufferers in order to save them (Matt 8:14-17); Jesus is not only an example of social justice but also a savior to the ostracized and the unjust.

2. Much of Acts and many epistles elaborate on how Jesus’ message is for all nations; since Jews and Gentiles were brought together in one body, any person of any gender, race, or class can freely receive Jesus’ forgiveness and unite with his body.

3. Instructional passages—like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-26) or the love chapter (1 Cor 13)—don’t make us into more righteous, more acceptable, people; they show us what happens to people whose sins are forgiven because they have trusted in Christ.

As you interpret, don’t stop until you see Jesus in every passage.

3 Skills to Help You Find the Main Point

October 25, 2013 By Peter Krol

You’re swirling in details. You tried the OIA method of Bible study, and it yielded more observations and more questions than you could handle. You thought you’d dabble in the magic of Bible study, but the spell has taken over, and the water line has exceeded flood stage. You’re tempted to cue “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and drown your exhaustion in a bucket of popcorn.

Don’t lose hope. You’re almost there; you just need to pull it all together and integrate the details into a coherent main point.

Such integration matters because ancient authors didn’t waste space with meaningless details. Every word had a purpose. Every sentence captured an idea. Every paragraph advanced the agenda. And every section had a main point. The accumulation of these points promoted the goal of bringing the audience closer to the Lord. These main points are the ones worth fighting for.

So how do we figure out the main point? I’ll give 3 tips and illustrate them from my recent posts on Proverbs 5.

1. Always ask “why?”

The challenge of interpretation is to move past the “what” to discover the “why” of the passage. Why is this text here? What was the author’s agenda?

Though most Bibles have headings at the beginning of each section (Proverbs 5 in ESV: “Warning Against Adultery”), these headings are usually observation summaries and not interpretive main points. These summaries help when you’re flipping through and trying to find a specific verse, but they don’t always comprise the passage’s meaning. To convert these summary headings to main points, sometimes you only have to ask “why.” For example, “Why does this passage warn us against adultery?”

Similarly, you can take any or all of your observations, ask “why,” and move closer to the main point.

2. Account for the context.

We’ve seen how the book overview places the work in history. This historical context influences our reading of the text and helps us to see the main point. In the case of Proverbs 5, we see Solomon training a new generation of nobility to lead Israel with purity and integrity.

In addition to the historical, two further types of context should guide us.

First, examine the literary context. What was the main point of the previous section of text? How does the author move from that section into this section? What issues lingered at the end of that section, and how does this section address those issues? Because Genesis 1 is the beginning, we have no prior literary context. Instead, this chapter will establish the context for everything that follows. Thus, we should read Genesis 2:4-25 (and following passages) in light of Genesis 1:1-2:3.

Second, examine any intertextual context. That is, use a search engine, cross-references, or list of Old Testament quotations to find other parts of the Bible that quote this section (or are quoted by it), and figure out the connection between them. When God inspired authors to quote other passages, he was showing us how to interpret those passages.

3. Track the author’s flow of thought.

Ask: How did the author get from the first verse to the last verse? Break the chapter into paragraphs or stanzas, and figure out each paragraph’s/stanza’s main point, which is a sub-point on the author’s agenda. String those points together to see how one paragraph/stanza moves to the next. If you’re still stumped, you can break each paragraph/stanza down into sentences and track the flow from sentence to sentence. Don’t give up; this challenging skill gets easier with practice.

For Proverbs 5, I outlined the flow of thought in my first post:

verses 1-6: not all sexual temptation is as good as it seems
verses 7-14: the wrong choices have dire consequences
verses 15-20: utter unselfishness in the context of marital love is surprisingly intoxicating
verses 21-23: those who think they know satisfaction better than God does have sprung their own trap

So, compiling all my observation and interpretation, my final post on Proverbs 5 reached this main point: The wise can see through the culture’s illusion of sexual “freedom.” This main point took me right to Jesus and on to application.

Sexual freedom is truly an illusion. Jesus submitted to the cross and the grave so we could be free of both forever; he proved it by his glorious resurrection. Now we get to image him to the world. Find your freedom in self-denial. Obtain life through your death. Secure satisfaction by serving and satisfying others, especially your spouse.

The wise person sees the culture’s illusions, blasts them with Bible dynamite, and wins others to radically selfless, Christ-like joy, far more exciting than either religious prudishness or enslaving immorality.

Each text has a point. These three skills will help you get there so you can see Jesus and find eternal life in him.

Fight for the Main Point

October 18, 2013 By Peter Krol

The main points of the Bible are the ones worth fighting for. Often, however, Christians disagree over things other than the main points. And while we’re not wrong to draw conclusions about secondary, debatable, or implied points, such conclusions must never drown out the Bible’s main points.

Alex Indigo (2008), Creative Commons

The Pharisees demonstrate the problem. As the fundamentalists of their day, they cared about God’s truth. They wanted to glorify God and live lives pleasing to him. They passionately protected important doctrines, and they went to great lengths to win converts and change the world.

But in the process of remembering good things, they forgot the best things.

They attended Bible studies to improve their lives, but they didn’t embrace Life when God sent him (John 5:39-40).

They promoted God’s moral standards to a degenerate, fallen world, but they plotted harm on the day designed for doing good (Mark 3:1-6).

They put God first over every relationship, but they neglected God’s own wishes for human relationships (Matthew 15:3-6).

Sometimes Jesus condemns them for doing the wrong things, but sometimes he condemns them for neglecting the best things. Consider this judgement in Matthew 23:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matt 23:23-24, ESV)

Notice that they should have continued tithing. They weren’t expected to exercise justice, mercy, or faithfulness instead of giving 10%. They were expected to exercise justice, mercy, and faithfulness in addition to it. They always drank skim milk, but then got caught eating too much ice cream.

Today, we likewise can get distracted from the Bible’s main points. The worst distractions are not bad things but good things. They’re not false teaching but true teaching. They’re not opposed to God’s kingdom but in favor of God’s kingdom. These distractions consist of things that should concern us, but they’re not the only things that should concern us. Nor are they the main things that should concern us. We should reserve plenty of bandwidth for the weightier matters.

For example, we study Genesis 1 and focus our discussion on the length or literalness of the days of creation. We spend so much time on the “what” that we forget to seek the “why,” and we mistakenly believe we know the “why” because we’ve discovered the “what.” We might get the “what” (“What is the length of each day?”), and we should try hard to get the “what.” But we must press on to get the “why” (“Why does the author tell the story of creation as a sequence of 7 days?”). We must not neglect the fact that God’s creative process sets the pattern for our lives on earth (Mark 10:6-9, 2 Cor 4:5-6, Heb 4:1-5). And we must not ignore Jesus—the creator, light, life, word, sustainer, ruler, subduer, multiplier, author of faith, image of the invisible God, and firstborn of all creation.

For another example, we study Hebrews 11 and trumpet the heroes of faith. And rightly so, as the text recounts their lives with much fanfare. But we must not miss the main point. It’s a faith hall of fame and not a works hall of fame. The point is not so much to show the greatness of these heroes as it is to show their smallness. We should fix our gaze on these heroes, but only as long as we keep Jesus in our field of vision. The heroes huddle around us, bearing witness to the real Hero, Jesus (Heb 12:1-2).

Finding a passage’s main point is hard work, but we must fight to get it. And once we’ve got it, we must fight to keep it.

Presumption Kills Bible Interpretation

October 11, 2013 By Peter Krol

Kate Ter Haar (2012), Creative Commons

Presumption is the act of drawing conclusions from limited evidence. Courts presume defendants to be innocent until the body of evidence convicts beyond all doubt. When you drive through a green light, you presume the opposing traffic sees a red light. Furthermore, you presume those drivers won’t hit the gas until they see green.

Since you’re not omniscient, every decision you make is based on presumption. There’s nothing inherently wrong with presumption, and avoiding it completely is impossible.

However, presumption is deadly when it trumps careful investigation. Unrestrained presumption can obstruct the process of interpretation.

Let’s say you want to buy a house. You find one you like, and you sign a contract to purchase it. You pack your belongings and prepare to relocate your family. But on move-in day, you discover that the “seller” didn’t actually own the house. He’s powerless to hand it over to you. When you try to move in, you find another family living in the house with no intent to move out. You’re stuck, partly because you presumed too much.

Presumption can be devastating in big life decisions, but it also causes trouble in the mundane. We presume a curt reply to imply anger. We mistake friendliness for attraction. We impute motives. We scold and convict a child on the testimony of a single embittered sibling. We rush to our conclusions and find security in the strength of our convictions. We admit no further evidence.

Careless presumption will kill your Bible study. It will strangle observation and bear stillborn application. It will make you look like the stereotypical, narrow-minded Christian, and it will diminish your influence for the Lord. By strengthening your confidence in questionable conclusions, presumption will cloud your relationship with Jesus and your experience of his grace. At worst, it may clog your pipeline to God. Guard yourself against every form of unexamined, unhindered presumption.

Relativism can be a form of presumption, when we believe a text means whatever we want it to mean. We’re not compelled to investigate the evidence, so we’re “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph 4:14, ESV). We lose our anchor in Christ.

Tradition can be a form of presumption, when it bullies observation, threatens investigation, and demands adherence to a sanctioned message. Now I’m no hater of tradition; it’s both valuable and necessary. But when it drives—and isn’t driven by—interpretation, it rampages and destroys like a toddler in a Lego city. Unexamined tradition trains people to think only what they were taught to think. And what they were taught to think may or may not be the truth.

Education can be a form of presumption, when, like tradition, it generates thoughts but not thinkers. Irresponsible education—whether theistic or atheistic—results in students who presume to know the Bible, but who have ceased listening to it. For such learners, Jedi Master Yoda may prove instructive: “You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Premature application can be a form of presumption, when we jump to conclusions in the name of relevance. We read and observe the text, but we move straight to application. We want our answers to be quick and practical, but we fail to nurture curiosity.

Authority can be a form of presumption, when we carelessly trust what the experts (be they pastors, professors, commentators, or Knowable Word bloggers) say about a text. We might learn to regurgitate their conclusions, but we won’t learn to reach them ourselves. Our teaching will lack substantiation, and the next generation will grow disillusioned by what it perceives to be hollow.

Tradition, education, application, and authority are all good things. In the right context, presumption is a good thing. But unchecked, it will defy the discovery of meaning.

The Trick of Observing Genre

October 4, 2013 By Peter Krol

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart wrote, “There is a real difference between a psalm, on the one hand, and an epistle on the other. Our concern is to help the reader to read and study the psalms as poems, and the epistles as letters…These differences are vital and should affect both the way one reads them and how one is to understand their message for today.”[1] Since genre influences our entire approach to a text, Fee and Stuart’s bestselling book on Bible interpretation focuses there. Make sure to observe genre.

Genre is normally simple in its identification. The two primary genres are poetry and prose; every text fits in one of those two categories. Within prose, we find narrative, law, letters, and apocalyptic literature (symbolic visions). Within poetry, we find psalms, songs, and proverbs. Some genres, like prophecies and wisdom literature, are written in either poetry or prose (for example, see Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel, which frequently alternate). In addition, the Bible has many sub-genres like speeches, genealogies, parables, dialogue, fables, diatribes, instructions, and epics.

Genre is also complex in its ramifications. Once we identify the genre, the real trick is to read it accurately. For example, consider the moment of Jesus’ birth. Luke says it occurred outside of hospital or inn and that it captured the attention of only a few shepherds (Luke 2:6-16), but Revelation says there were great signs in the heavens and a cosmic conflict with a devouring dragon (Rev 12:1-6). The differing genres of these two books help us to make sense of the differing accounts.

Since I can’t cover all the ramifications of genre in this short post, I commend Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth for further study. I’ll simply illustrate observation of genre with Genesis 1:1-2:3 (which I’ll call simply “Genesis 1”).

The primary observation is straightforward: This text, like most of Genesis, presents itself as historical narrative. The author reports events through the use of characters, setting, plot, climax, and resolution. He tells a story with a setting and a matter-of-fact style (“God said…God created…It was so.”). Thus Genesis 1, like all biblical narratives, tells a story of true events.

Now many interpretations of Genesis 1 hinge on the observation of genre. Some interpreters use Genesis 1 to explain Christianity’s compatibility with scientific evidence of origins. Others observe that Genesis 1 isn’t a science textbook. Either way, the argument is basically centered on the text’s genre.

Because Genesis 1 was written in the genre of historical narrative, we can conclude the narrator believed the act of creation really happened. Though Genesis 1 speaks of seemingly implausible things like light (Gen 1:3) without a sun (Gen 1:14-15), plants (Gen 1:11) without pollinating insects (Gen 1:24), a good-but-initially-unfinished earth (Gen 1:2), and an eternal, almighty God whose words held it together (Gen 1:1, 3, 6, etc.), the author presents them all as neither fable nor fairy tale.

However, we must not read historical narratives too strictly. Sometimes the chronology is all mixed up (for example, compare the order of events in the four Gospels). Biblical narratives are beautifully written and intentionally structured because every narrator has an agenda, and that agenda is more important than anything.

But that agenda doesn’t contradict the narrative’s factuality.

Many biblical witnesses confirm the factuality of Genesis 1. Moses thought this act of creation really happened (Ex 20:11). So did Isaiah (Is 42:5, 45:18). So did Jonah (Jonah 1:9), Nehemiah (Neh 9:6), Paul (2 Cor 4:6), and Peter (2 Pet 3:5). So did Jesus (Mark 10:6).

Thus, as we read Genesis 1, we must avoid either pushing the details too far or ignoring their historicity altogether. Observing the narrative genre prepares us for this task.

[1] How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Zondervan, 2009 (Kindle Locations 204-206). Disclosure: This is an affiliate link, so if you click it and buy stuff you’ll support the site at no extra cost to yourself.

Genesis Overview

September 27, 2013 By Peter Krol

Last week I explained how to do an overview of a Bible book. Let’s say you’d like to study the book of Genesis. You might begin with the following overview.

Author. Though Christians commonly teach that Moses wrote Genesis, the Bible doesn’t explicitly attribute Genesis to Moses. However, since biblical authors universally treat the first five books of the Bible as “the Book of the Law of Moses” (Josh 23:6, Neh 8:1), we are justified in doing the same. Whether Moses penned the words of Genesis or not, he certainly saw fit to include the book in his collection of laws for Israel.

Audience. According to the ESV Study Bible, “it is reasonable to consider the first audience of the Pentateuch [Genesis through Deuteronomy] to be Israel in the wilderness (either the generation that left Egypt or their children).”[1]

Occasion and Purpose. After reading the book a few times, we can recognize significant themes. To understand the book’s purpose, we take the major themes and ask why this author wrote these things to this audience at this time. For Genesis, I agree with the ESV Study Bible’s assessment that “the theme of Genesis is creation, sin, and re-creation,” involving both “how God created the world” and “the call of Abraham.”[2] When we ask why Moses would give this book to these people at this time, we can identify the book’s purpose as follows: to establish Israel’s national identity by explaining the history of God’s creation and his promises to Abraham and his offspring.

Note that a book’s purpose is similar to its main point. The difference is that the “purpose” is closely tied to the original audience, while the “main point” may be more timeless. I’d state the main point of Genesis like this: to establish the identity of all God’s people by explaining the history of God’s creation and his promises to Abraham and his offspring.

Structure. Genesis 1:1-2:3 opens the book by introducing God, his creative power, and his gracious delegation of authority to humanity. The book then proceeds in two main sections: Early history (Gen 2-11) and the history of Israel’s forefathers (Gen 12-50). Furthermore, the book is structured by ten “These are the generations” statements (Gen 2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:11, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 37:2), which outline cycles of creation-fall-redemption-new creation. Humanity repeatedly fails to submit to God’s gracious rule, and God begins again with new generations.

[1] Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008, p.40.

[2] p.41.

The Book Overview

September 20, 2013 By Peter Krol

I have a child who spontaneously asks, “Hey Papa, do you remember that thing? You know, that thing?” When I request more description for “that thing,” the child gets frustrated. But unfortunately, I have no idea what the question refers to unless I can get some context.

Dennis Irrgang (2008), Creative Commons

Similarly, if we isolate a chapter from the literature surrounding it, we’ll skew our observations. Thus, the first thing to observe is the whole book in which we find the passage. I call this step “the book overview.”

We could address many issues during the book overview, but I find four most helpful.

Author: Who wrote the book?
Audience: To whom did he write?
Occasion and Purpose: Why did this author write to this audience at this time? What was going on in their lives?
Structure: How does the book progress? What order is there to the stories or ideas?

The best way to answer these questions is to read the book 5 or 6 times and observe the book’s themes. In addition, you can get more background by searching the entire Bible for names of key people and places connected to the book you want to study. For example, when you study First or Second Thessalonians, you should begin by reading passages in Acts that mention Thessalonica. You can also learn about Old Testament prophets from the books of Kings or Chronicles (e.g. 2 Kings 14:23-27 will help acquaint you with the prophet Jonah).

Sometimes there are also details outside of the text that will help answer the overview questions, so you may want to read a good overview article or Bible dictionary. Just make sure the resource gives the most weight to evidence from within the Bible. For example, many commentaries teach that two different people wrote Isaiah 1-39 and Isaiah 40-66. However, the Gospel of John states clearly that the prophet Isaiah wrote both the first part (John 12:39-40) and the second part (John 12:38). A good scholar will trust such evidence from God’s word.

Now all four questions might not have clear answers. We don’t know who wrote the book of Judges. There’s some debate on the precise audience of Galatians. John leaves no doubt about the purpose of his Gospel (John 20:31), first letter (1 John 5:13), and third letter (3 John 9-10), but with the second letter we can only infer a purpose. There’s usually not one right way to outline a book’s structure.

But if we go as far as we can on these questions, we’ll be able to place the book within its historical context.

When my child asks if I remember “that thing,” I ask some clarifying questions. What thing? When did you see it? Where can I find it? Who was with you?

We should do the same with the book overview.

Next week: An Example Overview of Genesis

How I Interpret the Bible

August 30, 2013 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Chuck McKnight. Chuck blogs at Being Filled, where this post first appeared. Although Chuck doesn’t use the terminology of OIA (observe, interpret, apply), his approach is very similar. So I’m delighted to offer it to you for further reflection.

People who believe in the Bible have very different beliefs about what the Bible teaches. So I’m going to try to briefly explain how I interpret the Bible.

I believe, in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:16–17, that the Bible is “inspired” or breathed out by God. And according to 2 Peter 1:20–21, the Bible consists of written prophecies that came from God. (A prophecy simply means a word from God; it does not necessarily predict the future.)

This does not mean that every word of the Bible was simply dictated to men who then wrote it down. If that were true, we would not see the incredible diversity of style and form contained in the Bible. But it does mean that God was directly involved in the whole process.

The best way I know to describe my view of inspiration is by comparing it to a publishing house that commissions an author to write a specific book. The publisher selects the author, provides him with the information he is to present, and guides the editorial process to ensure that the book matches the publisher’s standards. In this way, the book was truly written by the author, but it is just as much a product of the publishing house.

In similar fashion, I believe that God chose certain men to write for him. He gave them the messages they were to write through prophecy. In some cases, this included portions that were directly dictated, but for the most part, the human authors wrote the prophecy down in their own words. Yet God guided the whole process, ensuring that everything they wrote is accurate. In this way, the Bible truly was written by human authors, but it is just as much the word of God.

Since the Bible comes from God, and since God does not lie or make mistakes, I believe that the Bible is 100% true, reliable, and authoritative. The Bible is therefore my absolute standard by which I evaluate the truthfulness of all other claims.

But the Bible can’t just be read; it must be interpreted.

The first step in interpreting the Bible should be prayer. We should always ask God to help us understand his word.

Next, we must examine the context. So much bad theology is the result of ignoring context. We have to understand the genre of literature, who is speaking, when it was being spoken, who is being addressed, what the culture of that day was like, and a number of other factors. In many cases, it is helpful to consult good commentaries and dictionaries at this stage.

We must also interpret Scripture with Scripture. Very often, a confusing passage from the Bible becomes understandable when compared to a clearer passage on the same topic. Also, the Bible references itself a lot, and we need to be aware of these cross-references and examine the context in both portions.

It is also important to follow standard rules of language and grammar. We need to understand when the biblical author is speaking literally and when he is using figurative language. (The Bible contains a lot of both.)

I have also been convinced more recently of the need to interpret the Bible in community. We need others to check our interpretations and push us in the right direction.

In all of this, we must be sure to seek the originally intended meaning. We must never take a preconceived idea and try to prove it from the Bible. Rather, we must always come to the Bible with a sincere desire to learn what it actually states.

Finally, the whole point of reading the Bible is to apply it to your life. It does no good at all to learn the meaning of a passage if that understanding does not change you. During the whole time we study, we should be asking God, “How should I change as a result of what I’m learning?” Then ask him to help you do that.

You Don’t Have to Reference Greek or Hebrew

August 2, 2013 By Peter Krol

Assumption #4 for this blog states:

The Bible should be translated into modern languages so modern people can know it. Many English translations faithfully capture the meaning of the original text.

Loren Kerns (2013), Creative Commons

I don’t want to get into the details of linguistics and translation, but I want to address a common misconception about Bible study. The misconception is this: to really get deep, you need to know Greek and Hebrew. Or, at the very least, you should be able to refer to it.

What do I mean by referring to it?

I’m talking about that tendency to refer to the “real” meaning of a word or phrase by making use of the Greek or Hebrew word or phrase behind it. Perhaps you’ve heard or made statements like this.

The “love” in this verse is agape love. It’s not the usual sort of philia love. It’s the selfless, sacrificial agape love.

The word behind the word “greetings” in this passage is shalom. It’s the traditional Jewish greeting, but shalom involves much more peace and wholeness than simple greetings.

I don’t really know what the author is talking about here, since I don’t know the Greek.

We can’t get to the bottom of our question because so much gets lost in translation…

These statements are simply not true. There is rarely much to be found in Greek or Hebrew that can’t be found in a careful English translation.

Now, I’m not suggesting that knowing Greek or Hebrew is worthless. I love the ancient languages, and they have enriched my understanding and love for the Scripture. I think ministers of the word should learn the original languages so they can understand how language and translation work and so better shepherd their people with the word.

But if you don’t know Greek or Hebrew, and you don’t have the opportunity to learn them, you’ll do just fine. Your Bible study would be better served by practicing good observation, interpretation, and application of the English Bible, than by spending lots of time looking up Greek and Hebrew words in lexicons.

Let me give an example.

I have on my desk the latest issue of Bible Study Magazine (Vol. 5 No. 5). The magazine is fantastic. If you still read physical magazines, you should subscribe to this one. It’s only $20/year. And I won’t get a commission if you subscribe. I really mean it – I like this magazine!

But they have a column entitled “Greek Word Study Without Greek.” It’s meant to help non-scholars do a Greek study without knowing Greek. In this article, E. Tod Twist examines Paul’s use of the word “tradition,” and he compares it with Jesus’ use of the same word. Jesus appears to disparage tradition in the Gospels (Matt 15:3, Mark 7:8), but Paul encourages it in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6.

So, for those who don’t know Greek, Twist lists 5 steps to show how to study the Greek word.

Make the switch to Greek and establish a working definition
Look up the Greek word in a lexicon
Survey the usage of the word in the New Testament
Account for the different perspectives by examining context
Application–the “So What?”

In this case, the “switch” of step 1 involves getting an interlinear Bible and identifying the Greek word for “tradition” in 2 Thessalonians. Then a lexicon will define the Greek word for you (step 2). In step 3, the student uses a concordance or search engine to find all the verses that use the word.

Once the student hits step 4, he studies each passage to see how the word is used in context. At this point, Twist’s article actually hits pay dirt. His application (step 5) drives his point home:

As we study Scripture, we see that the proper response to tradition is not unthinking acceptance or rejection–it is discernment. For both Jesus and Paul, good paradosis [the Greek word for “tradition”] originates with God and leads us toward Him. Any tradition that does otherwise must be rejected.

Yes! Wonderful conclusion.

Here’s my contention: Twist didn’t need to go to the Greek to reach that conclusion. He could have skipped steps 1-2 entirely. He could have done step 3 with an English concordance or search engine. And he did steps 4 & 5 all in English anyway.

So why do we feel the need to “make the switch to Greek” in order to dig into the Scripture?

Don’t fall into the trap. The Lord provided intelligent translators to write excellent translations of the Bible in modern languages. Through those translations, you can know Jesus and have life. And the Greek word for “know” is ginosko, which means…”to know.”

But the Hebrew word for “life” is hayyim. Hang on a second while I look that one up again.

Oh.

Ok.

It means “life.” Glad we got that straightened out.

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