Perhaps it will be helpful to note here how Patriarch’s Journal interprets Scripture. I believe God inspired the Scriptures and that they are accurate and reliable for faith and practice. The Bible is the Word of God perceived and written by men on which the Holy Spirit moved. Though penned and copied over thousands of years by many different men it is amazingly consistent and accurate, despite the human touch.
That said, we must realize that when Scripture was inspired the various texts now compiled as our Bible were written in and addressed to specific cultural situations and circumstances. These are far removed from us in both time and culture. A “literal” interpretation on its face alone is not possible without reading into the text errors of presumption from our 21st century context. It is my observation that the various “denominational emphases” now debated are the result of reading our own predispositions into the text, obscuring its intended meaning. All of them contain error, some of them serious error. We must dig beneath the surface and read between the lines to determine historical and cultural influences behind the text which may be taken for granted in the time of writing but not necessarily obvious to us now.
Further, we must remember that the Bible is written exclusively by people heavily influenced by if not living from a system of Hebrew thought. Hebrew understanding of the world, of life, of religion and spiritual matters is drastically different from our own. That point of view must be understood before we can begin to understand what is behind a given text. This is critical. We cannot understand a text from Hebrew thought viewing it with our primarily Greek western lenses. We will misunderstand and misinterpret every time.
Patriarch’s Journal makes the attempt to see behind the text, to understand situations and circumstances that the Holy Spirit may have inspired the various writers to address. So, for example, when we read passages in Paul’s writing about the relationships and roles of men and women we need to see, as far as possible, what cultural setting he was addressing and the lens of Hebrew thought through which he was seeing it. We must ask, “why?”. Only then can we find the principles we need to be able to interpret and apply to our situation now.
Patriarch’s Journal has such a high regard for Scripture that it wants to take the trouble to “rightly divide the word of truth,” and make sure we are not holding it hostage to anyone’s “private interpretation.”
That said, we must realize that when Scripture was inspired the various texts now compiled as our Bible were written in and addressed to specific cultural situations and circumstances. These are far removed from us in both time and culture. A “literal” interpretation on its face alone is not possible without reading into the text errors of presumption from our 21st century context. It is my observation that the various “denominational emphases” now debated are the result of reading our own predispositions into the text, obscuring its intended meaning. All of them contain error, some of them serious error. We must dig beneath the surface and read between the lines to determine historical and cultural influences behind the text which may be taken for granted in the time of writing but not necessarily obvious to us now.
Further, we must remember that the Bible is written exclusively by people heavily influenced by if not living from a system of Hebrew thought. Hebrew understanding of the world, of life, of religion and spiritual matters is drastically different from our own. That point of view must be understood before we can begin to understand what is behind a given text. This is critical. We cannot understand a text from Hebrew thought viewing it with our primarily Greek western lenses. We will misunderstand and misinterpret every time.
Patriarch’s Journal makes the attempt to see behind the text, to understand situations and circumstances that the Holy Spirit may have inspired the various writers to address. So, for example, when we read passages in Paul’s writing about the relationships and roles of men and women we need to see, as far as possible, what cultural setting he was addressing and the lens of Hebrew thought through which he was seeing it. We must ask, “why?”. Only then can we find the principles we need to be able to interpret and apply to our situation now.
Patriarch’s Journal has such a high regard for Scripture that it wants to take the trouble to “rightly divide the word of truth,” and make sure we are not holding it hostage to anyone’s “private interpretation.”
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