We are having a lot of interesting Bible study topics in this and some of the other forums of MSDAOL and I find it interesting how often we come to different and opposite thoughts on some of those topics.

I am, therefore, asking a question which I thought would be appropriate in this particular forum.

What are the Rules of Biblical Interpretation?

Let us begin first by letting the Bible answer this question before moving on to the SOP and other written material, etc.

[ July 05, 2002, 09:02 PM: Message edited by: Daryl Fawcett ]

8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

What is the reference and what rule of interpretation to you see in that reference?

Here is one from me:

quote:

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2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

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The obvious rule here is that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Could we also say that nothing in the Bible is of any private interpretation?

[ July 06, 2002, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: Daryl Fawcett ]

RULES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

The reason why there are so many different churches and beliefs among Christians today is because many do not follow sound rules for Biblical interpretation. Following these rules will lead one to rich mines of truth in God’s Word. Here are the rules that I have found.

1. With a good concordance, search out EVERYTHING the Bible says on the subject before coming to a conclusion. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Isaiah 28:10. One can pull out a Bible text to prove just about anything, but when one first looks at ALL the Bible texts on a certain subject, then a pattern of truth will emerge.

2. All conclusions should be based upon the weight of evidence and must make logical sense. God created us with minds to think and He appeals to our intellect. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 1:18.

3. Each passage of Scripture should be carefully considered in its context. What does the Bible say before and after the passage? First we must consider the immediate passage, then the chapter, book, other books by the same author, and finally other writers of the Bible.

4. A literal interpretation of the Bible should be given unless the context clearly shows that the verses under consideration are symbolic. When the interpretation is symbolic, the Bible will tell us the meaning of the symbol either in that passage or elsewhere. The Bible must ALWAYS interpret itself. “The language of the Bible should be explained according to its OBVIOUS meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed…If men would but take the Bible AS IT READS, if there were no false teachers to mislead and confuse their minds, a work would be accomplished that would make angels glad and that would bring into the fold of Christ thousand upon thousands who are now wandering in error.” Great Controversy p. 598-599. (Read the whole chapter this quote is taken from to learn even more.)

5. One text of the Bible must not undo another text. The Bible NEVER conflicts with itself. “One saying of the Saviour must NOT be made to destroy another.” Great Controversy, p. 371. Sometimes Bible texts, at first glance, can appear to contradict with other texts, but upon a deeper study, the contradiction will disappear. For instance, one can find Bible texts that appear to support works in order to obtain salvation. Elsewhere, the Bible states that faith obtains salvation. On the surface these texts appear to be contradicting each other, but upon deeper study one finds that works and faith are the flip side of the same coin. Without one the other does not exist. Sometimes the Bible will give us a harmonizing text and sometimes it won’t, leaving us to do the harmonizing. Here is a harmonizing text. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18.

6. All words should be accurately defined and understood. A good dictionary and concordance will aid in this.

7. We cannot conclude more or less than the evidence allows. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2. “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:19. These are serious words not to be taken lightly.

8. Consider the words of the text in the original languages. We don’t need to waste our time studying Greek and Hebrew in order to do this. Using Strong’s Concordance one can easily find the original meaning of a word. As in English, some words in Greek and Hebrew have multiple meanings. Sometimes a contradiction may appear because the wrong definition of the word was used. However, by carefully considering ALL texts on a subject, one can figure out the correct definition. For instance, in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:24 we read, “Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed.” Elsewhere in the Bible, God is portrayed as a loving master. At first glance, one could say that the Bible is contradicting itself. However, Strong’s Concordance gives several definitions for the word knew in this verse. One definition is the word perceive. The word “perceive” should have been used by the translator because the text would then read that this servant is stating his definition of what he thinks or perceives God’s character to be like, which, according to other Bible verses, is not true.

9. Each prophecy in the Bible has a beginning and ending point in time and the elements within this prophecy occur in the order in which they are given. Daniel chapter 2 gives us a model. In this chapter the head of the image, which represents Babylon, comes before the chest, which represents Medo-Persia, which comes before the belly, which represents Greece, etc. All prophecies have the events within them occurring in chronological order.

10. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide your mind before beginning to study because without the Holy Spirit one cannot obtain truth. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. We need to pray for spiritual discernment. “There are deep mysteries in the word of God, which will never be discovered by minds that are unaided by the Spirit of God.” Testimonies Vol. 4, p. 444. “God can do more in one moment to convict people than we can do in a lifetime.” Signs of the Times November 7, 1900.

HOW WILLIAM MILLER STUDIED THE BIBLE

“Endeavoring to lay aside ALL preconceived opinions, and dispensing with commentaries, he compared scripture with scripture by the aid of the marginal references and the concordance…When he found anything obscure, it was his custom to compare it with every other text which seemed to have any reference to the matter under consideration…Thus whenever he met with a passage hard to be understood he found an explanation in some other portion of the Scriptures. As he studied with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment, that which had before appeared dark to his understanding was made clear…He saw that the prophecies, so far as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally; that all the various figures, metaphors, parables, similitudes, etc., were either explained in their immediate connection, or the terms in which they were expressed were defined in other scriptures, and when thus explained, were to be literally understood…Angels of heaven were guiding his mind and opening the Scriptures to his understanding.” Great Controversy, p. 320.

Yes, I believe that anything in the Bible, not just prophecy, is not of private interpretation. If there is something in the Bible that is truth, God will share this with more than one person. Several times now in my life I've studied out something and came to a conclusion I've not heard from anyone else, and then later I found others who had come to the very same conclusion, even using the very same Bible texts and Ellen White quotes that I had found on this subject. This is my testimony.

[ July 06, 2002, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Jean Miller ]