If the Bible can mean anything, then it doesn’t mean anything. Do you know what I mean?
I had a conversation that went like this (actually, I have had a lot of these, and maybe that says something about my communication skills). “I heard what you said, and I know what you meant. And I disagree.” Then I respond, “Yes. That is what I said. But that is not what I meant.” To which the expected reply comes, “Yes, you did. That is what you said.”
Now, in a situation like that, who is correct about meaning?
Is it the one who heard or the one who spoke? When there are no emotions involved (like right now), the answer is easy. The person who spoke is the one who knows what he or she meant, even if he or she didn’t say it too well. Meaning lies in intention, and, fortunately, in most conversations or conflicts that we have, both people are alive enough to discuss it and figure out what was actually meant.
But that isn’t true with the Bible, at least the second part. The first part is true. The Bible means what the original author meant it to mean. But the original author isn’t alive so that we could have a clarifying discussion. That is the root of why we must learn to interpret the Bible.
This mini-Lecture is in a series of mini-Lectures called, “How to Understand Your Bible.” This one sets the stage by giving the Big Picture. The following ones will go back into the details of the Big Picture. In this one we learn a three-step method for discovering the true meaning of a text and how to figure out how it should apply to us, some rules for interpreting, and some tools to help us along the way. You can listen and take notes. Maybe next time you can join us in person.
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