The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his101/8rules.arj/8RULES.TXT

Text File | 1989-07-01 | 8KB | 146 lines

                    THE EIGHT RULES OF INTERPRETATION

    "And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you
    do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
    until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
    But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a
    matter of one's own interpretation." [2 Peter 1:19,20 NAS]

   We can't have a "sure word" about the meaning of Scripture (or
anything else) unless we have a sure method to interpret the words.  The
following eight rules are the center of all grammatical interpretation.
They have been accepted and used by scholars from Socrates to the
present.  While my hope is that they will be used to "rightly divide the
word of truth" of the Holy Bible, they are equally applicable to legal,
historical, and other such language.

   Since the Bible teaches that God is not the author of confusion [1
Cor. 14:33], how can the many disagreements today between Christians and
the proliferation of the cults be explained since all, or nearly all,
claim to use the Bible as the basis of their doctrines?  Nearly all false
doctrines taught today by Christians and cultists alike can be traced to
the distortion of the meaning of Biblical words.  These eight rules are
prayerfully offered in the hope that they may help many come to the truth
of what God says in His Word.
   The Rev. Guy Duty said in his book DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE:

    "When two interpretations are claimed for a Scripture, the
    construction most in agreement with all the facts of the case
    should be adopted.  When all the facts of an interpretation are
    in agreement they sound together in harmony, like notes in a
    chord.

    "Biblical interpretation is more than knowing a set of rules, but
    it cannot be done without the rules.  So, learn the rules, and
    rightly apply them...."

    (DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE,  Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1967)

   Here are the eight rules:

1)  The rule of DEFINITION:  What does the word mean?  Any study of
Scripture must begin with a study of words.  Define your terms and then
keep to the terms defined.  The interpreter should conscientiously abide
by the plain meaning of the words.  This quite often may require using a
Hebrew/English or Greek/English lexicon in order to make sure that the
sense of the English translation is understood.  A couple of good
examples of this are the Greek words "allos" and "heteros".  Both are
usually translated as "another" in English - yet "allos" literally means
"another of the same type" and "heteros" means "another of a different
type."

2)  The rule of USAGE:  It must be remembered that the Old Testament was
written originally by, to and for Jews.  The words and idioms must have
been intelligible to them - just as the words of Christ when talking to
them must have been.  The majority of the New Testament likewise was
written in a milieu of Greco-Roman (and to a lesser extent Jewish)
culture and it is important to not impose our modern usage into our
interpretation.  It is not worth much to interpret a great many phrases
and histories if one's interpretations are shaded by pre-conceived
notions and cultural biases, thereby rendering an inaccurate and
ineffectual lesson.

3)  The rule of CONTEXT:  The meaning must be gathered from the context.
Every word you read must be understood in the light of the words that
come before and after it.  Many passages will not be understood at all,
or understood incorrectly, without the help afforded by the context.  A
good example of this is the Mormon practice of using 1 Cor. 8:5b:
"...for there be gods many and lords many..." as a "proof text" of their
doctrine of polytheism.  However, a simple reading of the whole verse in
the context of the whole chapter (e.g. where Paul calls these gods
"so-called"), plainly demonstrates that Paul is not teaching polytheism.

4)  The rule of HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:  The interpreter must have some
awareness of the life and society of the times in which the Scripture was
written.  The spiritual principle will be timeless but often can't be
properly appreciated without some knowledge of the background.  If the
interpreter can have in his mind what the writer had in his mind when he
wrote - without adding any excess baggage from the interpreter's own
culture or society - then the true thought of the Scripture can be
captured resulting in an accurate interpretation.  Oliver Wendell Holmes
said, "Our only interest in the past is for the light it throws upon the
present."

5)  The rule of LOGIC:  Interpretation is merely logical reasoning.  When
interpreting Scripture, the use of reason is everywhere to be assumed.
Does the interpretation make sense?  The Bible was given to us in the
form of human language and therefore appeals to human reason - it invites
investigation.  It is to be interpreted as we would any other volume:
applying the laws of language and grammatical analysis.  As Bernard Ramm
said:

    "What is the control we use to weed out false theological
    speculation?  Certainly the control is logic and evidence...
    interpreters who have not had the sharpening experience of
    logic ... may have improper notions of implication and evidence.
    Too frequently such a person uses a basis of appeal that is a
    notorious violation of the laws of logic and evidence."

    (PROTESTANT BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION,  Boston:W. A. Wilde, 1956)

6)  The rule of PRECEDENT:  We must not violate the known usage of a word
and invent another for which there is no precedent.  Just as a judge's
chief occupation is the study of previous cases, so must the interpreter
use precedents in order to determine whether they really support an
alleged doctrine.  Consider the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12 who were called
"noble" because they searched the Scriptures to determine if what Paul
taught them was true.

7)  The rule of UNITY:  The parts of Scripture being interpreted must be
construed with reference to the significance of the whole.  An
interpretation must be consistent with the rest of Scripture.  An
excellent example of this is the doctrine of the Trinity.  No single
passage teaches it, but it is consistent with the teaching of the whole
of Scripture (e.g. the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are referred to
individually as God; yet the Scriptures elsewhere teach there is only one
God).

8)  The rule of INFERENCE:  An inference is a fact reasonably implied
from another fact.  It is a logical consequence.  It derives a conclusion
from a given fact or premise.  It is the deduction of one proposition
from another proposition.  Such inferential facts or propositions are
sufficiently binding when their truth is established by competent and
satisfactory evidence.  Competent evidence means such evidence as the
nature of the thing to be proved admits.  Satisfactory evidence means
that amount of proof which would ordinarily satisfy an unprejudiced mind
beyond a reasonable doubt.  Jesus used this rule when he proved the
resurrection of the dead to the unbelieving Sadducees in Matt. 22:23-33.

   Learning these eight rules and properly applying them will help keep
any interpreter from making errors and will hopefully alleviate many of
the disagreements unfortunately present in Christianity today.  However,
these eight principles are no substitute for the Holy Spirit which will,
if you let Him, guide you in the truth [John 14:26].  If you receive
Christ into your heart, God will give you the Holy Spirit freely as a
gift [Acts 2:38].  I urge you, if you have not already done so, to
examine the claims and the work of Jesus Christ and to receive Him as
your Saviour.

   This paper will close with some words from King Solomon, the wisest
man who ever lived, excepting our Lord Jesus Christ:

    "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of
    understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a
    proverb, and the interpretation."  [Proverbs 1:5,6]