References: All Biblical quotations, unless otherwise stated, are from the New International Version. The other primary sources for this paper are:

-The Inspiration of Scripture (A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, March 1975). To read this full report please go to www.lcms.org, and click on “Commission on Theology and Church Relations”, then “CTCR Reports and Opinions”, then “Scripture”, then “The Inspiration of Scripture”.

-Principals of Traditional, Lutheran, Biblical Hermeneutics (Derived from Various Lutheran Sources)

Thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts regarding biblical interpretation.

Obviously, a thorough study of biblical interpretation would take years - perhaps a life time and then some; so this presentation is going to be a most basic summary of what I understand to be correct - and also with the declaration that I have no advanced training in biblical hermeneutics myself.

Last week Davis Cope reminded us that one of the events which brought us to this topic of biblical interpretation was a presentation by John Helgeland last spring in which he interpreted some of the miracles of Jesus as being something other than miracles, as well as questioning whether Jesus ever claimed to be divine. Of course, there have also been other conversations over the months which have caused us to discuss whether the Bible is to be taken literally or not.

I thank Davis for his presentation last week. I think it well represented the basics of a biblical fundamentalist’s view - at least as I understand it. And while that presentation has already introduced some of the points I too will be making; I hope this group does not mind if I reiterate and expand on certain parts, and clarify others.

First, I do believe what the Bible claims about itself:

 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”  2 Timothy 3:16,  and,

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:1-2,  and one more,

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  II Peter 1:20-21
                                                                             
In other words, the Bible is not a book fallen from heaven, but rather the word of God (thus theological), written by chosen and inspired men at certain times and certain places over a 1600 year period of history (thus historical), and in certain ordinary human languages (thus grammatical). It is for this reason that the interpretation of Scripture should be not only theological - but also historical and grammatical.

And while God could have chosen many other ways to reveal himself and communicate to His human creation, He chose to include the use of ordinary men to do so, and then continued to use ordinary men to determine which words were indeed from Him, and which ones not - first by the their use within the believing community, and then later through councils of that same believing community - as God led His Church to recognize His writings. (More on this later.) And finally, that God still chooses to use ordinary people to continue to re-tell this written revelation to the world today.

While different traditions within the Christian Religion hold to varying principals of biblical interpretation, there is a list of 20 such principals for Traditional, Lutheran, Biblical Hermeneutics, which I will also make available at the end of my presentation.

One of these main principals states that the less clear passages of Scripture must be interpreted in light of the clearer passages and the whole of Scripture: Thus, Scripture interprets Scripture. An example of this would be Matthew 25:31-46 where we read: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  

Read by itself, it would be easy to assume that one is saved by doing the good works mentioned in this section of Scripture. But knowing that the whole of Scripture teaches that salvation is by grace, and not by works, a doctrine made clear in many other verses such as Ephesians 2:8-9 which states “For by grace you have been saved, through faith - and that not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works...”, and Romans 3:20 which states: Therefore no one will be declared righteous in  His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”, to mention just a few, we come to realize that it is the faith that not only saves - but that also motivates the believer to do the God-pleasing works mentioned in the Matthew text. Again, Scripture interprets Scripture.

Another principal of biblical interpretation is that since God chose to communicate through real people, using real historical human languages, we must take into account the various grammatical forms used by the writers - which are sometimes literal, sometimes figurative, sometimes symbolic, etc. When Jesus states, “I tell you a parable”, we know that it is not to be taken literally, for it is a parable. And in Revelation Chapter 1 we read a record John’s vision of Jesus in heaven where he states: “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone ‘like a son of man,’ dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edge sword.” A sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth? Really? Of course not; for we know that in Hebrews 4:12 we are told: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edge sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit...it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”, and again in Ephesians 6:17 we read: “Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” So here we see both symbolism, and again, Scripture interpreting Scripture.

And though the Bible is filled with these various styles of writings, another primary principle of biblical interpretation is that the literal meaning of a word should in all cases be accepted as the one intended sense unless sufficient reasons prompt its interpretation to be figurative or symbolic, such as the examples given above. Thus, even when the Bible speaks of miracles being performed we accept them as literal, even though a miracle is beyond the realm of empirical testings.

Our next principal is that all biblical interpretation must be guided by the Scripture’s self-announced purposes - that being to make men wise unto salvation and to train them in holy living. The primary purpose and unity of the Bible is Christological, giving revelation and historical accounts of God working out His eternal counsels for man’s salvation through Christ. The Bible however does not purport to be a textbook on universal history; rather it is selective in the history that it reports, recording only those events and developments in both general history, and especially in the history of God’s people, which serve to show that God is the Lord of history, and that in His steadfast faithfulness He always remembered His covenant made with the fathers to carry out His redemptive purpose in human history.

Some of the Scriptural records can be demonstrated by extra-Biblical evidence. Because the Scriptures report historical events through which God worked out His saving purposes - these events occurred on the plane of human history and are therefore to that extent susceptible of investigation and even of verification by historical research. For example, the New Testament Book of Acts cites no less that 84 historical facts verified by later research and archaeology.  Nevertheless, the inerrancy of the Scriptures relies on faith and not on corroboration by empirical evidence.

And finally, while the Bible is was not written to be an instruction book on calculus or science or any other non-theological discipline; nevertheless, where a clear Scriptural teaching makes reference to or comes in conflict with an extra biblical source of any nature - such as regarding the origin of the world in general and of mankind in specific - then by faith the Scriptural teaching is to be considered the truth. (More on this controversial statement later under the inerrancy of Scripture.)

Another principal is that Scripture (and not human reasoning, personal feelings or tradition) is the sole source and norm of true doctrine in the sphere of religion and theology. When in John 14:6 Jesus declares “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”, we believe and teach this to be the truth regardless of how unpopular such an exclusive claim has become in our society today! And when in Acts, chapter 5, we read that Ananias and his wife Sapphira fell down dead when they lied about the price of the land they sold, our human reasoning and personal feelings want to shout out how unfair this is, as we wonder how a loving God would do such a thing. I too do not understand why God’s grace has been extended to me at times when I have not been completely forthcoming - and yet not to these two. Nevertheless, as Scripture states, God is not only a God of grace, but also of justice, whose ways are not our ways, and who is Himself sovereign.

And finally, principal #11 states: Because Scripture is of divine origin and is the verbally inspired word of God, it is wholly without inconsistency of thought or speech, without any contradiction, without the slightest error (in the original manuscripts). At this point I must state that it is with great humility and  prayer that I even attempt to properly explain this principal of the inerrancy of writings which I understand to be a mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it is essential to our discussion to make such an attempt - and to ask for God’s grace for my shortcomings. Not only the presentations of the past several weeks, but the very existence of several books such as “When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties” by N. Beisler and T. Howe, and “Bible Difficulties & Seeming Contradictions” by William Arndt, show us that these “difficulties” and “seeming contradictions” do exist within the pages of the Bible.

What then shall the believer do with these difficulties? First, for some, an in-depth study of Scripture has brought resolution to many of the seeming contradictions. Still other difficulties  remain much more of a challenge, leading us to maintain that even though there are differences and variety in the Sacred Writings which sometimes perplex us because we can find no harmonization for them, that satisfies human reason, our faith still confesses the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God.

And where does such a trust come from? “The inspiration of the Scriptures is an article of faith which Christians believe because the Scriptures have the inherent power to commend themselves
to men for what they claim to be and are, namely, the Word of God. Faith in the Gospel of God’s grace toward sinners does not result from a prior conviction about the inspiration of the Scriptures, in which that Gospel is proclaimed. Rather, first faith is wrought by the Gospel, and then faith recognizes the Scriptures to be the very Word of God.

Of course, a necessary preliminary to biblical interpretation is the establishment of the sacred text itself; so a few words here regarding the canon of the Bible. While time today does not allow for
                                                                             
 more than a brief reference to the history of the selection of these writings, it is extremely important to understand the following: The role of the church in the formulation of the canon was not active but passive. Though we often think of and refer to the various early church councils as the authorizing events for the canonization of the Bible, the role of the church was passive in that the church served merely as the community in which the Sacred Writings authenticated themselves over time. This they did by their inherent power to convince God’s people that they are indeed His Word.” The biblical books ... commended themselves... as God led His church to recognize and preserve certain writings as His very own Word.

Let me also briefly mention just a few items to help alleviate some of the often mentioned concerns regarding anticipated errors from their being so many hand copied manuscripts over the years. By historical standards, when Jewish scribes made copies of the Scriptures, they were required to count not only the number of words, but even the number of letters, both forward and backward, and then compare the new rendition to the master copy to ensure that nothing was added or omitted.

Another testimony to the reliability of Scriptural transmission over the years is the bibliographical test used to examine the textual transmission of documents, both biblical and extra-biblical. One of the two main components of this test is the length of time that has elapsed between the original writing and the earliest copy in existence - the shorter this gap, the more reliable the manuscript is considered to be. The other is the number of manuscript copies in existence - the more copies, the more reliable the they are considered to be. Using both of these secular criteria for document reliability, the New Testament of the Bible surpasses by far all other writings of ancient history! Just a few examples of this are Aristotle’s poetics written around 343 B.C. The earliest copy in existence is dated A.D. 1100, nearly a 1,400 year gap; and there are only 5 MSS in existence. Caesar composed his history of the Gallic Wars between 58 to 50 B.C., and its manuscript authority rests on only nine or ten copies, dating 1,000 years after his death. By comparison, when it comes to the manuscript authority of the New Testament, there are over 20,000 copies in existence. The Illiad is second after the New Testament in manuscript authority with 643 MSS. (More Than A Carpenter, Josh McDowell, pgs 26-27)

In summary, because these Scriptures are God’s words, they have the power to produce faith. The object of that faith is primarily Jesus Christ, God the Son, through whom comes forgiveness and salvation; but these divine words also produce a faith which recognizes and trusts their inerrancy as well.

That this inerrancy is imperative for the Christian believer should be obvious. If it were the purpose of the Bible merely to inculcate some eternal principles or universal truths for men to observe in their quest to better live out their lives, then it would make no difference whether the stories used to illustrate the principles and truths were pure fabrications or factual reports of real events. However, the Bible was written to bear witness to the reality and action of God in human history. Therefore, if biblical historical records are unreliable or even false, then God’s saving actions in history are
called into question as well. If the Scriptural writings of the Old Testament, including the accounts of the creation and other doctrines which Jesus Himself refers to as valid - if they are dismissed as
simply mythology; then why listen to anything else Jesus says, including that He is the Savior? If the accounts of the virgin birth and the miracles of Jesus, including His resurrection are simply made up stories to try to convey some larger meaning; then why believe what’s on the next page - or any page of this document? Indeed, the Christian faith rests so squarely on God’s actions in human history, centering in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, that if the biblical historical records are false, then our faith is left without a foundation as well, even as it says in I Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; and you are still in your sins.”

But I stand before you today to declare again the claim that in God’s great love for us, Christ not only died to take the necessary and just punishment for our sins - but that these Holy Scriptures declare He is raised and has overcome even the power of death itself! And the good news for us is that God want’s ALL to freely receive these blessings of Christ’s death and resurrection. This message is summed up concisely in the words of John 3:16, of which I most certainly interpret very literally, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

I thank you again for allowing me this opportunity to share this message with you!