An odd point stuck in my mind during the evening service yesterday. Probably not the central point of his talk, but it stuck nonetheless..
Lane made the point that because we were in a denomination in which the Bible is believed to be inspired and inerrant, we must study and figure out how to make the Bible apply to our lives. How to conform ourselves to the scripture and be transformed by it (as in Romans 12:2). This is not the exact phrasing he used. He said it better. But the interesting part was that his phrasing reminded me of a paragraph in Adler & Van Doren's excellent book, How To Read A Book in the section on 'how to read canonical books.'.
They make the point that anytime there is a canon (literally measuring rod, norm or rule), there is a right reading of it (literally Orthodoxy). Just like there is a correct way to read any measuring device. The interpretation of canon is not left up to opinion. Adherents that beleve that the canon is an inspired rule are bound to read it with the purpose of trying to transform themselves to fit it rather than attempting to transform their interpretation of scripture to fit their whims. As Adler puts it...
The faithful reader of a canonical book is obliged to make sense out of it and to find it true...He reads essentially without freedom; but in return he gains a kind of satisfaction that is possibly never obtained when reading other books.
And speaking of measuring things (canon), don't you love this picture?
3 comments:
Just for curiosity sake...where does one find the Orthodoxy (right belief and right worship, in definition) by which to read the canon of the Holy Scriptures? I.E. where would you point someone who wanted to understand the words of the Scriptures for what they mean, and not simply what they personally want to understand?
I find this an interesting post because most Protestant Christians I know do believe that there are right and wrong interpretations of Scripture, but then that is very limited for them. Whatever God might reveal to a person could be legit, and no one really has the right to judge them. How would you respond to those sentiments?
God bless,
Priest Matthew
Well, I'm sure that there's more to it than I can think of right now, but the things that spring to mind...
I would certainly not presume to say that for someone's reading to be right they have to agree with me or my reading of it. But it seems that scripture must interpret itself. That is, a correct understanding of a part of scripture cannot contradict some other part of scripture. That is, as I understand it, how the major heresies started - as skewed tangents based on a partial reading of scripture.
So, to understand scripture, I'd point folks back at scripture. I'd also refer them to a biblical scholar/pastor/priest who believes in the infallibility and inerrancy of the bible. Someone who knows more about the whole of scripture makes for a good guide in interpretation.
An of course, not last nor least, they should pray for guidance and tutorship of the Holy Spirit.
There's a lot more there, but its very late and my mind is not churning correctly. I'll come back to this topic when i'm fresher.
How would you answer your question? How would you respond to folks' personal interpretations?
I certainly agree that Scripture cannot be interpreted in a way that causes us to ignore other parts of the Bible. The Bible is a whole--all of it points us to Christ, and it must be interpreted in a way that is wholly consistent with every other part. This would virtually do away with the rampant mis-interpretation of Scriptures that we see in the world today!
I would also point people to the way that the Scriptures have been interpreted historically...what has the Body of Christ always seen in the Scriptures. We have so many commentaries (of various qualities, sometimes) that date even from the earliest years of the Christian Church.
Hmmm...like you, I would say this is in no way exhaustive...but to find the proper interpretation I would suggest
-constant prayer for guidance
-reading the whole of the Scriptures, and making sure that our understandings are in line with the whole of God's revelation to man
-how does our understanding compair with what has been taught for 2000 years
It's also hard to try and understand the Scriptures if we read them out of context. I am specifically thinking here that it is difficult to understand something we're not living. Our understanding of the Bible is not primarily intellectual, but existential. I live the commandments of Christ, and that opens the eyes of my soul to see into the mysteries of God, including the right understanding of God's Word to mankind.
What do you think?
God bless,
Priest Matthew
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