This installment is titled “Hermeneutics.”
Pr 30:11 “There is a generation that
curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.”
Pr 30:12 “There is a generation that are
pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”
Pr 30:13 “There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.”
“Hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word meaning ‘to interpret.’ Traditionally it has meant ‘that science which delineates principles or methods for interpreting an individual author’s meaning.”[1]
Every human being who has ever lived employs a hermeneutic, a system by which the individual tries to understand what he is seeing, hearing, or reading. No one does not employ a hermeneutic. Yet there is a generation that displays such arrogance and conceit that they are perfectly described by Proverbs 30.11-13.
When they read the Bible, they never imagine that they have a hermeneutic. They assume their approach to reading, studying, and understanding the Bible is necessarily the correct one. Of course, that is presumption. Some even go so far in their lofty arrogance that they set aside any reading of Bible commentaries, supposing themselves to be so spiritual and well-informed that they have no need of the humility that sits at the feet of others who took the time to study, plan, and write for the benefit of others.
Still others suppose that in place of studying the Bible with the help of commentaries written by others (which requires reading) they will substitute listening to podcasts as they drive, supposing that the minuscule amount of attention that can safely be devoted to listening while driving can somehow substitute for the focused and prayerful attention of a diligent student of God’s Word.
Rather than commenting on the broad subject of the various tools that can be employed in the study of Scripture, from the learning of and resorting to language tools, to the reading of the various types of commentaries that range from devotional to exegetical, I want to spend a few minutes on this topic of hermeneutics.
Everyone employs a hermeneutic. You employ a hermeneutic. I employ a hermeneutic. The question for you is whether or not you know what hermeneutic you employ in fact rather than in theory. How would you know what your approach to interpreting God’s Word is when you rarely if ever discuss that precise topic with anyone or subject your personal hermeneutic to anyone else’s scrutiny?
You may say, “I employ a historical-grammatical hermeneutic.” Do you? Are you sure you do? Do you have any idea how many allegorical interpreters of Scripture claimed they had such a hermeneutic, believed they had such a hermeneutic, yet did not? How would anyone know such a thing who does not, who will not, read up on the subject?
Of course, as a Gospel minister, my concern at this point is the hermeneutic employed by those who are Gospel ministers. Rather than subjecting your hermeneutic to me, or me subjecting my hermeneutic for your scrutiny, I wonder if you have ever subjected your hermeneutic to anyone’s scrutiny?
Do you imagine that a man given over to the calling of ministering God’s Word to others should assume without real evidence that the hermeneutic he employs is the correct one? Or that his hermeneutic is so accurate that it is not necessary or beneficial to him or others to scrutinize it and refine it? Do you imagine God would not want you to consciously and conscientiously seek to improve the skills you employ when studying His Word?
We preachers talk about our high estimation of the Bible. We preach about our high estimation of the Bible. But does a person really have a high estimation of the Bible who has not and will not review the approach he uses to study and interpret the Bible? Can a preacher or teacher of the Bible really have a high opinion of God’s Word who will not focus some of his attention on the hermeneutic he employs?
To that end, and without further comment, following is a list of books of various qualities and usefulness (in no particular order) that I recommend for reading and studying by those who claim God’s Word is your treasure and delight:
Peter
Masters, Not Like Any Other Book, (London: The Wakeman Trust, 2004)
W. R.
Downing, An Introduction To Biblical Hermeneutics, (Morgan Hill,
CA: P. I. R. S. Publications)
William
Evans, The Book Method Of Bible Study, (Chicago: The Bible
Institute Colportage Association, 1915)
Grant R.
Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to
Biblical Interpretation, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press,
1991)
Robert A.
Traina, Methodical Bible Study, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1985)
D. A. Carson
and John D. Woodbridge, editors, Hermeneutics, Authority, And Canon,
(Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986)
Milton S.
Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics, (www.ForgottenBooks.com)
Patrick
Fairbairn, Opening Scripture, (Birmingham, Alabama: Solid Ground
Christian Books, 1858 reprint)
Bernard
Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook of Hermeneutics,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, Third Revised Edition, 1970)
[1] Grant
R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to
Biblical Interpretation, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press,
1991), page 5.
