04. IV. THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
IV. THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
Thus far we have discussed the object of preaching. There are two parts to it: the preparation of the sermon, and the preaching of it. Here our Lord’s words are relevant: ’Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe, which is instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder, who brings out of his treasure things new and old"’ (Matthew 13:52).
PREPARATION In preparation there must be careful private study. Various scriptures underline this: ’Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine’ (1 Timothy 4:13); ’Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you’ (1 Peter 1:10); ’In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years’ (Daniel 9:2). Concerning the study of divinity, the following advice should be followed.
First, fix clearly in your mind and memory the sum and substance of biblical doctrine, with its definitions, divisions and explanations.
Secondly, read the Scriptures in the following order. Using grammatical, rhetorical and logical analysis, and the relevant ancillary studies, read Paul’s Letter to the Romans first of all. After that, the Gospel of John. These are the keys to the New Testament. Thereafter, the other books of the New Testament will be more easily understood. When you have completed this, study the doctrinal books of the Old Testament, especially the Psalms; then the prophetic books, especially Isaiah. Lastly, the historical books, particularly Genesis. It is very likely that the apostles and evangelists read Isaiah and the Psalms a great deal, since no other books of the Old Testament are as frequently cited in the New Testament as these are (about sixty passages from both Isaiah and the Psalms).
Thirdly, we ought to get help from orthodox Christian writers, not only from modern times but also from the ancient church. For Satan raises old heresies from the dead in order to retard the restoration of the church which has begun in our own time. The Antitrinitarians have simply painted a new coat of varnish on the views of Arius and Sabellius. The Radical Anabaptists repeat the doctrines of the Essenes, Catharists, Enthusiasts, and Donatists. The Swenkfeldians revive the views of the Eutychians, Enthusiasts and others. Menno follows the Ebionites, and Roman Catholicism resembles the Pharisees, Encratites, Tatians and Pelagians. The Libertines repeat the views of the Gnostics and Carpocratians. Servetus has revived the heresies of Paul of Samosata, Arius, Eutyches, Marcion and Apollinarius. Lastly, schismatics who separate themselves from evangelical churches revive the opinions, facts and fashions attributed by Cyprian to Pupianus and of the Audians and Donatists.
We do not need to look for any novel way of rejecting and refuting these heresies; the ancient ones found in the Councils and the Fathers are well-tested and still reliable.
Fourthly, anything you come across in your studies that is important and worth noting should be recorded in tables or commonplace books, so that you have both old and new material at hand.
Fifthly, and most important of all, we must earnestly ask God in prayer to open our blind eyes to the meaning of the Scriptures: ’Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law’ (Psalms 119:18); ’I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire ... and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that you may see’ (Revelation 3:18).
Commonplace Books In connection with composing commonplace books, here is some practical advice:
Make a list of the most common headings of every point of doctrine.
Divide the right-hand pages of your book into columns, or equal sections lengthwise. Head each of these pages with a major topic, leaving the next page blank, so that extra space may be available.
Do not attempt to record everything you read in a book, but only things which are memorable or unusual. Do not write out quotes, but only the principal points with appropriate references. Make a note in the book itself too, so that you will be able to find the place referred to in your commonplace book.
Some things may be more difficult than others to catalogue accurately. You should therefore add an alphabetical table to help you relocate them easily.
Do not rely too much on your book. There is no point in writing things down unless they are carefully hidden in your memory too.
Preparation has two parts: the interpretation of the meaning of the passage, and the appropriate division of it for orderly exposition.
Interpretation
Interpretation is the opening up of the words and statements of Scripture in order to bring out its single, full and natural sense. By contrast with this approach, the Church of Rome believes that passages of Scripture have four senses: the literal, the allegorical, the tropological and the anagogical. An illustration of this can be found in the way the figure of Melchizedek is understood. He offered bread and wine to Abraham (Genesis 14:18). The literal sense is that the king of Salem, with the food that he brought, refreshed the soldiers of Abraham, who were tired after their travel. The allegorical sense is that the priest offers up Christ in the mass. The tropological sense is that we are to give to the poor. The anagogical sense is that Christ who is in heaven shall be the bread of life to the faithful. This pattern of the fourfold meaning of Scripture must be rejected and destroyed. Scripture has only one sense, the literal one. An allegory is only a different way of expressing the same meaning. The anagogy and tropology are ways of applying the sense of the passage. The principal interpreter of Scripture is the Holy Spirit. The one who makes the law is the best and the highest interpreter of it. The supreme and absolute means for the interpretation is the Scripture itself: ’So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading’ (Nehemiah 8:8).
There are, however, three subordinate means to help us to interpret a passage of Scripture: the analogy of faith, the circumstances of the particular passage, and comparison with other passages. The analogy of faith is a summary of the Scriptures, drawn from its well-known and clear parts. There are two elements in it. The first is related to faith, which is handled in the Apostles’ Creed. The second concerns charity or love, which is expounded in the Ten Commandments. ’Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 1:13). The circumstances of a passage can be clarified by the following simple questions: Who is speaking? To whom? On what occasion? At what time? In what place? For what end? What goes before? What follows? A comparison of different passages involves comparing them with each other so that their meaning may be clearer. ’But Saul ... confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving [i.e. by comparing one thing with another] that this Jesus is the Christ’ (Acts 9:22).
Comparing different passages may involve two things:
The first involves comparing a statement in one context with the other places where it appears in Scripture. For example: ’Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed’ (Isaiah 6:10). This is repeated six times in the New Testament (Matthew 13:14; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:27; Romans 11:8).
When texts are repeated like this they often contain alterations for various reasons. Examples include:
Exegetical: to clarify their exposition. Examples include: Psalms 78:2 cited in Matthew 13:35
Psalms 78:24 cited in John 6:31 Isaiah 28:16 cited in Romans 9:33 Psalms 110:1 cited in 1 Corinthians 15:25 Psalms 116:10 cited in 2 Corinthians 4:13 Genesis 13:15 cited in Galatians 3:16.
Diacritical, to distinguish, indicate or clarify places, times and persons, as for example in the citation of Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:6.
To limit the sense of a passage to the original intention and meaning of the Holy Spirit. Examples will be found in:
Deuteronomy 6:13 in Matthew 4:10 Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:8 Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:5 Isaiah 59:20 in Romans 11:26.
For application, so that a type might be related to its fulfilment, the general to the special, and vice-versa. Examples include:
Jonah 1:17 in Matthew 12:40 Isaiah 61:1 in Luke 4:18 Psalms 22:18 in John 19:28 Exodus 12:46 in John 19:33 Psalms 69:25 in Acts 1:20.
For the sake of brevity, some things may be omitted. Omission may also occur because the words are not appropriate to the matter in hand. One example of this is the use of Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:5.
The second kind of comparison involves comparing one context with another. Again these may be either similar or different. Places that are similar agree with one another in certain respects, perhaps in their phraseology and manner of speech, or in their sense.
Places that agree with respect to phraseology include:
Genesis 28:12 and John 1:51 Genesis 3:15 and Romans 16:20 Genesis 8:21 and Ephesians 5:2.
Greek and Hebrew concordances prove very helpful for tracing examples of this kind.
Places which agree in sense are those which have the same meaning. Under this heading we should especially note the comparison of a general principle with a particular illustration of it. For example:
Proverbs 28:13 and Psalms 32:3-4 2 Samuel 15:25 and 1 Peter 5:6. So much for places that are similar. Places that are unlike one another apparently do not agree with one another, either in phraseology or meaning. For example:
Romans 3:28 and James 2:24 1 Kings 9:28 and 2 Chronicles 8:18 Acts 7:14 and Genesis 46:27 Acts 7:16 and Genesis 48:22 Zechariah 11:13 and Matthew 27:9.