After acknowledging that the Bible is God’s message to humanity and that He providentially preserved it for us, the challenges remaining are (1) to understand the Almighty’s communication to mankind and (2) to apply it properly as our Creator requires His created, earthly human beings to do. Establishing that the Bible is, indeed, the Word of God and that He has preserved it for men and women of all times are additional and, if necessary, precursor studies to the present theme of this article. Likewise, demonstrating that God is the Creator and that we are part of His creation is another study, which is also preliminary and preceding our current topic. Herein, our task is to show that we humans can accomplish correct biblical interpretation of God’s Word. Thereafter, we mortals must muster the courage and the willpower to mold our lives accordingly where applicable (Romans 12:1–2).
God is the original Communicator, and as Creator, too, He created humans as communicators, both able to understand communication and to engage in communication with other communicators. God communicates with us through His inspired and holy Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20–21), and we can communicate with Him through our prayers (Matthew 6:6) and our conduct, which He observes (Proverbs 15:3). Consequently, God has never left mankind without sufficient divine communication, which He has always expected humankind to understand and to exhibit in godly living and service. Hence, the Bible is not a collection of secret codes to be unraveled by a few clever persons. God meant for the Bible to be understood!
The leading principle with which to begin biblical interpretation is to put on biblical spectacles. That is, one’s first goal in biblical interpretation must be to understand—no more and no less—what God expected the original recipients of a divinely given message to understand. For instance, studying about the first-century church in the New Testament, one must first don first-century glasses. Whatever biblical era a person might investigate in God’s Word, he or she must imagine himself or herself in the place of the original audience. What did God communicate, and what, then, were people who received that message expected to comprehend? Biblical context surrounding the occasion, the place and the individuals contribute greatly to being able to satisfactorily wear biblical spectacles.
The context will also critically aid in determining to whom and for how long the essence of any God-given communication may apply, because not everything in the Bible is applicable today. God never intended some things recorded in the Bible to be enacted by humanity (e.g., declarations or actions of Satan or evil persons, statements of uninspired people, catalogs of sins recorded in Scripture). Some of God’s instructions were to specific persons or for special instances within certain ages long past (e.g., Noah’s ark, observing the Passover Feast, miracles). Some divinely given communication once applicable is no longer relevant because performing it now would conflict with God’s most recent and final revelation—the New Testament (e.g., day of the week on which to worship, manner of worship). The Five Ws—Who, What, When, Where and Why—used to be the foundation of any article in journalism, but in our modern day, a reader can consume an entire article and never discover when or where an incident occurred. The Five Ws and some additional questions (e.g., How many, which) ought to be posed in attempts to correctly interpret biblical text.
The Bible is not a dead letter, as some religionists believe and, therefore, substitute in place of the Bible humanly devised dogma. Other religious folk simply treat the Bible as though it is a dead letter by implementing their own man-made creeds. Yet, the Bible is not a living document in the sense of legal philosophy, which grants new interpretations, as time passes, that are incongruent with the original intent and rightful interpretations (e.g., the US Constitution). The Bible says what it means and means what it says within the framework of its specific contexts (e.g., Patriarchy, Judaism, Christianity, the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, crossing the Red Sea, worship, etc.). Those biblical spectacles are necessary to discern what God expected the original recipients of various portions of His inspired Word to understand, to believe and to implement. Furthermore, biblical spectacles are necessary to determine to whom biblical teaching was or is applicable. Honest hearts and open minds, devoid of preferences or prior earthly indoctrination, are essential complements to wearing biblical spectacles. Finally, far from being dead, the Bible in a true sense is living and active in the lives of God’s children (Hebrews 4:12).
