Query #1

What exactly is the correct hermeneutic* to use when interpreting scripture, and why do great Christian men so often disagree on what this is?

Over the last several months, I have had numerous conversations with friends and pastors over how to interpret the Scriptures. In every one of these talks, one of several hermeneutics has been presented as the one authoritative one to use. Some have said that it is most important to utilize a figurative or allegorical view of the Bible, others say that we must use a literal, grammatical hermeneutic to rightly discern God's truth from His Word. Other points of view that I have heard are some mix of the two.

At present, I have sympathies with both camps... on one hand there are many things in the Bible that seem slightly odd if taken completely at face value. For instance, who really wants to see "...a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads." (Rev. 12:3) standing in his backyard? This is a slightly ridiculous example, admittedly, for I do not know anyone who really thinks that this dragon will someday be a literal, animate beast. However, the question remains as to when and how we draw the line from a literal sense (which many would use at the beginning of revelation) to a figurative one (used mainly for the last parts of that book.)

Another view altogether, and one I am seeking to understand more, would say that all of the Bible is figurative... one must look back at the Bible and attempt to see exactly what God was trying to say to us, being that we are not the first century church in . An example: Robert Jamieson in his Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible speaks of the seven churches in Revelation chapter one saying: "These seven represent the universal Church of all times and places." Furthermore, he adds that the number seven is more important being that it is "It is the covenant number, the sign of God's covenant relation to mankind, and especially to the Church."

Thus, my confusion. When the Bible says that it is written to certain people... I believe that it was written specifically to them, and while we can glean knowledge from the inerrant word of God that was written to them, it nevertheless was written to a specific people (i.e. not the church throughout the ages.) But I can definitely see the converse as well... being that I most definitely see Paul's epistles to Timothy as pertaining to my life directly.

However, for today my blog must end: but soon there will be more after much more prayer, study, and meditation on the goodness and faithfulness of God and his Word.


*hermeneutic: "The science and art by which the meaning of the biblical text is determined."
Definition from Basic Bible Interpretation by Roy B. Zuck (pg. 20)