Context, Context, Context
17/11/09 15:50 Filed in: Factual
One of the questions I
get asked from time to time is, “Do you take the
Bible literally?” It really depends on what the
person means. If they mean “Do you believe every word
of the Bible?’ then the answer is “Yes”. If they mean
do you take every word to mean what it literally
says, the answer is “No”.
What’s the difference, I hear you ask. Am I just splitting hairs or playing word games? Consider this from Psalm 98, “Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy”. Do I take it literally—and expect Mount Errigal to break forth in a beautiful tenor voice? Or do I understand that the style of writing here is poetry, and understand this poetically? Different genres (styles of writing) have different rules, and when we read the Bible we need to be aware of them.
We don’t read history the same way we read instruction. Just because something is recorded in the Bible doesn’t mean that God approves. It is, after all, a record of his dealings with sinful people—so we should expect to see an honest record of the sort of messed up people he deals with.
But we do read history as history—this isn’t a back door method to explain away creation, miracles or the resurrection.
We need to read the Bible in context. And this applies, not just to styles of writing, but to individual verses as well. This answers one of the old chestnuts that gets thrown about—that the Bible can be used to prove anything. True, but so could your words, if someone was ungracious enough to take them out of context.
This is one of the most important rules in reading the Bible. When we come to read a verse, we need to read the surrounding verses to see what it is getting at. The Bible isn’t a collection of random sayings stitched together any old way. It is made up of sentences and paragraphs that connect. For example, one of the most misused verses is: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt 7:1).
It is brought up when anyone dares to point the finger at something wrong. But even a casual glance at the context shows that Jesus isn’t speaking about judging per se, but hypocrisy. He goes on to say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? … You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
Jesus doesn’t say, “How dare you point out that speck”, he says, “Point it out, but make sure you don’t have one yourself first”.
And in the wider context, a few verses later Jesus tells us to judge a tree (meaning a person) by its fruits. Judging itself isn’t wrong, but double standards are.
Understanding this simple rule of context will help us understand much of what the Bible is saying.
What’s the difference, I hear you ask. Am I just splitting hairs or playing word games? Consider this from Psalm 98, “Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy”. Do I take it literally—and expect Mount Errigal to break forth in a beautiful tenor voice? Or do I understand that the style of writing here is poetry, and understand this poetically? Different genres (styles of writing) have different rules, and when we read the Bible we need to be aware of them.
We don’t read history the same way we read instruction. Just because something is recorded in the Bible doesn’t mean that God approves. It is, after all, a record of his dealings with sinful people—so we should expect to see an honest record of the sort of messed up people he deals with.
But we do read history as history—this isn’t a back door method to explain away creation, miracles or the resurrection.
We need to read the Bible in context. And this applies, not just to styles of writing, but to individual verses as well. This answers one of the old chestnuts that gets thrown about—that the Bible can be used to prove anything. True, but so could your words, if someone was ungracious enough to take them out of context.
This is one of the most important rules in reading the Bible. When we come to read a verse, we need to read the surrounding verses to see what it is getting at. The Bible isn’t a collection of random sayings stitched together any old way. It is made up of sentences and paragraphs that connect. For example, one of the most misused verses is: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt 7:1).
It is brought up when anyone dares to point the finger at something wrong. But even a casual glance at the context shows that Jesus isn’t speaking about judging per se, but hypocrisy. He goes on to say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? … You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
Jesus doesn’t say, “How dare you point out that speck”, he says, “Point it out, but make sure you don’t have one yourself first”.
And in the wider context, a few verses later Jesus tells us to judge a tree (meaning a person) by its fruits. Judging itself isn’t wrong, but double standards are.
Understanding this simple rule of context will help us understand much of what the Bible is saying.