All Doves:
My last post in this series focused on how the universal church dealt with interpreting the prophetic message of the Bible over the past two thousand years. My focus was narrowed in scope to enable the reader to understand a bit of church history. Where we stand today provides us a 20/20 view when we look backwards in time. This look back is important because matters of interpretation have not always been with such clarity when you understand the world as it existed, in any time period of the past. The world is not static and particular religious views were not made nor did they exist in a vacuum. Church leaders made decisions, good or bad, based upon their perceptions of their world around them. This is evident in the issue today when it comes to "Replacement" theology.
It is equally obvious in the Roman Catholic Church, where the church formally never admits it is wrong. This is not to say the Vatican may issue an apology about clergy-abuse of children and women but it never really changes, or initiates policies and practices to reform or rectify its past and even present wrongs concerning abuse. It still continues to move its priests accused of molesting children, youth, and women. It has paid out in legal damages, nearly $2-billion, over the past fifteen years, yet seek to paper-over these issues instead of coming clean and reporting the perpetrators to law enforcement. Many cardinals flat out state they have no responsibility to report to the civil authorities the heinous acts of their priests.
History serves to show the origin, progress, and development of Hermeneutical principles. It gives as well, a working knowledge of the different periods, schools of thought, and methods of Biblical interpretation. In addition, it shows what external forces and internal pressures were brought to bear upon the interpreters of the Scriptures.
Without question, communications can become a nightmare between two parties over something very minor. I see that when I watch the local police blotter they call the local news. How, much more, communications has muddied the waters of faith when most clergy today are not even trained in the Biblical languages. Today, perhaps 5% of clergy are fluent in Greek and Hebrew. Most of them could not conjugate a Hebrew or Greek verb if their paycheck depended upon it. And yet people will continue to argue, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that they are right concerning the three occurrences of "He" of Daniel 9:27, even when the evidence clearly shows they are completely wrong.
One may look at the search by God's people through the centuries to discover what God meant by what He said. A knowledge of the history of Biblical Hermeneutics can be a valuable safeguard, and at times, a guideline, in helping the interpreter avoid the problems faced by previous interpreters. The more one understands the proper principles of interpretation, the better qualified he/she will be able to handle the Word of God as an interpreter of the Divine Communication.
Since the fall of man he has by nature been spiritually and mentally dull concerning the things of God. The Scriptures attest to this fact: Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:13-17; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2; 2nd Peter 3:16; Luke 24:45; etc. Think about it, sin cut off fellowship with God by the giving His Word. That message must be interpreted for man.
The history of hermeneutics has been more fully studied by amply qualified men, and in greater depth than I care to go into. As in part 4, I'm not interested in cataloging history, but rather prefer to interpret it. It will be seen that the prevailing attitude toward the Scriptures during any particular period generally affected the methods by which the Scriptures were interpreted.
The First Hermeneutics were those of the Jews, covering the period from 457 BC to 1975 AD. It was basically the literal and allegorical methods. Ezra was the Father of Hermeneutics. Jews of those early centuries saw themselves as the chosen people but for all the wrong reasons. They saw their actions and behavior without any sense of accountability. They saw their actions with impunity. However, when they lost the three most important things to them as a nation they were crushed.
When the Jews lost these three things they were psychologically and religiously devastated:
1. The Torah
2. The Temple
3. The Land
The "Seventy" years of captivity in Babylon were devastating in every conceivable way imaginable. In captivity, the Jews resorted to the sacred writings for comfort and strength. The Law and the Prophets became their refuge when bereft of all the externals of the Mosaic religion. At the close of the "seventy" years of captivity in Babylon, a remnant of the Jews returned to Palestine, less than 50,000 in number. Far more remained behind in the land of their captivity because they had acclimated to a culture where they had spent their entire life.
Today, Christians and non misunderstand the real meaning of the Torah or what is commonly known as the "Law". Torah, means a lot more than "Law", and correctly understood means "teachings". Obedience to the "Law" was much like telling a child not to touch a hot stove top, because of what it meant in consequences or self harm. For 3,500 years man, Jew and Christian or Gentile have interpreted "Law" "nomos" as an inviolate "legalistic" form of obedience. For example, when Martin Luther went to Rome to obtain copies of the Greek Scriptures, because he needed it for his role in teaching his students, he experienced an "aha" moment. Luther originally was studying for the legal profession before his spiritual crisis, where he was nearly killed by lightning under a tree. Luther was fluent in Latin, not Greek or Hebrew. His understanding of the the "Law" biased his understanding of the Greek Scriptures. When he read Romans 1:17 in Greek, his life was transformed in the blink of an eye. You see, the Greek word for where it refers to the "righteousness of God" and that it is imparted by God through faith was the Latin word "justice". In Latin, the word for "righteousness" is "Iustitia" and it means "justice".
The meaning of the two words, one Latin and one Greek are about as far apart as night and day. You might even say that the Reformation began over Luther's new understanding of what the expression "justified by faith" really meant. While he was in Rome, he witnessed the debauchery of the Vatican which greatly troubled him of the Church's selling indulgences or "get out of hell free" cards as if it was a game of Monopoly.
When the remnant of Jews returned from Babylon to rebuild the Temple, the Babylonian Jews had learned to speak Aramaic, not Hebrew. This added to a language gap between them and their Scriptures. Ezra the scribe, and along with him a number of Levites, undertook the task of translating and interpreting the sacred writings.
All of this heretofore goes to my point that illustrates that in interpretation it is essential to first bridge the linguisitic gap. All hermeneutics is first based on translation. You can easily begin to understand why the strict "legalists" become perplexed with correct linguistics and grammar of the text. Luther's transformation set into motion a chain of events that cost millions their lives, and then following with the Jesuit Counter-Reformation
So we see in the efforts of Ezra and the Levites the first intimation in Scripture of Jewish interpretation and formal exposition of the Word of God. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah show how the area of the Law pertaining to mixed marriages, observances of feasts and fasts were interpreted quite "literally" to the people by the great priest and scribe. In summary, Ezra established a "literal" and practical method of interpretation. The literal interpretation is the most natural and common sense method.
With no Temple, it became pragmatic to form the synagogue, much like a home church, where Jews gathered for worship and religious study. The synagogue dates to the time of the Babylonian captivity. The Great Synagogue, in Jewish history was an assembly or Council of 120 members, which later came to be known as the Sanhedrin. I don't need to go into the organization structure other than to note they set about to put "a hedge about the Law". The centralized ecclesiastical authority originated with noble motivation, but it degenerated to the point where it defeated its original purpose. By missing the "Spirit" of the Law they descended into only a position of defending the "letter" of the Law. We have numerous comments in the Gospels where Jesus confronted the legalism of the Pharisees and the Scribes. You see the same thing today in these groups that enslave folks into the bondage of legalism. They revel in getting their kicks by their boasting over-zealousness in implying they are super-spiritual.
In the generation succeeding Ezra and Nehemiah, and with the end of the prophetic voice with the Prophet Malachi; Various schools of interpretation emerged in the "silent years" between the Old and New Testament where God was silent towards His people.
In the efforts to place "a hedge around the Law', they formulated an authoritarian interpretation while they guarded the Law to the letter, they also accommodated numerous traditions which they placed alongside the Law. This became to be known as the "Oral Law" which over the centuries gained equal status with the "Written Law" in authority. The "Oral Law" came out of Babylon when they returned from captivity. Jesus Christ rebuked them for this because the "Oral Law" made the "Word of God" "null and void".
Over the next few centuries the Jews originated a false tradition, teaching that Moses had received the Oral Law at Mt. Sinai. They claimed that he (Moses) passed it on to Joshua, who then gave it to the elders. The elders passed it on to the prophets, and later it came into the hands of the rabbis with codification of the Mishna, then came the Babylonian Talmud, which attacked Jesus Christ, his mother, Christians, etc. Rabbis began to write commentaries on the Mishna, which were known as the Gemara.
The situation then has been repeated in the 20th century by endless books on pet issues. The error became so manifest that it became to be known as "Letterism", which sees great significance in the minutest of details. This arose when men began to worship the Scriptures and forget their author. Historically, the pendulum swings from one extreme to another. I have my own pet expression that has been core with me:
Truth without Grace is simply "Legalism"
Grace without Truth is merely "Sentimentalism"
After the siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the dispersion of the Jews in Israel led to cultural and sectarian division within Judaism. The Palestinian Jews accepted the inspiration and authority of Scripture. They developed some sound principles in relation to the Literal interpretation of the Scriptures They failed to produce sound exegesis because of their yielding to traditionalism, letterism, and exclusivism..
The Alexandrian Jews in Alexandria, Egypt were Hellenized and developed a system of hermeneutics distinct from the Palestinian Jews. They were saturated with Greek culture, philosophy, and it was followed with the admittance of apocryphal books into the Septuagent. The Septuagent proved to be important in that it was published between 275 and 250 BC. It actually proved to be reliable enough to validate the Old Testament accuracy nearly a thousand years later. Unfortunately, the Alexandrian Jews fell under the spell of Greek philosophy. They translated the Septuagent Scriptures back into Hebrew from the Greek, but they followed a liberal hermeneutic.
They proceeded to add books of philosophy, fiction and legend to the Scriptures. They rejected Greek religion but began to adopt Greek philosophy. They adopted the Greek "allegorical" interpretation. It was the "Golden Calf" that was to them a perfect marriage which we might consider them to be like carnal Christians today. Scripture was largely platitudes and self enhancement, showing how proud they were about their religion.
There were smaller groups of Jews, such as the Kararites, the Cabalists, the French Jews, and the modern Jews. With the exception of the Kararites, that followed the Biblical Agricultural calendar, most of the rest were afar from the Scriptures.
I want to move on to the Apostolic Hermeneutic period, which lasted from 26 Ad to 98 AD. The period of the Apostolic Hermeneutics reaches from the ministry of Jesus Christ unto the death of the Apostle John in 98 AD. The Apostolic Hermeneutic period was a time when the "Literal" method prevailed. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament writers infallibly interpreted the Old Testament in their writings.
Jesus Christ, the perfect interpreter, the Living Word Himself could infallibly interpret the written Word. He was the personified interpreter of the Old Testament: the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. During His ministry, He interpreted to His disciples, from the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself. He opened their understanding accordingly. Rules or principles of interpretation were part of His very nature and being, for He was God's Word to man, incarnate; He was the bridge between God and man. The communication gap were bridged in and through HIm. Because of the purity of His hermeneutics, Jesus was able to expose all corrupt interpretation. He condemned the Halachic and Hagadic tradition of the Jewish elders because they had made the Word of God of no effect -(Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-9). He reproved the Pharisees and scribes, the authorized interpreters of the Law, for their legalistic handling of the Scriptures, which brought the people into total bondage. -(Matthew 23:1-33). Christ also rebuked the Sadducees for their ignorance of the power of God and of the Scriptures -(Matthew 22:29).
One can gain a whole new insight of Christ Jesus merely by studying the passage that dressed-down or reproved the religious elite of His day. They became meaningful in pastoral ministry that few pastors latch on to. The religious leaders of His day were blinded by unbelief and false hermeneutics; thus they crucified the very Messiah whose coming their own Scriptures foretold. -(Acts 13:27).
The following is a list of examples of the principles Jesus Christ used in His interpretation of the Old Testament.
1. The Context Principle: -(Matthew 22:41-46) - Jesus interpreted Psalms 110:1 in the light of the whole context of the Old Testament, which attests to the Deity of the Messiah.
2. The First Mention Principle: -(Matthew 19:3-9) - Jesus used the first mention of marriage in Genesis 2:24 to interpret the Mosaic commandments concerning divorce.
3. The Election Principle: -(Matthew 12:15-20) - On the basis of the election principle, Jesus interpreted Isaiah 42:1-4 to be a reference to His own election as the chosen servant of God.
4. The Covenant Principle: -(Matthew 12:1-4) - When dealing with the violation of the Sabbath Day, Jesus brought in David, a covenant man, as a witness. Because David was involved in a higher covenant, as was Jesus, he was able to transcend the ceremonial law of the Mosaic Covenant.
5. The Ethnic Division Principle: -(Matthew 10:5,6) - In commissioning the twelve apostles to go only to "the lost sheep of the House of Israel," Jesus used the ethnic principle to interpret and apply an Old Testament prophetic thread. -(Jeremiah 23:1-4; 50:6,17; Ezekiel 34:1-19).
6. The Chronometrical Principle: -(Luke 21:20-24) - Jesus utilized the chronometrical principle to interpret a certain prophetic portion of Daniel -(Daniel 11:33).
7. The Christo-Centric Principle: -(Luke 24:27-44) - On the road to Emmaus, Jesus used the Christo-Centric principle to interpret portions of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets to the two disciples.
8. The Moral Principle: -(Matthew 24:36-39) - Jesus used the moral principle to interpret the days of Noah and draw them into a spiritual lesson.
9. The Symbolic Principle: -(Matthew 21:42-44) - In interpreting two statements from the Old Testament, it seems apparent that Jesus used the symbolic principle to refer to the rock as being symbolic of Himself.
10. The Parabolic Principle: -(Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23) - With the parabolic principle Jesus interpreted His own parable of the sower.
11. The Typical Principle: -(Luke 11:29,30) - Jesus identified Jonah's experience as typical and then interpreted it using the typical principle.
Interestingly, the disciples, were inspired interpreters. The Lord Christ Jesus poured out His Spirit upon His apostles. There is no doubt that great understanding and illumination came to them by the Holy Spirit -(John 16:9-16; Luke 24:27,44; 2 Corinthians 3:14-18). They became the infallible interpreters of the Old Testament writings. This is seen by their use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. The Apostles rejected the "allegorical" interpretation of the Old Testament as practiced in the Alexandrian school. Paul condemned Jewish fables, Jewish traditions, endless genealogies, false knowledge, Greek philosophy and the Jewish Midrashim. He (Paul) knew of these things and counted them all refuse for the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. -(Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 1:4; 4:7; 6:20; 2 Timothy 2:14-16; 23). The following list are examples of some of the Principles the Apostles used in their interpretation of the Old Testament.
1. The Context Principle: -(1st Peter 2:4-10) - In verse 6, Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16 and then interprets it by drawing from the context of the Old Testament other relative statements) -(Psalm 118:22,23; Isaiah 8:14; Exodus 19:5-6; Hosea 1:6,9,10).
2. The First Mention Principle: -(Hebrews 6:20-7:21) - In interpreting the statement from Psalms 110:4 concerning the Melchisedec priesthood, the writer of the Hebrews (most likely was the Apostle Paul) uses the first mention of Melchisedec priesthood the writer to Hebrews uses the first mention of Melchisedec in Genesis to prove his identity.
3. The Comparative Principle: -(Romans 3:1-23) - In verse 4 Paul quotes Psalm 51:4 and substantiates his interpretation by comparing it with other references from the book of Psalms.
4. The Progressive Mention: -(The writer of Hebrews quotes a phrase from Habakkuk 2:4 and then draws many examples from the context of the entire Old Testament to develop his interpretation.
5. The Election Principle: -(Romans 9:6-13) - Here Paul uses the election principle to interpret a phrase from Genesis 21:12 "In Israel shall thy seed be called".
6. The Covenantal Principle: -(Hebrews 8-10) - In Hebrews 8:8-12 a quotation is made from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The writer then proceeds to use the covenantal principle to expound the meaning of the quotation.
7. The Ethnic Principle: -(Galatians 3:1-29) - In verse 8 Paul quotes Genesis 12:7 - "In thee shall all nations be blessed." He then uses the ethnic principle to show the interpretation and fulfillment of that phrase.
8. The Chronometrical Principle: -(2nd Peter 3:1-13) - Peter quotes Psalms 90:4 in verse 8 and then interprets it by the chronometrical principle.
9. The Christo-Centric Principle: -(Hebrews 10:1-14) - The writer to the Hebrews utilized the Christo-Centric principle to interpret Psalm 40:6-8.
10. The Moral Principle: -(1st Corinthians 9:9-12) - In dealing with the commandment of Moses concerning oxen, Paul draws out the moral principle contained in it and applies it to this situation.
11. The Symbolic Principle: -(1st Peter 2:4-8) - In dealing with the symbol of the stone, Peter appeals to several Old Testament passages which interpret its meaning.
12. The Typical Principle: -(1st Corinthians 10:1-11) - Here Paul uses the typical principle to interpret the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.
13. The Allegorical Principle: -(Galatians 4:21-31) - In this passage, Paul develops and interprets an allegory using people and places from the Old Testament.
As this post has illustrated, the Apostolic Period, affirmed a "Literal" Interpretation from the days of Jesus Christ through the era of the Apostles, and ending with the death of the Apostle John in 98 AD. As is the case in much of life, the Second Law of Physics eventually takes over and comes into motion, whereas "Entropy" takes hold and things go from order to disorder. Entropy is just part of the curse on the Creation.
God bless,
Pastor Bob