HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE CORRECTLY?

In view of the variety of interpretations, this is a valid and important question. For one thing, we need to have confidence in our God and His promises. Without such confidence, we can easily be overrun with doubts and despair.

In view of this, one respondent asked:

·       “How do you know that how you interpret [biblical] things is correct, when there are so many different interpretations, and you [have] so many possibilities for misunderstanding?”

I responded:

·       An analogy might prove most illuminating. Have you ever seen the series of books entitled “Magic Eye?” Each page is a computer generated mosaic containing a secret image. You have to allow your eye to go limp in order to see it. But when you do, the image is coherent and identifiable. If you have any doubt about what you are seeing, there are the answers in the back of the book.

·       However, I don’t need to see the answers. I know that I see what I see. And anyone who tries to tell me that I am mistaken would not be able to faze me. Likewise, if anyone tried to convince me that I didn’t exist or that I am simply a part of a universal consciousness, I could confidently resist this idea.

·       I think that the same pertains to biblical interpretation. There are some interpretations about which I am in doubt. However, others are so clear, coherent, and in conformity to everything else that the Bible teaches that I know that I can bank on them.

There are also biblical reasons for confidence. For example, Moses told the Israelites that God’s instructions and laws are very clear:

·       “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14; ESV; Isaiah 48:16)

Consequently, we cannot justifiably say, “Well, God, I was unable to understand what you wanted from me. Therefore, you cannot hold any transgression against me.”