It depends on what we mean by "literally." For the
sake of clarity, I will use the modern definition of this term: The literal is
contrasted with the figurative or poetic use. In this sense, none of us read
the entirety of the Bible literally. For example:
·
So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly,
I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7)
Is Jesus literally a rectangular wooden door with a handle?
Of course, not! Instead, He often taught figuratively. He also instructed His
disciples to pluck out their eyes and cut off their hands if it causes them to
sin. Clearly, no one takes these teachings literally.
Instead, we try to understand the Bible in the way it was
intended. I think that Jesus was telling His disciples that:
·
It is better to maim yourself physically than
spiritually through a life devoted to sin.
Why this conclusion? If we take His teaching literally, it
claims that if we maim ourselves, we can stop sinning. This interpretation is
not Biblically or even realistically possible. All maimed people share the same
sin problems.
We can resolve many apparent contradictions when we
interpret a verse in a more figurative sense. For example, the Bible claims
that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). The skeptic, taking the Bible literally,
will claim:
·
You see, the Bible contradicts itself. It says
"all have sinned," but it also claims that Jesus never sinned.
The skeptic can only conclude that this is a contradiction
when he interprets the Bible stiffly rather than organically, as a whole. When
we interpret with sensitivity, we understand that Jesus is in a category all
His own, as many verses affirm.
This demonstrates that in order to correctly interpret any
single verse, we also need to have a correct interpretation of the whole.
Are we making special allowances for the Bible? No! Instead,
this is the way we interpret all literature. For example, we cannot accurately
interpret the Book of Job, if we stop
short of the last five chapters, where God reprimands Job for His hubris in
bringing indictments against God, and Job confesses and repents of his sin.
These last chapters cast Job in an
entirely different light, which allows us to pin down its meaning and also
God’s intentions.
God’s intentions are
critical for understanding the Bible, if this is His Book, as it claims to be
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-22). Indeed, the Bible consistently
affirms that this is His Book, although God had inspired it in many different
ways. Sometimes, He dictated His very Words to His Prophets, and sometimes even
without an intermediary, as at Mount Sinai:
·
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery. You shall have no other gods before me…” (Exodus 20:1-3)
At other times, Moses served as the intermediary:
·
And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain,
and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel…Then he took the
Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said,
“All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” (Exodus
24:4, 7)
He later entrusted this Book
to the priests in front of the entire nation. What God revealed to Israel
served as His Covenant with them. When they kept the terms of the Covenant,
they were blessed. When they violated these terms, they were punished
(Deuteronomy 28-29). Obedience to the Covenant was the measure of Israel’s love
for God:
·
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I
command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to
your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you
walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
Obedience to the Words and commands of His Covenant was the
only way to love God. These Words also served as a test, as God had instructed
Israel:
·
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises
among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he
tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which
you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words
of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing
you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his
commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”
(Deuteronomy 13:1-4)
Loving God was strictly a matter of holding fast to His Word
and rejecting any competing words or revelations. All the Prophets testified
that they were communicating God’s Words. Even the Psalmist David claimed: “The
Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).
The consistent testimony of Scripture is that the Bible is
God’s Word. In light of this fact, I think that modern scholarship is
interpreting the Bible in a distorted manner. When we interpret literature, we
start with the guidelines presented by the author. While the Bible’s principle
Author is God, modern scholarship proceeds as if the Bible is merely the words
of men and interprets it as such.
This has a great impact on interpretation. The Bible is then
interpreted according to the assumed intentions of the human authors instead of
God’s intentions. This strategy isn’t entirely wrong, since God inspires flesh
and blood people rather than robots, who have their own intentions and concerns.
Nor does God wipe out their will so that His will can predominate. Instead, He
is able to work infallibly through His human servants’ will to accomplish His
will.
Admittedly, such a process transcends human understanding.
However, a simple analogy might be helpful. Post-hypnotic suggestions are able
to induce their subjects to do things so naturally that the subjects think that
they have initiated these actions. More importantly, God has created a
mind-boggling universe. If God could create and sustain it, He Himself must be
mind-boggling.
However, when God is left out of the equation, each human
author is understood to come to the parchment with exclusively his own intentions and interests. Consequently, modern
scholars pit the theology of Paul against the theology of James, and these
against the theology of Jesus or that of the Early Church, inevitably a mass of
contradictions instead of puzzles which merely need to be patiently fitted
together.
This distinction becomes obvious when we try to interpret
the apparent contradictions. For
example, Jesus had informed His biological brethren that “The world hates me
because I testify about it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). He denounced
the Pharisees calling them “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs.
Yet Peter declared that we must “Honor everyone. Love the
brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17). For those who
interpret the Bible without any consideration of God, this constitutes a direct
contradiction. However, if we regard the Bible as completely the Word of God,
it is all true and without contradiction. Therefore, this is simply one of many
puzzles, which requires a solution, an occasion to dig deeper.
Perhaps the reconciliation of Jesus and Peter is a matter of
using a figurative rather than a literal interpretation, or perhaps different
situations call for different approaches. Perhaps it’s a matter of priorities.
I tend to think that Jesus loved even the leadership so much that He was
willing to incur their hatred in order to pierce their egotistical armor to
show them their need for the Savior. In view of this, this paradox was merely a
matter of prioritizing love above respect and honor.
Whether literal or figurative, Bible interpretation can be
challenging. Even the Prophets of God had been challenged to understand God’s
intentions and what He had prophesied through them:
·
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who
prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired
carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was
indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent
glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you,
in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached
the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which
angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12)
Even the angels failed to understand the fullness of what
had been prophesied. Instead, some it the prophecies were clearly the product
of God’s hidden will. Much of this mystery has now been revealed to us after
the Resurrection, but why did He keep it hidden:
·
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God,
which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age
understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)
Even now, much of His revelation remains cryptic, buried
beneath layers of literal and figurative language, awaiting His return.
Interpretation is a fascinating but massive subject. I have
only scratched the surface. As such, this chapter represent a mere teaser, but
I hope that it will entice you to dig deeper.
No comments:
Post a Comment