HOW ARE WE TO DO THEOLOGY?

This question is really very elementary. Theology is our attempt to understand God’s Word. We do it be meditating on the Word day and night (Psalm 1). Theology also requires that we properly interpret Scripture, which is pleasing to our Lord:

·       Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15; ESV)

Although this answer is simple, we tend to slip into other ways of doing theology. For the first several years of my Christian walk, I had interpreted Scripture through my distorted lens. I tried to understand Scripture in a way that would enable me to feel good about myself, not thinking for a moment that there was anything wrong with doing theology in this manner.

If my interpretation felt right to me, I’d embrace it. If it didn’t, I would either try to interpret the verse in question in a more comfortable way, or I would just ignore it.

I wasn’t reading Scripture any differently than before I was saved. Ethnically a Jew and also a Zionist living in Israel, my favorite book quickly became the Book of Joshua. Why? Because my people were victorious over the others, and that made me feel good!

However, the next book was Judges. Expecting more of the same ego-enhancement, I became very disappointed with this book and put the Hebrew Scriptures down.

Many others are doing the same thing. We comb the Scriptures for support for our own conclusions. One theologian taught that Jesus had admitted that He was wrong about the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15). At first, He thought her unworthy to receive anything from Him. However, after seeing her faith, He decided elsewise.

From this, the misguided theologian concluded that Scripture is often wrong or that the truth has evolved as Jesus’ understanding had evolved. Ultimately, we have to decide. Consequently, we have been made the judges of Scripture, instead of Scripture judging us. Our judgment reigns supreme.

Scripture is also made into the servant of our lifestyles. We coerce it to say the very things that will justify our lifestyles. Christians who believe in socialism or communism exalt the few verses that show that the disciples had everything in common and ignore the many other verses that make appeals to individuals who have their own resources.

Those who are living alternative sexual lifestyles present Jesus as the ultimate radical who challenged the status quo. His foes was the judgmental religious leaderful. They excluded, while Jesus received all into community. Meanwhile, they neglect the fact that Jesus often called the sinner to repent. They also ignore the fact that Jesus’ critique of the Pharisees wasn’t that they were judgmental, but that they refused to even believe Moses:

·       Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:45-47)

A theology which is faithful to the Word of God seeks to reconcile verse with verse in order to understand Scripture in a coherent and unified way. However, too much theology is performed to reconcile Scripture with the prevailing culture.

Theistic evolutionists (TE) claim that there is no possible conflict between Scripture and evolution. They argue that these two sources of knowledge cannot conflict because they are focused on different things. Evolution’s concern is the physical world, while the Bible’s focus is on the spiritual world. Conflict resolved!

However, the Bible teaches a lot about the physical world – teachings that go against evolution, like God speaking the world into existence or the introduction of sin and death through Adam and Eve. Doesn’t this violate the TE’s claim?

According to the TE, even though the Bible talks about the physical world, its main concern is spiritual, as if it is possible to separate the two. The TE goes further by claiming that the Bible speaks wrongly about the physical world because it has imbibed deeply from the errant cosmology of the Ancient Near East. Here is an example the TE uses to denigrate what the Bible teaches about the physical world:

·       Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. (Psalm 93:1)

How will it never be moved? Here, the TE imposes his Scripturally depreciating interpretation to support his claim that the Bible isn’t interested in the physical world. He claims that the Psalmist wrote under the misunderstanding that our earth will not be moved because it sits on a pedestal, as the ancients had erroneously believed.

However, the TE ignores the fact that Scripture also says that the righteous shall not be moved. Why not? Because he is stuck on a pedestal? Of course, not! Rather, he will not be “moved” in the sense that he will not be destroyed . Likewise, the earth will not be destroyed.

The TE and many others coerce Scripture into agreeing with them, just as I had done. I do not do this anymore. It is not because I am more spiritual or faithful than others. I am not. Instead, it is because I have been so chastened that I only want God’s unadulterated truth. I need to know that I am walking in His light.

Theology, therefore, is not simply a mental exercise. If it was, we could learn wisdom from a book. However, wisdom is a gift from God. It comes through humbling and painful circumstance:

·       The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 15:31-33)

Who will listen to reproof; who solicits criticism? Only the one who has been humbled and comes to despair in his own judgment. Only such a person is ready for the “fear of the Lord” – an openness to His wisdom and correction.

I had “ignored instruction,” thinking that I had the answers. He chastened me with myself and my own foolishness, allowing me to reap the consequences of my arrogance. He humbled me in order to lift me up. The Psalmist David had confessed:

·       It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:71-72)

When we are afflicted, we grab any life-preserver thrown our way. The Word was given to me, and it now has more value than anything else. Therefore, I meditate on it continually, as the Lord instructed Joshua:

·       This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

How do we understand this Book? Once again, it is not just a mental activity. Theology must be done on “our knees,” meaning that we have to cry out to our Lord for His wisdom to properly understand. And He is able to provide it:

·       Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” (Luke 24:44-46)

Since He can open our minds to understand His truths, we must be in prayer, lest our own interests and agendas overtake us.

A GOOD WAY OF KNOWING THAT WE ARE INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE CORRECTLY

How do we know when we have the right interpretation of Scripture? There are many ways. I will just talk at one of these ways.

A correct interpretation of God's Word bears good fruit, according to the Book of James:

·       “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18; ESV)

Our good fruit also shows off the wisdom of God to the world. When our interpretation of Scripture guides us to live wisely and morally in the eyes of the world, this is a good indication that we are properly understanding God's Word.

Israel's godly influence upon their neighbors was a demonstration of the wisdom of God in their lives. Moses taught Israel that they would show off God's wisdom as they'd live according to His laws:

·       “See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

By living out God's truths as He had intended them to be understood, Israel would be a light to the nations.

This same principle also pertains to us today. When we accurately interpret and apply His Words, our conduct will show forth His wisdom and put our oppressors to shame:

·       “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation...For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” (1 Peter 2:12, 15; Titus 2:5-10)

These teachings reflect the fact that non-Christians also have the moral laws of God written on their hearts (Romans 2:14-15). They also know the good. Even if they walk in the darkness of evil, they still know what is morally right. Therefore, even if they hate the light of God's wisdom, they can only deny it with great difficulty.

However, if our understanding of Scripture allows them to readily dismiss our faith, it might be that we have failed to show forth God's wisdom in the way we conduct our lives.

Here's one example of this. Many Christians have misinterpreted Jesus' teaching to "turn the other cheek" by not reporting a burglary or even a rape.

How do we know that this interpretation is wrong? Because it would bring disrepute upon the faith. Here's how. If my sister is raped and I know the identity of the rapist but don't bring charges against him because I think that "turning the other cheek" requires that I don't, I will bring disrepute on the faith.

How? When my neighbor's wife is raped by the same man and my neighbor learns that I had refused to bring charges, he will have a justifiable contempt for my faith.

This should teach us an essential lesson. If our interpretation of Scripture fails to reveal the wisdom of God, it is likely that we have the wrong interpretation.

However, if we speak and act according to God's wise teachings, we have the opportunity of being a blessing:

·       “Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. Good sense wins favor.” (Proverbs 13:13-15)

When this happens, it is likely that we are correctly interpreting and walking in the truth of His Word.

INTERPRETING JESUS' TEACHINGS

Context is king. Take Jesus' words from Matthew 10:

* “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles."

From these two verses, it would seem that we should allow ourselves to be persecuted for Christ's sake rather than to flee persecution, but this would not be the correct interpretation. A few verses later, we read:

* "When they persecute you in one town, FLEE to the next.” (Matthew 10:17-18, 23 ESV)
There verse show that in order to understand Jesus' teaching, we must understand them in context. For another example:

* And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me."

From this verse in John 12, it seems that we shouldn't believe in Jesus but in the Father alone. However, two verses later, Jesus makes it clear that we should believe in Him:

* "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:44, 46)

How then should we interpret the first verse? It seems likely, by observing the rest of Jesus' teachings, that when we trust in Jesus, we do not trust in Jesus ALONE, but also in the Father.

VERY OFTEN, WE CANNOT TAKE HIS TEACHINGS LITERALLY.

Once again, we find that understanding Jesus requires us to understand the entire context. Sometimes, we have to take into account the entire context of ALL of His teachings:

* "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)
To just read the immediate context, it would seem that Jesus means to prohibit all public prayer. However, when we observe Jesus' entire ministry, we find that He often prayed publicly.
How then are we to understand His admonition to pray in secret? We need to understand the immediate context where we find that Jesus' concern is our motivation to be seen by men rather than God.

Well, how are we to serve God? In this regard, Jesus said many perplexing things:

* “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:3)

How can we prevent one hand from knowing what the other is doing? We can't! Instead, once again, we have to interpret this verse in light of the principle of performing our righteous deeds to please God and not to impress man.

It's primarily about our motives not our actions. Are we able to give secretly without seeking the approval of others. If we find that we are not, we need to humble ourselves by confessing our sin. In fact, we find that human pride is often Jesus' main concern.

EXAGGERATION (HYPERBOLE) TO MAKE A POINT

Likewise, Jesus commands us to cut off our hands and to pluck out our eyes rather than sin and enter hell:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

Can we stop sinning if we pluck out our eyes (or even pray only in private)? No! Sin arises out of the heart not out of our hands or our eyes, as Jesus taught elsewhere (Matthew 15:19). Then why pluck out our eyes? I think that Jesus was teaching that, because of the overriding worth of going to heaven, instead of hell, if plucking out our eyes would insure heaven, such a sacrifice would be well worth it.

AWARENESS OF PARALLEL VERSES

Some verses are very perplexing until we take into account how Jesus expressed the same thought elsewhere, for example:

* "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Of course, this verse seems to contradict a lot of biblical principles like honoring our parents. However, this problem is easily resolved when we observe a parallel teaching from Matthew:

* “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

It is a matter of our priorities. Jesus must be our highest priority, even above ourselves and our family.

UNDERSTANDING JESUS FROM THE CONTEXT OF THE ENTIRE BIBLE

Some Christians believe in absolute pacifism and non-violence based upon a literal reading of His Sermon on the Mount. Often in support of this position they cite:

* "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:38-39)

I had wrestled with these verses for a long time, especially as a substitute teacher. Should I allow my students to insult and even lay their hands on me? Was this Jesus' intention? I didn't want to violate His will but allowing these violent students to have their way seemed so unreasonable. It would also be a betrayal of those who hired me and would bring disrepute upon my faith.
However, I also became convinced that such an interpretation would also violate Jesus' intent. I first had to decide whether or not Jesus' teaching was meant to correct the Mosaic Covenant or the current understanding of this Covenant.

I found that the principle of an "eye for an eye" wasn't at all barbaric. Instead, this judicial principle required that penalties had to match the crimes:

* “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. "When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.” (Exodus 21:24-27)

Besides, I eventually perceived that Jesus never criticized the Old Testament (Matthew 5:16-19). Instead, He always quoted it affirmatively. Consequently, it became obvious that the Sermon on the Mount was not an indictment of the Mosaic legal system but of our personal behaviors.
It seems likely that Jesus was taking aim at those who invoked an "eye for an eye" to justify taking personal revenge. If this is so, then Jesus was teaching:

* It is better to allow yourself to be defrauded and insulted rather than to take revenge.
Actually Jesus endorsed self-defense in cases where legal recourse wasn't possible (Matthew 24:43-44).

Interpretation is complex but vital work. I cannot hope to do justice to this subject in a brief essay. Consequently, we are instructed to meditate on His Word day and night. There is no substitute for this. Nor is there any greater blessing (Psalm 1; Joshua 1:8).

Mysticism, Experience, and Doctrine

Christian doctrine is degraded in a vast variety of ways. Some conservative pastors preach, “I’m not so interested in knowing about God, but in knowing God!” Although we can sympathize with this sentiment - we all long for a greater sense of intimacy with God - this statement dismisses doctrine. It suggests that we should pursue a mountaintop experience with God apart from doctrine.

This is Biblically unsupportable. Moses had had the premier mountaintop experience— so much so that his face actually glowed! After spending 40 days and nights in the presence of the Lord, Moses climbed back down off the mountain to share with his brethren what he had learned. Instead of relating his “transformative experience” – his “union with the divine” - and how the Israelites might attain a similar experience, Moses confined himself to teaching “the commands that the Lord had given him” (Exodus 34:32).

What was it that had made Moses’ face glow? Was it merely being in the presence of God? No!

·       Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai…that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. (Exodus 34:29).

The Bible never degrades feelings or experiences, but consistently makes them subservient to growth in understanding of His Word:

·       And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2).

Scripture consistently relates spiritual maturity to growth in understanding God’s Word.  To have any meaningful and lasting effect, experience requires an interpretive framework. Two people will hug me, identically. However, I will experience them in an entirely different way depending upon my relationship with them and how I interpret their hug. If I interpret it as manipulative, I will feel very differently than if I interpreted it as genuine affection. If we cannot put an experience into an interpretive framework, it will quickly disappear and lose any significance.

Besides, the wrong interpretation or understanding can prove deadly! I had some remarkable experiences with the Ouiji board. We encountered beings who used profanity, cursed at us, but answered our questions. Lacking any biblical wisdom at the time, I erroneously concluded that these beings simply had a more advanced sense of humor and were, therefore, fully trustworthy. Consequently, they almost succeeded in leading me to take revenge upon an innocent party. It was only after I was able to correctly interpret these encounters that I was able to make beneficial use of them. Even though these encounters had been profound experiences, when accompanied by the wrong interpretation (doctrine), they would have been disastrous.

We need the right doctrines/teachings so that we can profit from our experiences.  When we apply the wrong doctrine to our experiences, it is like buttoning our shirt by starting with the wrong button. Consequently, everything else will be out-of-place – a frustrating experience.

Science and Scripture: Methods Determine Findings

Our lens determines what we see. If we approach life with a grey lens, everything will have a grey tint. An up-side-downs lens will make the world appear up-side-down. So too our investigative lenses. To a great extent, our methods will determine our findings.

The physical world is objective, but the ways we interpret it reflect a lot of subjective seeing. Our interpretations of the fossil record vary, largely depending upon the lens through which we regard it. While some believe that this record supports evolution, others strongly contend that the huge gaps disqualify macro-evolution.

Biblical interpretation is also vulnerable to our differing lenses. We tend to interpret the text differently. This doesn’t mean that the text lacks an objective message but simply that there often exists a great gap between our subjective impressions and the objective meaning of the text.

In light of the interpretative problems in both areas – scientific inquiry and the Bible – what then should be our starting point? Should we strive to bring the findings of science into conformity with our interpretation of the Bible or to bring our interpretation of the Bible into conformity with our interpretation of the scientific findings?

Does science claim that everything, namely the Bible, must be brought into conformity with its findings? No! In fact, many scientists confess that science is merely an attempt to understand reality and that it must continually re-examine its theories.

Does the Bible claim to be the starting point unto which more uncertain forms of knowledge must conform? Yes:

• When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)

• The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)

The Christian is therefore mandated to bring other forms of revelation into conformity with Scripture. We are not free, in this regard, to bring Scripture into conformity with the present scientific consensus.

This doesn’t mean that we are science deniers. Rather, it was Christians who brought about this latest and greatest budding of science. However, we recognize, along with the scientific community, that our theories are not absolute, especially in the softer sciences, and are therefore expected to change. Why then bring what is the unchanging Revelation of Scripture into conformity with what admittedly is subject to change? If we truly receive Scripture as God’s unchanging Word, then we must resist compromise.

This also doesn’t mean that we cannot use our experience – and this includes science – to help us better interpret Scripture. However, it does mean that we cannot allow experience to override Scripture.