Tag: Wisdom

B0001 What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 2

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 2

In Part 1, we talked about the Holy Spirit, Logos, Rhemas, and context. Let’s move forward with the other essential interpretation protocols to keep in mind.

 

Prayer

When you depend on the Holy Spirit to interpret Scripture, you establish a foundation for consistently reaching the truth. Once you can tell the difference between interpreting the Bible to understand its message and doing so to generate Rhemas from the Logos, you have laid the key groundwork needed for interpreting Scripture. The other tools that follow are designed to help you finetune everything, with the initial one being prayer. You cannot learn about God without having a communication protocol with Him. Not only does God insist on prayer, but it also enables Him to act upon our obedience to His promises, eliminating every obstacle from the dark world that hinders our understanding of the truth. A researcher without prayer depends solely on reason, which alone is too feeble to engage and prevail in the spirit realm.

 

Linguistic and Cultural Challenges

When we read the Bible and its stories, some communication patterns might not be immediately clear unless we examine the culture and language of the era when that passage was written. It’s unclear what the expression “a camel going through the eye of a needle” signifies. That was something recognized by those living at the time. Additional examples include city names that have vanished over time or been changed to entirely different ones because of the progression of civilization. Sometimes, we have to revisit and study those ancient periods to grasp the meaning of those things in their original context. It’s only then that we can genuinely interpret what the writers meant in today’s context.

 

Translation Challenges

Translating certain Bible passages from one language to another is quite difficult, particularly when we lack sufficient understanding of the culture and context in which the author wrote. Occasionally, the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages contain idioms and ancient phrases that are entirely lost or whose meanings are scarcely understood nowadays. The situation worsens when the language we are translating into lacks an equivalent word or phrase. Therefore, it is essential to consistently consult the copies of the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts when studying the Bible to get as close as possible to the original meaning intended by the author. We know that the Holy Spirit always fills the knowledge gaps during research to help us grasp what the authors intended.

 

 

What Jesus Does and Says

The entire Bible points to Jesus. His primary purpose is to reveal the Father and guide us to know Him by relying on the Holy Spirit’s assistance. While not disregarding the literal meanings of the stories and passages throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we must always remember that God’s primary purpose in inspiring humans to compile the written Bible is to understand Jesus’ mission on earth. Any interpretation that ignores this central understanding deviates from genuine wisdom. Thus, Jesus is at the heart of both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament looks forward to Him and the New Testament looks back on His finished work on the cross. Consequently, everything Jesus says and does regarding the new Kingdom life sets the standard for how we should live our Christian lives on earth.

 

What the Apostles and Early Christians Do and Say

Given all biblical evidence points to Jesus, it was the apostles and Early Christians who first inherited the heavenly Christian traditions taught by Jesus and were the pioneers in practicing them in this world. Therefore, all their words, actions, behaviors, attitudes, and life approaches deserve careful study to guide us in this church age. This is why the Book of Acts and the apostles’ letters to the churches exist—to bring a historical understanding and offer crucial direction for Christians today.

 

When interpreting the Bible, one should consider all these additional factors.

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B0001 What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 1

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 1

For many people, including some Christians, interpreting the Bible is a major challenge. The reason is that certain interpretation protocols must be respected; failing to do so makes the interpretation unreliable. Let’s explore some key points to keep in mind when interpreting the Bible.

 

The Holy Spirit Guides

Simply put, arriving at an accurate interpretation of the Bible is impossible without the Holy Spirit’s guidance. John 16:13 teaches us that He leads us into all truths, in accord with the Father’s will. Without the Holy Spirit, biblical interpretation is devoid of meaningful spiritual backing. This is why unbelievers cannot provide a trustworthy interpretation of Scriptures, as spiritual discernment by the Holy Spirit matters. Moreover, when the Holy Spirit directs our interpretation of Scriptures, the outcome consistently aligns with that of Christians worldwide. Interpretations of the Bible that conflict and contradict are not from Him.

 

Understand The Difference Between the Logos and Rhema

The Ecclesiast was quite correct in saying God created man upright, yet we have pursued other schemes. This holds true regarding how we have swapped the use of Logos and Rhemas in our Christian lives. Everything written in the Bible represents the Logos, the written word of God. Rhemas are the inspirations that come from the written Word or Logos.

 

The written Word or Logos conveys a specific message that remains unchanged. That message was created within a particular context, sometimes intended only for certain people, and plays a distinct role in completing the Bible’s unique message – life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When recording the Logos, the writers had a particular meaning and message in mind for a specific audience that points to the Cross.

 

Bear in mind that theological research and discoveries aid greatly here by generating evidence to grasp that message. The meaning or intention in the Logos remains constant over time. Christian denominations and worldviews frequently find it difficult to grasp the true meaning of various parts of the Logos. The Book of Revelations serves as a good example, with some interpreting it literally and others allegorically, resulting in conflicting and contradictory views. Misunderstanding the meaning of the Logos makes it hard and complex to produce reliable Rhemas from it.

 

A single verse of the Logos can spark hundreds of Rhemas. Rhemas are distinct because they are tailored to an individual or group seeking guidance from God and pertain to a particular situation. For example, the apostles heal a man at the temple gate known as Beautiful. When reading that Logos, one receives a healing technique or ministry, while another feels inspired to establish a humanitarian organization. Someone pays attention to the paralytic’s faith, whereas another person is interested in the belief that God heals even now. Through meditation, Christians worldwide can produce hundreds of Rhemas from that one passage across different contexts. Yet the true meaning of the verse is that the Apostles healed a man before entering the temple.

 

As theology depends on the Bible to guide theological research, trying to produce Rhemas from any source other than the properly interpreted biblical Logos is witchcraft and superstition.

 

 

 

Context

Context is the next element to consider when interpreting the Logos. What was the purpose behind writing the Scripture? For whom was it written? Where did it get written? Is it about the Old or New Covenant? How is it relevant to us nowadays? These and numerous other questions assist us in contextualizing the Bible passage so we can firstly determine its precise meaning, and subsequently produce authentic Rhemas from that meaning.

 

Numerous preachers nowadays extract Rhemas from their context and apply them indiscriminately without clearly distinguishing between different contexts. Also Some Christians pick and apply certain Old Testament Scriptures in the New Testament context without considering the meaning of the message in both covenants? Also, although many still cling to the “eye for an eye” mindset or eagerly pursue revenge when wronged, we are now in a distinct context that demands loving our enemies, praying for them, and striving to lead them to Christ.

 

To conclude this first section, we need to differentiate between studying the Bible and meditating on Scriptures to grasp the intended message of the writer, allowing the Bible to interpret itself, and meditating on that meaning to obtain specific Rhemas or revelations that provide guidance or solutions tailored to our unique context in our time.

 

Be sure to read Part 2 to gain a full understanding of what makes biblical interpretation reliable.

 

Share this content with those in your community who have difficulty understanding the relationship between the Bible and theology.

 

Explore, study, grow in wisdom, and remain blessed in the Lord!

 

Click here To Read Part 2

T0001 What Is Theology?

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

What Is Theology?

This question is one of the most crucial a Christian must address in their life. Failing to answer this question could affect your spiritual journey, divine purpose, and even your eternal fate. Stanford E. Murrell, Th.D. says, “Every thoughtful individual is a theologian to some extent, for life and destiny are affected by what an individual believes about God and His will.” Because your beliefs about God have eternal consequences and theology is fundamental, you must research theology’s true meaning.

 

Let’s begin by exploring what theology is not, before we define it.

First, theology is not the same as the Bible. When many people hear the term “theology,” their first thought is the Bible. Given that theology is the method for analyzing life’s issues, every person or group generates theologies to explain life’s matters. Evolutionists, atheists, agnostics, Muslims, traditionalists, and scientists, among others, all follow specific theologies that shape their worldviews and thought processes. Other people are of the opinion that scholars attending theological institutions possess a genuine understanding of the Bible. But even after attending Bible college for years, many still misunderstand or misinterpret the Bible’s core message.

Second, theology and doctrine are not the same thing. With the rise of countless worldviews and theological schools of thought, many Christians worldwide find it challenging to distinguish between doctrine and theology (we explain the difference in another article). Therefore, many find themselves within contentious theological groups, holding the conviction that their interpretation of the Bible is the right one.

Now that we have established these two points, we can define theology.

 

This is how I define theology in the book ‘The Bible Vs Theology.’ A ‘‘method by which we seek and reason about God, His word and His will for humankind, organizing information and gathering evidence to understand Him better.’’

 

This definition brings a few things to light regarding theology:

  • Theology is only a research tool to help Christians explore God, the Bible, and His will.

  • Theology serves as the Christian method for compiling, defining, categorizing, and organizing insights about God and His intentions for humanity.

  • The Bible is a treasure chest, and theologies allow us to explore and extract its valuable, hidden resources.

  • Each theology will only extract the resources for which it was developed.

 

The book, The Bible Vs Theology is a resource packed with information on the Bible and theology, accessible through various online retailers and bookshops. It clearly illustrates the distinction between the Bible and theology. It also demonstrates how people can employ theological frameworks to derive insights from the Bible.

Stay Blessed in the Lord!

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