3 Minute Theology 2.4: How do we interpret the Bible?

How do we interpret the Bible?

[rubenburen]

Interesting explanation... Thank you...

[smessaddeq]

Great vídeo. Love the way tô explain by draw 😊

[HaydenParrish]

Wow. This is great! Thanks for posting!

[ricklannoye]

DON'T INTERPRET THE BIBLE WITH SPIRIT FEELINGS, BUT TEST SPIRIT FEELINGS WITH THE BIBLE

There are a lot of Christians who think the way to understand the bible is to "let the Holy Spirit tell you what it means." Often, they'll quote I Corinthians 2:14a as justification to this wildly inaccurate way to properly understand the bible--"the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." Sure, anyone who has not yet experienced the unconditional love and complete forgiveness of God is, of course, going to behave as if they are not loved and forgiven, which is why they can't "receiveth, " that is, experience the things of the Spirit of God. This ignorance, and the behavior which follows, makes no change to what God does or thinks or plans to do, but it does prevent the yet-to-realize-whom-they-are children of God FEEL it and begin acting accordingly. But that's a LOT different from RELYING ON FEELINGS to interpret the Bible!!! If one thinks, "It doesn't matter what the original authors of the bible intended to say when they put ink to a papyrus or vellum, but to rely on "spiritual feelings" to interpret their words, then the Bible can be made to said whatever one wants it to...or more likely, whatever SOMEONE ELSE wants you to FEEL it means, by using time-tested means of MANIPULATING YOUR FEELINGS! Now, this is not to say it's impossible or wrong to get feelings IN REACTION TO when the Spirit is, in fact, communicating with you in some way! Trouble is, how to KNOW for sure if what you FEEL is an accurate representation of what God is saying or has said, or merely the result of all the many things that go on around us or which happened to us before that results in what we call "feelings." Well, this is where PROPERLY DIVIDING THE WORD makes all the difference. Whenever you THINK you're feeling the Spirit of God, you should TEST THAT SPIRIT!!! How? By comparing what you SUBJECTIVELY FEEL the spirit is telling you to what the Scriptures OBJECTIVELY say, then you can screen out any stray feeling you mistook for the spirit of God. But if you do the REVERSE--using your feelings to determine what the bible says, then you're in for the wildest ride of your life because you'll be like a ship at sea, during a storm, without a rudder...or worse, you'll become the slave of anyone who has mastered the art of manipulating your feelings in order to get you to think they are God's voice when it's really just another MAN controlling you!

Are you a victim of bible abuse? Get help at ricklannoye.com/contact

[peter-brandonchristensen]

What about revelatory answers to prayer? Shouldn't we let God interpret scripture? Tradition, reason, and experience are great, but they are nothing compared to personal revelation. We say "Christian tradition" as though it were a categorically monolithic standard that remains constant throughout the eons. Not so! And man's reasoning is not a good basis for interpretation for we are fallen creatures! Our experience also betrays us because the fallen world teaches us things not according to God's will (survival of the fittest for one).