Oct. 20, 2024

Bible Interpretation Errors Pt 1

Bible Interpretation Errors Pt 1

We begin looking at errors made in bible interpretation

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We begin looking at errors made in bible interpretation

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All right, this morning, we're going to hopefully take something

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I've been talking about all week and advance this to

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some level and try to bring to some kind of conclusion.

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But for Sunday School, I want to revert back to

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what we were talking about for a long time, and

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then we took kind of a detour. We were talking

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about the different covenants. We talked about the Abrahamic Covenant,

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talked about the Davidic Covenant. We didn't finish the Davidic Covenant.

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And because we were doing kind of a series on

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eschatology and dealing with a lot of issues related to eschatology,

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and what we found is when we start talking about

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the covenants or anything related to eschatology, we immediately realize

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and see there are lots of disagreements, of course, and

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when it comes to some aspects of the Covenant, the

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issue is, okay, was the Covenant made with Israel? Or

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do we see Israel not as Israel? Do we see

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Israel as the Church? And those types of things, which

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all of this comes down to the issue of how

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do we interpret the Bible. Whose interpretation is right, who

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interpretation is wrong? Because everyone has one and it kind

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of demonstrates how subjective Bible interpretation really is. Everyone not

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only does everyone interpret the Bible, because within the non

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Catholic system, every person supposedly has the authority. So everyone

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not only can interpret the Bible, then the people sitting

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in the pew are actually supposed to be judging what

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is preached to determine whether it's true or false. Meaning

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they have great authority because they're the ones who are

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going to determinef it's tru or false. And so it

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just leads to kind of a spiritual chaos and anarchy.

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And I've talked about this forever. I've talked about it

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in connection to know in the Catholic system, the church

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had the authority. Now the people have the authority. We

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claim the Bible has the authority, but the reality is

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what has the authority is my interpretation. Because my interpretation

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I believe is right, and then I judge everyone else

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based off their acceptance or disagreement with my interpretation. And

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it's just subjective, it's relativistic, it's chaos, it's anarchy. And

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whenever I put forth that kind of perspective, I know

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people tend to push back and they don't necessarily like it,

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but I think history proves that I'm right. We've got

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thousands upon thousands of denominations and groups and nobody can

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agree on anything. So there's times I talk a lot

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about that, I discuss it, I mention it, and then

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there are times that I feel like the issue comes

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back in a very glaring way. So this week I

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was going to I'll reviewed a sermon on Second King's

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chapter six. If you want to turn there, Second King's

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chapter six. I'll just make sure you guys are all

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cut up on what has transpired over the last week.

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Second King's chapter six, Pseci King's chapter six. Very famous story. Yeah,

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the axe heads, Second Kings chapter six. So I was

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going to review a sermon on Second King's chapter six,

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which is about the floating axehead. Right, it's in chapter

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six versus one. I think it goes to basically one

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through seven, all right, and I won't read it for

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time's sake. But Second King chapter six, verses one through seven. Well,

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when you start reviewing the sermon, all of a sudden,

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guess what we find out? The axehead is not really

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an axet. I mean, it is an axhead, but it

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actually represents our effectiveness and our work for God. It

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actually represents our pictures our fellowship with God, It actually

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pictures or represents our passion and zeal for God. Well,

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there's a million issues with that, mainly what are you

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basing that on other than just you read the text

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and you say, well, this pictures this, and this represents this,

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and this represents this based off what There's nothing in

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the Bible that would say an axead represents these things

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in any way, shape or form. So it it was maddening.

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So we reviewed that. I told everyone in the podcasts

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to start listening to sermons on Second Kings chapter six.

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We listened to a second one which took it in

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a much more literal way. So we had two sermons.

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One takes it in a much more figurative, allegorical I

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don't even know what that is way, another one takes

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it in a more literal way, and it just shows

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you again the subjectivity when it comes to interpreting the Bible.

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So then I saw a message on how to study

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the Bible dealing with the allegorical method, and I'm like, oh,

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this will be good because they'll give me the principles

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of the allegorical method, and then I will demonstrate that

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the preacher preaching Second King six, who would argue all

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day that he doesn't use the allegorical method, which are

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actually using the allegorical method. I thought this will be great. Well,

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that entire sermon on the allegorical method was a complete

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misrepresentation of the allegorical method, and it was really a

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rant against Calvinism, and it was it was just insane.

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So then I was like, Okay, this is really getting

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on my nerves. So then I'm like, you know what,

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I'll take a break from everything. I'll do a sermon

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review on a sermon on Proverbs chapter thirty. I mean,

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you can't go wrong right Proverbs chapter thirty. This should

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be simple, this should be straightforward. I saw that what

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the text for the sermon was Proverbs chapter thirty versus

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eleven through seventeen. Proverbs chapter thirty, verses eleven through seventeen,

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and we see a phrase repeated numerous times Proverbs chapter thirty,

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verse eleven. There is a generation Proverbs chapter thirty, verse twelve.

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There is a generation Proverbs chapter thirty, verse thirteen. There

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is a generation Proverbs chapter thirty, verse fourteen. There is

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a generation and I'm like, okay, so this is going

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to be a discuss about a discussion about there is

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a generation that will be like this. So then I thought,

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you know what I'll do. I'll review a little bit

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of this sermon, but then I can utilize this to

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get into a discussion how the older generation always talks

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about this generation, and I wanted to go all the

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way back to an ancient Egyptian document where the older

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generation was condemning the younger generation and saying that this

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has been going on for well over three thousand years,

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if not longer. So I wanted to get into that discussion.

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I thought, elthy, it'll be great, It'll be wonderful, great

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hit play. Well, it was not long that the sermon

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and Proverbs chapter thirty, verses eleven through seventeen turned into

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this there is coming a time where people will eat

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poor people. They will chop off their heads, drink their blood,

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and eat their flesh. And I was like, what just happened? Okay, yeah,

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you think it's a Halloween sermon. They based it off

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Proverbs chapter thirty, verse fourteen. There is a generation whose

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teeth are as swords, their jaw teeth as knives to

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devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy

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from among men. So it turned into this bizarre idea

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that Proverbs thirty fourteen is to be is to be

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interpreted what way literal? Right? So then they started doing

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cross references. Right, they did cross references. They went to

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Psalm fourteen four, Psalm fourteen four. If you want to

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go there, Psalm fourteen four, Psalm fourteen four. Have all

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the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my

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people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord. Well,

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guess how they interpreted Psalm fourteen four literal right. Then

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they went to Micah chapter three, Micah chapter three, Michaeh

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chapter three, verse one, And I said, here, I pray you,

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oh heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the House

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of Israel, Is it not for you to know judgment?

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Who hate good love evil? Who pluck off their skin

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from off them, and their flesh from off their bones,

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who also eat the flesh of my people and flay

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their skin from off them, and they break their bones

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and chop them in pieces for the pot, and the

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flesh within the cauldron. Okay, you get the idea, right.

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So they're like all these passages. I know some of

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you could say it's metaphorical, but basically made the argument

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that these are literal, These are literal, These are literal,

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and that there's coming a time in the tribulation where

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they're gonna take poor people, they're gonna chop off their heads,

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drink their blood, and eat their flesh. And I was like,

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what is happening right now? What is happening? And then

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in the very same sermon, after about a fifteen minute

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rant about this basically being true and literal and that's

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the way it's going to happen, even though some people

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may say it's metaphorical, and the very same sermon, about

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fifteen minutes later, he said, if you want to know

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what the figurative is, go to John chapter six, John

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chapter six, Yes, John six, verse fifty three. Barely John

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six fifty three. Then Jesus said, into them verily, barely,

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as in you, except you eat the flesh of the

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sun of man and you drink his blood, you have

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no life in you. That's figurative. All the other passages

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are literal. This is figurative. Well, at this point I

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was ready just to I mean, I just I don't

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it just makes me so frustrated how within Christianity we

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go around saying the Bible is the final authority. The

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Bible is not the final authority, Ladies and gentlemen, it

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is not. It is our own interpretation, and our interpretation

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can be We can make it say whatever we want

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it to say. The hermeneutic. Within Christianity, nobody wants to

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admit this. We read the Bible and we make it up.

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That's what we do, that's what we've been doing. And

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nobody wants to acknowledge that. The unintended consequences of the

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Protestant Reformation is you took where the interpretive authority rested

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within the church. You ripped it away from the church.

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You gave it to every individual, and every individual can

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just read the Bible and say whatever they want, and

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I can say it's wrong, and they can simply turn

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around and tell me I am wrong. I mean, I've

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seen it as a pastor, we've seen it as a church.

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Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, your education doesn't matter, your study

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doesn't matter. Anyone can just read and say that's what

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it means, and it doesn't matter. You can even challenge them. No,

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go look up everything doesn't matter. They don't have to

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look it up. Anybody can just interpret it. It's subjective

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and it's total complete spiritual anarchy and chaos. And I

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sometimes and like I think, if you just don't listen

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to sermons, you may convince yourself that it's not that bad.

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But the reality is it's bad. So what we're going

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to do at least part of this hour, maybe we'll

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do it the next hour. So I started doing a

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lot of things talking about allegory, metaphor just different harmoneutical subjects.

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So I'm just going to kind of step back and

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just try at least to discuss how this should possibly work.

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So let's do this. I'm going to break this down

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under a number of headings. Let's just start with reality

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and history. Let's just start with reality and history because

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Christians don't want to admit this reality. But let's just

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deal with reality and history. Right. The reality is there

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is a great level of subjectivity that arises in biblical interpretation.

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There is a great level of subjectivity and biblical interpretation,

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particularly when we consider the vast number of different and

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sometimes contradictory interpretations throughout two thousand years of Church history

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and that's just the fact over two thousand years, the

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number of interpretations, they're innumerable. They're innumerable, all the different interpretations,

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and the interpretations do what completely contradict one another? And

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right here in this local area, at this very hour,

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there are over two hundred and what fifty churches and

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probably about a fifty mile radius, all meeting this morning.

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All of them are offering interpretations. And guess what. Most

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of those interpretations do what contradict one another? And everyone

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thinks what they are right? And why do they go

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to that church because their church interprets it's better than

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the other church. So I'm wrong in my interpretation. They

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think they're right, they think I'm wrong. I think they're wrong.

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What do you even do with it? But the reality

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is there's a great level of subjectivity to it, even

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though nobody wants to admit that. It's just the fact.

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So so we're going to break this down in reality

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and history, right, So let's just start with the reality

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of multiple interpretations, because that's just the fact. It is

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true that throughout Church history there have been a vast

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number of interpretations of scripture, from the early Church Fathers

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Augustine origin to the Reformation, Luther Calvin and modern theological movements.

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Christians have disagreed on key issues such as baptism, the

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Lord's Supper, salvation, end times, and many other theological doctrines.

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The diversity of interpretations continue today across denominations, culturals, and

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theological traditions. We have his so when we talk about

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the history, we have a history of diversity. Right. So

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if we want to talk about the reality, there's a

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reality of multiple interpretations. And that reality of multiple interpretations

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has seen in the historical diversity that we see within

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church history. I mean, we've got everything in church history.

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You name it, it's there. You just throw out an idea,

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you can find someone in church history saying that idea

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was what either wrong or are right and just and not.

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The diversity is just crazy. And I think the average

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Christian just and our brains, at least when we first

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became saved, I think we thought, for the most part,

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everyone agrees and wherever they disagree, it's on insignificant matters.

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That's usually what we told ourselves, right, But that's just

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not the case. So the reality of all these different

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translations is seen in the historical diversity and there's just

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no Look, that's not even debatable. Church history shows me

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a diversity of interpretation, right, So that shows the reality

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of multiple interpretations, endless interpretation. So we have historical diversity,

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we have endless interpretations, with innumerable individuals throughout history offering

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interpretations and new interpretations continually arising. The total number of

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perspectives on Biblical texts are endless. It's endless. Even within

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specific theological traditions. There can be great significant disagreement within

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one philological tradition. You can have one philological tradition, and

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what do you have within that tradition? All kinds of

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arguing and debating even within one right. That's why even

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within the reform world, if we say we're reform Baptistist,

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what most reform people will say, you can't really be

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reformed and be a Baptist because because Baptists belief about

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baptism and not placing the quote unquote sign of the

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Covenant on a child removes us from Covenant from reform theology,

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so we're not reformed enough. When we will say, well, no,

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you're problem is if you're really reformed to believe the

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Bible is the final authority you wouldn't be baptizing a

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baby because there's nothing in the Bible about it, right,

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But that's within one same philological stream. I mean, that's

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just that's just crazy. So the reality of multiple interpretations

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are seen in historical diversity, and it is seen in

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the endless interpretations. They are innumerable. Not only the reality

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of multiple interpretations are seen in historical diversity. Not only

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is it seen in the endless interpretations, it is seen

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in the contradictory interpretations. There are constant, never ending, contradictory

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interpretations on basically almost every verse in the Bible. Almost

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every verse in the Bible, there is a there's contradictory interpretations.

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For instance, one group may interpret passages as supporting infant baptism,

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while many others may argue it supports believers baptism only. Similarly,

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debates around predestination, free will, the nature of the millennium

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can be deeply divided. And we know that, right, it's contradictory. Now,

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why should contradictory bother us? The diversity and the endless

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number should bother us. But when it comes to the

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fact that they're contradictory, that really should disturb us, and

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the reason why is if they're all contradictory, what does

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that mean not all of them can be right? So

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if they're endless, if the history is full of diversity,

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there's endless numbers of interpretations and they contradict one another,

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then it comes down to who's right and ultimately who

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decides who's right the individual? Well, the Catholic Church at

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least has a magisterial authority, right, so they can determine

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that they're right right, and they would believe they have

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the authority to do that. But when it comes to

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the non Catholic world, who determines who's right? The individual?

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Now we can say, oh, the church, Now the church

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has no authority, the church only how much authority does

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any Protestant church have as only as not as the

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individual grants it right? So like, what how do we

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even process that? Does anybody even have a I don't

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even know how we process that. It's just complete chaos,

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all right. So there's the reality of multiple interpretations. The

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reality of multiple interpretations are broken down into historical diversity.

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No one can argue that the endless interpretations, no one

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can argue that and their contradictory. No one can argue

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that everything there is factual, all right, So this leads

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to number two, the subjectivity in interpretation. Biblical interpretation is

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subjective to some extent. I will say it's more than

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just to some extent. I think Biblical interpretation is absolutely subjective.

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I used to try to. I just have come to

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the colon. There is no It's just an endless subjectivity.

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And when we say something is subjective, what do we

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mean by that? When we say something is subjective, Well, subjective,

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it just it can be a matter of anything, right,

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there's no something, there's nothing definitive. When we say something

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is objective, we're like, this is objective truth it is,

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it's fixed, it's settled. If it's subjective, it fluctuates, it

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can change. We don't really know. Well, when it comes

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to Bible interpretation, why would I argue it's subjective. Well,

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go back to my previous point. The reality of multiple interpretations.

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History shows me what nobody can agree endless interpretations. What

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does that demonstrate No one can agree and every interpretation

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contradicts the other. Well, then that only screams to me

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that is subjective. Even well meaning and vout believers and

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scholars and theologians come to different conclusions because they bring

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their own experience, presuppositions, and philological framework and cultural influence

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and biases to the text. So where does the problem begin?

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Why do we have all of this diversity, endless interpretations

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and contradiction. Why because there's a level of subjectivity to it?

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Why is there a level of subjectivity to it? Because

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what do we bring to the text? I want you

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to write those things down? We bring to the text?

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Are you ready experience or experiences if you want, plural presuppositions,

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philological frameworks, cultural influences and biases to the text. This

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leads to the variety of interpretations. Now what do we

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mean when we bring our experiences to the text? Just

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our life? While we've experienced things, We've encountered things, and

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so we bring that to the text. Now should we

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bring our experiences to the text? In reality, no, what

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you experience has nothing to do with what the text says.

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But it impacts it does it absolutely impacts. What was

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the second thing that we bring to the text? Presuppositions?

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We bring all kinds of presuppositions to the text. And

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what have I been saying forever in this church? Take

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our presupposition out back and shoot it now. Whenever I

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say that, everyone laughs. But then we see the danger

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that happens when I set us at our presuppositions. Right

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as soon as I set our presuppositions aside, and I

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start questioning and I start challenging, and I start going,

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well what about this and what about that? Inevitably someone

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didn't shoot their presupposition because they get mad, they get defensive,

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they get upset, they get argumentative. Instead of just saying, well,

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you know what, I don't have a presupposition here. It

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doesn't matter what I learned yesterday. It doesn't matter what

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I learned last week. I'm willing to look at the

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text anew and start over. Nobody wants to start over.

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Everybody wants a conclusion, and that conclusion must remain true

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Sunday after say, until when they come to a different conclusion.

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Then I must be willing to do what consider they're

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new And it's so just ridiculous the way that works.

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But everyone brings their presupposition. If you bring your presupposition

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to the text at that point, what does that mean

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about Bible interpretation. It's just it's utterly subjective, and we're

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guess what's now the authority we are or what's the

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third thing they say can be brought to the text

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theological framework? What does that mean? Yeah, whatever theological team

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you're in, right. So if I'm in Team Reformed, what

355
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should I never do in my preaching ever, say anything

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that would call into question Team Reform and get I

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take off reform people when I call into question the

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way the Reformation went right, the unintended consequences of the Reformation. Well, look,

359
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nobody should get mad at me for that. That's something

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we should all acknowledge. Something happened, right. Everyone wants to

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argue about, Well, the Reformation was about the ninety five PCs.

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The Reformation was about indulgences. The Reformation was about justification.

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You know what the Reformation was about who's in charge? Right?

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That's what it comes down to, right and our system?

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What does the Reformation tell us in our system that

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who's in charge the individual? Right? And that what the

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Reformation proves? Right? I mean, what did Luther say? Yeah,

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I know we preach that the scriptures are, but in reality,

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what does the Reformation say? One individual said the Church

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was wrong? And then and we and we celebrate him

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as the hero. Right, Yay, he told that church. Now

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everyone celebrates it until what I tell that church you're wrong? No, no, no,

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what about the pastor has the spiritual authority? The pastor

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has no spiritual authority if the person in the pew

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at any particular time can simply stand up and say

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you're wrong because the Word of God says so, and

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here I stand, I can do no other. I even

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use that argument against my pastor in uh in Nebraska.

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And when we got into a huge argument, I said,

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I basically said, I believe this is what the Bible teaches.

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Here I stand. I literally quoted Luther because I felt

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like I have historical justification to tell the pastor what

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you're wrong. Well, at that point, and so guess what,

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so we we and so whatever film logical idea that

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I'm in, that that's what we're supp to go with.

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And nobody is supposed to challenge it. But our system

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says every individual can do what challenge it? And challenging

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it makes you what the hero? But it doesn't really

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make you the hero, does it? It makes you It

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will get you kicked out. As Catholics kicked out Luther,

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every other group will kick out the individual who questions them.

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That's the way it works, right, And and so the

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philological framework really could I will argue that we interpret

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the Bible not based off the study of the Bible.

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We base it, and I say it all the time,

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we interpret it off what our theological framework. So if

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your theological framework is that Israel isn't Israel, and I

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challenge that, then I'm just going to be wrong. But

399
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it's really it doesn't come down to us looking at

400
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the text. Your theology says Israel is an Israel. My

401
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.599
theology says Israel is Israel. And we're never going to

402
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come to an agreement because nobody actually cares about the

403
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actual text because everyone's going to interpret the text on

404
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the bays of what the theological framework. So then it's

405
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just pointless. And even having the conversation, it's just it's meaningless.

406
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It's ridiculous. All Right, What was the next thing? Cultural influence?

407
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What does that have to do? What does that refer

408
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to the culture? Well, what can state it this way?

409
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And a culture that say is pro gun, pro republican,

410
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pro whatever, they're going to interpret the Bible through that

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cultural lens. So the Bible all of a sudden is

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going to be what pro gun, pro war, pro this,

413
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anti immigration, And if you come from a very liberal

414
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:41.200
cultural culture, the Bible is going to be interpreted as

415
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more passive, more pro immigration. And so guess what, that's

416
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just us interpreting the Bible based off our cultural background,

417
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which just makes the Bible interpretation what completely subjective because

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they should not work. And what's the last thing, biases?

419
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Everyone has a bias somewhere tox So guess what the subjectivity.

420
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All of that leads to subjectivity and which leads to

421
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:12.880
subject What a subjectivity leads to variety of interpretations. It

422
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leads to the historical diversity, the endless interpretations, and the

423
00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:21.519
contradictory interpretations. All right, so there's the subject, there's there's

424
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Bible interpretation is subject subjective due to those very reasons.

425
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Those things being added. Now, we have interpretive frameworks which

426
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lead to subjectivity and interpretation. Various hermaeneutical frameworks, and I'll

427
00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:41.759
just go through a couple of them. Literal, allegorical, typological,

428
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historical grammatical. Those are just some of the schools of hermoneutics. Right, Literal, allegorical, typological, historical, grammatical.

429
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They lead to significant different understandings of the same text.

430
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For instance, someone using a literal approach might interpret revelation

431
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.279
and very different than someone using an allegorical approach. These

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frameworks themselves are often shaped by theological traditions, which further

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leads to differences. In other words, this not only do

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we have Bible interpretation subjective because we bring all of

435
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.759
this stuff to it. It's subjective because everyone is using

436
00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:24.400
a hermeneutical framework to some level, at least from behind

437
00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:27.960
the pulpit they should be. Now, sadly, the people sitting

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in the pew, do they have a hermeneutical framework. In

439
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:35.359
most cases, no, they do not. They do only because

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of what they've heard. But they've never actually studied hermeneutics.

441
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I mean, at least in all of my years of

442
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going to church, right and all of my years of

443
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going to church, I have never met a layperson, almost

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00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:54.039
never who's studied hermeneutics to any great degree. Most of

445
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them have never read a hermeneutical textbook. They could not

446
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articulate the different schools of thought. I mean, And I

447
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spent a good portion of I mean, I spent a

448
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good portion of my ministry here trying to get everyone

449
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simply to read this book Protestant Biblical interpretation. It's not

450
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even a big book, couldn't get anyone to read it, right,

451
00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:13.200
it's a simple, small book, right because it goes to

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00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.640
all the different schools of hermoneutics. Right because most people

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aren't interested in it. I understand that right now, people

454
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who fill a call to ministry are much more likely

455
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to read it. But the average lay person isn't. But

456
00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:28.720
even though so, they don't want to study the subject.

457
00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:34.319
But what will they do spake authoritatively on the subject?

458
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:37.759
Which is maddening to me? Right, It's like, it's maddening.

459
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.079
It's like, if you don't want to really engage, then

460
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.559
why do you speak so authoritative about it? But that's

461
00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:46.079
the case. But the point is these hermaeutical frameworks are

462
00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:51.640
inevitably going to lead to what different interpretation, which, now,

463
00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:54.000
just think about this from a now, just see how

464
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:57.920
depressing this can be. We look at the text and

465
00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:00.160
do we not see in nothing but a never the

466
00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:05.279
amount of interpretations and contradictions? Yes, well, is there ever

467
00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:10.559
a way to solve that? If Christianity cannot even agree

468
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:16.160
on the hermoneutical framework, If we can't even agree on

469
00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:19.160
the framework in which we're going to approach the text.

470
00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:23.079
This happened in this very church when I had people

471
00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.039
arguing with me about the whole you know, Israel being Israel,

472
00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:30.279
And I was like, okay, so what's the hermoneutical framework

473
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.559
we're going to use? I thought, if you've gone to

474
00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:35.000
this church, you know we take things from a much

475
00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:40.319
more historical, grammatical, literal approach. Right is Genesis one, Literal

476
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:44.680
is Genesis two, Literal is Genesis three, Literal is Genesis four,

477
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:48.599
Literal is Genesis five, Literal is Genesis six, literal is

478
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:51.400
Genesis seven. And it would be like, well, yes, yes, yes, yes,

479
00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:55.240
but all of a sudden, Israel isn't Israel. Well when

480
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:58.640
did that happen? And so, and you try to have

481
00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:03.839
that debate. Doesn't matter, No, it doesn't matter. So you

482
00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.960
can't even get people in your own church to agree

483
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:09.880
on a hermeneutical framework. If you can't even get people

484
00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:12.680
in your own church to agree in a hermeneutical framework, look,

485
00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:16.119
ladies and gentlemen, the battle is lost. It's over. Everyone

486
00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:19.319
should just go home and give up. There has to

487
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:23.960
be some agreement on the hermeneutical framework. If Christianity cannot

488
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:26.640
agree on hermonutual framework. Then guess what you do? You

489
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:30.960
just break off into groups based off hermeneutical framework, even

490
00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:34.160
though nobody really knows what their hermeneutical framework is, and

491
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:36.799
then everyone just pretends that that's the one they use.

492
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.359
But I will say, what even makes it worse is

493
00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:42.240
people are not even even pastors are not consistent on

494
00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:46.000
their hermeneutical framework. The guy that was yelling and screaming

495
00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.400
that poor people are going to be eaten and the

496
00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:50.680
axet is not an axe head. They would have both

497
00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:54.079
argued to you that they do not buy into the

498
00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:58.799
allegorical type method. But in many cases, well, he went

499
00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:02.519
to John six fifty three said what, it's not literal,

500
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.839
but then he went to Proverbs thirty and says it is.

501
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:09.799
The other man went to Second King six and said, well,

502
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:11.519
I mean it's an axe head, but I mean it

503
00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:14.480
pictures this, this and this and this, meaning that we

504
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:18.640
don't even remain true to necessarily our hermeneutical framework. It's

505
00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:21.839
it's subjective. And even how we apply the hermonutical framework

506
00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:24.640
to the text, Well, if we can't even stay true

507
00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:28.599
to our hermoneutical framework, then there's no hope forever coming

508
00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:32.960
to any objective interpretation, it's just chaos. There's got to

509
00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:38.319
be some way of determining something correct. There should be right,

510
00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:43.680
and so well, we went through most of that, and

511
00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:47.240
so we have kind of a subjectivity because of all

512
00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:48.960
the things we bring to the text. We have these

513
00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:51.640
interpretive frameworks that don't even agree. And then we have

514
00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:55.279
doctrinal biases. People often interpret the Bible through the lens

515
00:32:55.279 --> 00:33:00.759
of their theological tradition Calvinism or Minianism, Catholicism, pentecostal. In

516
00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:03.359
such cases, the interpretation is not coming from the text.

517
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:06.839
It is filtered through the pre existing doctrinal beliefs, making

518
00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:13.920
interpretation absolutely subjective. And everyone has a philological bias. If

519
00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.160
your lordship, how are you going to interpret the text

520
00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:20.319
from a lordship perspective? And anyone who says that that's

521
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.400
wrong is going to be considered a heretic. How do

522
00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:28.359
Catholics interpret it to the framework of Catholicism right? How

523
00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:31.599
does a free grace person through that? So then our

524
00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:35.839
theological biases get in the way. So it's subjective because

525
00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:37.680
of all the things we bring to the text. It's

526
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.799
subjective because of all these different interpretive frameworks, and it

527
00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:45.000
is subjective because we bring our doctrinal biases to the text.

528
00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:51.119
Meaning the text is by no means the authority. So

529
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:53.279
what do we have here? We have the reality of

530
00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:57.319
multiple interpretations. We see this in historical diversity. We see

531
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:00.160
this in endless interpretations. We see this in the contradiction.

532
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:03.200
We see the subjectivity and interpretation because of what we

533
00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:07.200
bring to the text interpretive framework and because of doctrinal biases.

534
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:15.000
So is personal interpretation. The real authority is personal interpretation.

535
00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:21.199
The real authority I dogmatically say what it is, and

536
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:24.639
the reality is personal interpretation is the authority. The Bible

537
00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:27.880
is not the authority. Our interpretation is the authority. Now,

538
00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:30.079
whenever I say that, every Christian is going to disagree,

539
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:36.119
but I think it's factual. Given the subjective nature of interpretation,

540
00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:39.639
it can sometimes appear that the real authority in Christianity

541
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:42.239
lies not in the text of Scripture itself, but how

542
00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:45.480
individuals or groups interpret that text. In many cases, the

543
00:34:45.480 --> 00:34:50.519
authority of the text is mediated by tradition, church leadership,

544
00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:54.159
or individual interpretation, which can cause the actual meaning of

545
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.719
the text to seem less important than the interpretive framework

546
00:34:58.039 --> 00:35:03.079
someone adopts. I will argue it doesn't just seem that way.

547
00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:09.920
The authority is the interpretation. The authority is not the text, right,

548
00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:13.119
That's the reality of Christianity. Nobody wants to admit it.

549
00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:14.800
I'm going to make that a dogmatic I'm not even

550
00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:20.760
making that a hypothesis. The authority lies where your interpretation.

551
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:28.920
And then guess what your interpretation becomes, what dogma right

552
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:31.760
and what not? Only do you say you are right,

553
00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:40.360
you say everyone else is wrong? It becomes a dogmatic declaration,

554
00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:46.000
all right. So, in many Christian contexts, the community quote

555
00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:50.239
unquote I hate that term, or denominations interpretations takes precedent

556
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:54.639
over individual interpretations. For example, Catholics give interpretive authority to

557
00:35:54.679 --> 00:36:00.760
the magisterium will Protestants tend to prioritize individual interpretation. But

558
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:04.679
even then into visual interpretation are often influenced by one's

559
00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:08.760
denominational tradition. So you can you can try. Sometimes we'll

560
00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:10.880
try to be like, well, the church gets to make

561
00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:13.400
some decision, But the reality is it still goes down

562
00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:16.199
to the individual. Still goes down to the individual. Now

563
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:20.800
that individual may be influenced by their theology, but it's

564
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:25.239
still their interpretation that's authoritative, and that's the way it works,

565
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.960
all right. Now, Despite that reality, most Christian traditions hold

566
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:35.039
that scripture itself is the final authority, even though interpretations

567
00:36:35.079 --> 00:36:38.559
may vary. The issue is that subjectivity and the variety

568
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.840
of interpretations make it challenging to say that the text

569
00:36:41.960 --> 00:36:46.760
always functions as the ultimate authority and practice. Now they

570
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.039
won't go as far as I will go, but they

571
00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:51.480
will say it almost makes it. It makes it very

572
00:36:51.480 --> 00:36:56.760
difficult to say, what is the authority? The word makes

573
00:36:56.760 --> 00:36:58.719
it very difficult to say that. You can't say that

574
00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:02.000
with a straight face. The fact that people reach different

575
00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:06.480
conclusions based on the same text suggests that interpretation takes

576
00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:12.480
precedence over the objective meaning of the text itself. Let

577
00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:14.079
me hear that. I want you to hear that again,

578
00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:20.559
all right. The fact that people reach different conclusions based

579
00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:29.760
on the exact same text suggest that interpretation takes precedence

580
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:40.239
over the objective meaning of the text itself. So what

581
00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:50.159
takes precedence? Interpretation over text, interpretation over text meaning? We

582
00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:53.400
do not believe in sola scripture? What do we believe?

583
00:37:55.039 --> 00:38:01.440
And sola interpretation? Sola individual? We are the pope, we

584
00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:05.239
are the magisterium, we are the expert we are the

585
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.119
seminary professor. We are the Bible scholar, we are the theologian.

586
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.639
We basically are our own pastor. We determine right, we

587
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:15.960
determine wrong. We tell people what they should and shouldn't do,

588
00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:19.039
and you must do what they do or you are gone.

589
00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:23.199
And it's all based off what they say they will.

590
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:28.760
And everyone claims what that they are simply following the Bible.

591
00:38:28.920 --> 00:38:30.440
If we were to get in a car right now

592
00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:32.480
and drive to a Pentecostal church, what would they tell

593
00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:37.679
us they're following the Bible. If we went to another

594
00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:39.760
form of charismatic church right now, they would tell us

595
00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:41.239
they following the Bible. If we went to a Church

596
00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:42.800
of Christ right now, what would they tell us they're

597
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:45.239
following the Bible. If we went to a Nazarene church

598
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:48.199
the Bible, go to a Lutheran church the Bible. Every

599
00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:51.559
church we would go to would all say we follow

600
00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:53.639
the Bible. The Bible is the word of God, the

601
00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:56.559
Bible is the authority. But not one church agrees on

602
00:38:56.920 --> 00:39:01.519
basically anything, and you're just like, well, what's the authority?

603
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:08.880
The people? The people, and that like every Christian should

604
00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:11.320
just be like that, should just leads you to almost

605
00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:14.960
a point of despair. Look, it typically does. I mean,

606
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:18.440
I get frustrated with it constantly. Right, But when you

607
00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:20.719
listen to a sermon on Proverbs thirty and the next

608
00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:22.679
thing you know, people's heads are being chopped off and

609
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:26.320
you're drinking blood and eating flesh you got, you'd start

610
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:28.960
losing all hope and humanity. You know, you listen to

611
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.559
a sermon about an axet and all a sudden an

612
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:34.000
accent isn't an axe head. I don't know what anything is. Right,

613
00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:40.199
you go to Ezekiel thirty six, where it says Israel Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel,

614
00:39:40.239 --> 00:39:42.159
Israel Israel. I'm gonna give you a new heart and

615
00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:44.559
new spirit. Next thing, you know, that's me, even though

616
00:39:44.559 --> 00:39:46.159
the text says once they get a new heart in

617
00:39:46.199 --> 00:39:48.159
the new spirit, then you'll go into the land that

618
00:39:48.199 --> 00:39:50.559
I promised your father's. How can you make that about me?

619
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:53.239
Since I know none of my fathers were promised any

620
00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:59.119
land right like that? That's not even that doesn't even

621
00:39:59.159 --> 00:40:05.719
require any great philological training. That's just basic reading comprehension skills.

622
00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:08.280
And so I don't know what you do at that

623
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:15.000
point so a question, then, can interpretation be objective? That's

624
00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:17.639
the history and the reality. That's the history and reality,

625
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:20.119
And the history and reality leads us into a very

626
00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:23.599
dark place. Can we agree with that? In fact, where

627
00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:26.679
does history and reality lead us? That the reality is?

628
00:40:26.840 --> 00:40:29.159
The Bible is not even the authority, the individuals, the

629
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:33.719
authority and interpretation trump's texts. So can there be an

630
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:42.800
objective interpretation all efforts towards objectivity, Well, Biblical interpretations does

631
00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:46.679
involve some degree of subjectivity. There are methods scholars and

632
00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:51.519
theologians use to minimize the subjectivity. So they're saying, there

633
00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:56.719
have been efforts made by theologians and scholars to minimize

634
00:40:57.119 --> 00:41:00.599
the subjectivity and biblical interpretation. What can can we say

635
00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:04.440
about those efforts? What can we say about those efforts

636
00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:12.800
of theologians and Bible scholars? Their efforts have failed? All right? Now?

637
00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:17.440
Why have they failed? Now? Who do we blame here?

638
00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:21.800
Who do we blame for the failure of their efforts

639
00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:25.039
to stop the subjectivity or to lessen the amount of

640
00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:38.639
subjectivity and biblical interpretation? Who should we blame? Now? There

641
00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:41.360
are times I would always put the blame at the

642
00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:44.199
foot of the church or the pastor. Then there are

643
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:46.519
issues now where I blame the people in the pew

644
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:50.239
far more than the people in the pulpit. I think

645
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:54.239
in this area, I'm going to blame the church. But

646
00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.679
at the same time I blame the people. I think

647
00:41:56.719 --> 00:41:58.679
there's a shared blame. And let me try to explain,

648
00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:04.440
all right, any person who's a Christian in twenty twenty

649
00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:08.880
four twenty over the last probably fifteen twenty years, you

650
00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:12.880
have access to everything. You have access to everything, right,

651
00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:16.239
So you have access to books on how to study

652
00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:19.400
the Bible, you have access to hermineutical textbooks, you have

653
00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:24.440
access to hermoneutical lectures. You have access to literally everything.

654
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:27.599
So if you go to a church that is not

655
00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:30.800
in any way, shape or form helping you understand how

656
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:32.880
to handle the text, if you don't know how to

657
00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:35.519
handle the text, it really is your fault because there's

658
00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:38.880
no one stopping you from learning. There's no one stopping you. Right,

659
00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:43.280
there was no my church right down the road where

660
00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:48.239
I became a Christian. I immediately realized as a teenager, it's

661
00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:51.320
not answering questions, it's not helping me. Right, So did

662
00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:55.079
I sit around waiting, No, I got in my car,

663
00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:57.639
I drove to Abilene to Butternut Street and went to

664
00:42:57.679 --> 00:43:01.199
the Bible bookstore. I drove to Harden Simmons and went

665
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:03.440
to the library. I drove to ACU and went to

666
00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:05.440
the library. I drove to McMurray and went to the

667
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:07.840
library and I started looking for book. I didn't even

668
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:10.079
have the internet, and I went find Now, that's not

669
00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:13.800
I don't say that because I was spiritual. Had nothing

670
00:43:13.800 --> 00:43:17.400
to do with being spiritual. It had something about doing what. Well,

671
00:43:17.400 --> 00:43:21.800
if I'm supposed to understand this, I'm holding up a

672
00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:24.280
Bible for those listening online. Well, I got to find

673
00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:26.679
a way to get answers. If the church is not

674
00:43:26.719 --> 00:43:29.079
going to give me the answers, where do I find them?

675
00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:31.639
Because the church wanted me to go to lock ins

676
00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:36.280
and pizza parties and six Flags and some dumb church

677
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:39.039
camp where I could be manipulated and indoctrinated, and I

678
00:43:39.159 --> 00:43:42.679
refused to play any of their reindeer games because it

679
00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:45.280
was stupid. I didn't want to go to church for fun.

680
00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:47.400
I thought I was going to church because I heard

681
00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:50.159
that we have a book that comes from God. Right,

682
00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:53.119
and so my understanding, if there's a God and he's

683
00:43:53.159 --> 00:43:55.800
put his word and a book, then I think we

684
00:43:55.840 --> 00:43:59.760
should be obsessed with figuring out what what it says,

685
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:04.039
what it means. That doesn't mean I was spiritual. I

686
00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:06.159
don't want in any way to say that the heck

687
00:44:06.920 --> 00:44:09.719
it was not because I was spiritual. It was just

688
00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:12.400
because if this book is from God, I want to

689
00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:17.679
understand it. So on one hand, I can't make any

690
00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:20.559
excuse for people sitting in the pew who are just

691
00:44:20.760 --> 00:44:24.719
foolish and subject. That's their own fault, there's nobody else's fault.

692
00:44:24.960 --> 00:44:28.199
At the same time, it ticks me off that churches

693
00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:32.599
just I look, I think churches give the people what

694
00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:36.280
they think the people want because a church can What

695
00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:40.039
can a church not do and survive? Can a church

696
00:44:40.119 --> 00:44:43.679
survive by giving the people what they don't want? Cannot?

697
00:44:44.599 --> 00:44:47.119
I mean? I look, I know it, right, Okay, I

698
00:44:47.679 --> 00:44:52.159
know it because okay I I look, if anyone says,

699
00:44:52.159 --> 00:44:53.719
what did I mean? I failed in a lot of

700
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:55.599
ways as a pastor, like I could, I could make

701
00:44:55.599 --> 00:44:57.639
a write a book and all the ways I failed.

702
00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:00.440
But I in some ways from a human perspective, I

703
00:45:00.519 --> 00:45:03.119
was an idiot because I really thought that what the

704
00:45:03.119 --> 00:45:08.320
people wanted was in depth study, to study, to dig in. Now,

705
00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:11.960
people would tell me that, but inevitably you would find

706
00:45:11.960 --> 00:45:15.400
out they don't really want that. They want a church

707
00:45:15.440 --> 00:45:18.159
to believe a certain thing, and they wanted to agree

708
00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:22.719
with them, right, and then just basically do what Just

709
00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:26.079
repeat it over and over and over. You don't challenge it,

710
00:45:26.320 --> 00:45:29.639
you don't grow, you don't evolve, You just and and

711
00:45:30.039 --> 00:45:34.559
well that's where we are. So the whole thing is

712
00:45:34.960 --> 00:45:39.519
to me, the idea that these scholars and people tried

713
00:45:39.559 --> 00:45:43.880
to get rid of subjectivity. I think they tried. Pastors

714
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:46.280
weren't going to really try to get into it because

715
00:45:46.280 --> 00:45:49.320
they really can't and the people don't really want it.

716
00:45:51.639 --> 00:45:55.840
So it failed. So for so, let's look at some

717
00:45:55.920 --> 00:46:00.840
of their efforts. Right, So, they were a method known

718
00:46:00.840 --> 00:46:05.039
as the historical grammatical method. This method sought to understand

719
00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:08.400
the text in its original context, looking at the original language,

720
00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:11.960
historical setting, and grammar to draw out the intended meeting.

721
00:46:12.400 --> 00:46:15.679
Now that sounds good. Hey, here's this method. It's called

722
00:46:15.679 --> 00:46:21.119
the historical grammatical method. The historical grammatical method. That's the

723
00:46:21.159 --> 00:46:25.119
method I have put forth in this church since the inception.

724
00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:30.440
I thought everyone in this church agreed with the historical

725
00:46:30.719 --> 00:46:37.360
grammatical did that fix any of our disagreements or problems

726
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:40.440
in the no did not fix anything, because guess what,

727
00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:43.760
they can just violate that whenever they wanted to violate it.

728
00:46:43.840 --> 00:46:46.079
If they want Israel not to be Israel, Israel's not Israel.

729
00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:48.400
If they want forever, want they don't want forever to

730
00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:51.440
be forever, guess what forever isn't forever. I mean we've

731
00:46:51.840 --> 00:46:54.400
watched it in real time. Because of the way I teach,

732
00:46:54.440 --> 00:46:57.400
I've kind of, you know, allowed sometimes more more chaos

733
00:46:57.440 --> 00:46:59.639
to happen. I mean, people outside the church who listen

734
00:46:59.679 --> 00:47:02.840
online telling man y'all would have some serious arguments going on.

735
00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:04.440
I'm like, well, you know, that's kind of the way.

736
00:47:04.679 --> 00:47:07.480
That's my own fault. But the point is sometimes it

737
00:47:07.519 --> 00:47:12.440
would be baffling because that would be like we agreed

738
00:47:12.480 --> 00:47:15.960
on the same hermeneutical method, right, if we agree on

739
00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:20.920
the same hermonutical method, then what should happen? I mean,

740
00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:23.639
there may be disagreement, but the disagreement should be what

741
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:30.159
should be. But the only way that works is you've

742
00:47:30.159 --> 00:47:33.199
got to get people to do what go put in

743
00:47:33.280 --> 00:47:36.679
the work according to that method and then see where

744
00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:38.599
we are. But I could never get people to do

745
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:40.840
that work. Remember I started making the I started making

746
00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:44.360
statements like, look, don't argue until you go do the work.

747
00:47:44.519 --> 00:47:46.719
That didn't even stop the arguing. I mean, finally, I

748
00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:49.079
think it finally toned it down, but it took a

749
00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:52.800
while because people still wanted to just argue without ever

750
00:47:52.920 --> 00:47:55.119
doing the study. It's like, you've got to go do

751
00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:58.639
the work. If there's an actual method, you can't say

752
00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:03.039
anything until you've run them method. Right, So the historical

753
00:48:03.079 --> 00:48:07.840
grammatical is great, but it hasn't fixed anything. So that

754
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:11.800
was a concept to try to fix to minimize subjectivity,

755
00:48:11.880 --> 00:48:14.880
was the historical grammatical method. Another thing was the idea

756
00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:20.000
of comparing scripture with scripture. Many interpreters use the principle

757
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:22.840
of scripture interpreting scripture, believing that the Bible is a

758
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:26.000
cohesive whole and one passage can clarify another. But guess

759
00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:30.039
what does that fix anything? It doesn't fix anything, because

760
00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:32.400
guess what. When I listened to that sermon this week

761
00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:37.039
on Proverbs thirty, guess what they did. They compared scripture

762
00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:39.920
with scripture. They went Proverbs thirty fourteen. When Psalm fourteen

763
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:42.280
four went Micah chapter three. The next thing, you know,

764
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:44.480
people's heads are being chopped off and we're eating bodies.

765
00:48:44.920 --> 00:48:48.599
What just happened? So, because what can you do? When

766
00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:55.199
you compare scripture with scripture? You can fit the thing

767
00:48:55.239 --> 00:49:00.679
that fits your narrative. Right, So now I like the

768
00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:03.320
concept though, it sounds good, right, we hold through the

769
00:49:03.519 --> 00:49:09.320
historical grammatical method, right, the historical grammatical method. It sounds good, right,

770
00:49:09.440 --> 00:49:14.599
we compare scripture with scripture. Also, hermaeneutical principles were developed.

771
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:20.719
Hermaeneutical principles like contact, genre and author intent can help

772
00:49:20.760 --> 00:49:25.159
bring more objectivity to interpretation. So hermautical principles were developed,

773
00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:28.960
hermaeutical systems were developed. Comparing scripture with scripture was given

774
00:49:29.159 --> 00:49:35.440
hermeneutical principles. Did that fix everything? No? Even with these methods,

775
00:49:36.760 --> 00:49:41.519
interpretations are influenced by the interpreter's cultural background, theological presuppositions,

776
00:49:41.559 --> 00:49:46.920
and personal biases. In the end, complete objectivity, they say

777
00:49:46.960 --> 00:49:51.000
it's difficult to achieve. I'm gonna say complete objectivity is

778
00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:58.719
impossible to achieve. We can never reach true objectivity and

779
00:49:58.760 --> 00:50:03.920
biblical interpretation meaning and some level Biblical interpretation is always

780
00:50:03.920 --> 00:50:15.079
what subjective, that is, that's very, that's very that's not

781
00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:17.079
a good place to be. Can we agree on that

782
00:50:17.519 --> 00:50:20.719
if all Biblical interpretation to some level is subjective, what

783
00:50:21.079 --> 00:50:23.599
does that lead to? Well, then how can we say

784
00:50:23.599 --> 00:50:29.119
something as writer, say something is wrong? And why do

785
00:50:29.239 --> 00:50:31.280
we get so mad when we think that somebody over

786
00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:34.840
there is being too subjective in their interpretation. Well, because

787
00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:39.039
we can be just as guilty of it. So what

788
00:50:39.079 --> 00:50:44.440
does this mean for biblical authority? Now, according to this argument,

789
00:50:44.920 --> 00:50:48.840
despite the subjectivity of interpretation, most Christians would agree that

790
00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:51.519
the Bible itself holds the ultimate authority. Now, I think

791
00:50:51.599 --> 00:50:57.039
Christians agree to that, but it doesn't mean anything. I

792
00:50:57.239 --> 00:50:59.760
think it's just I think it's just a useless, a

793
00:50:59.800 --> 00:51:03.280
youth full a useless thing to say, because it doesn't

794
00:51:03.320 --> 00:51:06.679
really mean anything. However, the issue lies and how that

795
00:51:06.760 --> 00:51:11.320
authority is applied or understood throughout different interpretations. Yeah, of course,

796
00:51:12.639 --> 00:51:15.320
in this sense, while the Bible is the objective authority,

797
00:51:15.480 --> 00:51:19.800
the variety of interpretations create the impression that individual communal

798
00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:23.639
interpretations hold more weight than the text itself. Again, I

799
00:51:23.639 --> 00:51:25.840
don't think it gives a I don't think it gives

800
00:51:25.880 --> 00:51:29.360
the idea that the interpretation holds more weight than the text.

801
00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:34.039
The reality is the interpretation trumps the text. That's the reality.

802
00:51:35.280 --> 00:51:41.199
So what reality have we come to conclude? Bible interpretation

803
00:51:41.440 --> 00:51:51.039
is subjective interpretation trumps the text. That's that's nobody wants

804
00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:54.440
to admit any of that, do they? Nobody wants to

805
00:51:55.800 --> 00:52:00.199
all right? And so how about tradition and traditions such

806
00:52:00.239 --> 00:52:03.639
as Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. Tradition plays a key role

807
00:52:03.639 --> 00:52:06.960
in interpreting scripture, with the belief that the Church provides

808
00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:10.800
the correct understanding of the text, and Protestantism the emphasis

809
00:52:10.800 --> 00:52:14.000
on solo script tora theoretically places the scripture above all

810
00:52:14.039 --> 00:52:21.840
else but in practice, but in practice, interpretations vary widely,

811
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:27.280
and really who becomes the authority the individual? Right? So

812
00:52:28.360 --> 00:52:33.519
uh yeah, well there's more, much more I can say here,

813
00:52:33.519 --> 00:52:35.960
but we're out of time, so we'll have to stop

814
00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:39.519
there for now. That leads us in a very depressed way. Right.

815
00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:43.800
The reality is, it's just been chaos throughout Church history.

816
00:52:44.440 --> 00:52:48.559
The reality is everything's been subjective. And the reality is

817
00:52:48.760 --> 00:52:52.239
when it comes to the Bible, Bible interpretation is subjective,

818
00:52:52.639 --> 00:52:55.519
and the and the end result, the end result of

819
00:52:55.519 --> 00:52:59.800
this subjectivity is that the interpretation trumps the text. So

820
00:52:59.840 --> 00:53:03.639
the final authority lies within the individual. The final authority

821
00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:07.800
a lies within the lies within the interpretation, and the

822
00:53:07.840 --> 00:53:12.639
text is subject is basically has to submit to the

823
00:53:12.639 --> 00:53:15.440
individual and to the interpretation. Even though we would say

824
00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:18.519
that's not the case. Anything we argue is simply a

825
00:53:18.559 --> 00:53:22.440
theoretical concept, because in practical reality, that's just the way

826
00:53:22.440 --> 00:53:24.599
it works, and there's no way to deny it in

827
00:53:24.639 --> 00:53:27.480
any way, shape or form. All right, so we'll stop

828
00:53:27.519 --> 00:53:29.599
there and then see how we want to approach the

829
00:53:29.639 --> 00:53:34.199
next hour. Maybe we can do something of benefit here. Right,

830
00:53:34.239 --> 00:53:37.000
let's pray, Lord God, we come before you this morning. Lord.

831
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:42.440
It's a sad state that we all find ourselves, even

832
00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:45.039
though we may not want to admit it. The reality is, Lord,

833
00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:51.039
we have placed your word underneath us, and there's nothing

834
00:53:51.039 --> 00:53:53.000
we can do but ask for your forgiveness for that

835
00:53:53.320 --> 00:53:54.840
and be willing to admit that. And we asked this

836
00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:59.000
in Jesus name. It got people said,