Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Last Sunday, we examined the three most basic principles of Biblical hermeneutics, the five-dollar word for “how to read and interpret the Bible correctly.” We got through Rules 1 and 2 when we ran out of room, so we will look at Rule 3 today. Here are the principles: 1. The Bible is the Word of God; 2. The Word of God is what is actually written in the Bible; 3. What is not written in the Bible is not the Word of God. Biblical criticism -- sermons, books, the Notes you are reading -- are interpretation. They are not the Word of God, but the thoughts of a human being attempting to understand the Word of God. This may seem self-evident, but trust me, not only is it difficult to apply, but rather, it is almost impossible! illuminated Bible | monkey There is an enormous difference between something written by Paul, on the one hand, and something written by C.S. Lewis, or a bishop, or your pastor, on the other hand. Paul’s writing was inspired and has been almost universally accepted, in Christianity, as the actual Word of God. God spoke to us through the pen of Paul. On the other hand, the writings of C.S. Lewis (just as an example), no matter how wonderful and intelligent and full of insight they may be, are not “inspired”. They are the fallible words of a fallible human mind. Many preachers and teachers do not understand the difference; so we must be able to differentiate for ourselves. The simple key to reading religious literature or listening to lectures and sermons is to remember Rule 3: What is not written in the Bible is not the Word of God. A logical conclusion based on Scripture may be helpful, but it is human and therefore fallible, not divine and infallible. Commentators give interpretations of the Bible, and it is critical to see that such interpretations can be wrong. Always. Denominations and churches have a bad habit of adopting human interpretations of Scripture, as if they were spoken by God. Here is an example. Read John 8:1-11 (which is a great Bible story and worth a read just for its own sake). When you have finished reading it, here are two questions for you. Try to answer these before you read the next paragraph, where I will I tell you my thoughts: First, did Jesus forgive the woman for her sin? Second, did the woman repent? Did Christ forgive the woman? The Bible does not say He forgave her; it says He did not condemn her. Does your mind want to infer that He forgave her? Drawing an inference is a natural logical process. But: it is critical (and difficult) to learn to recognize that the inference comes from your mind, not the Bible. Did the woman repent? The Bible does not say or indicate she repented. This would be a secondary inference, as its basis relies on the inference that Christ forgave her. Understanding the Bible is sometimes difficult, but it becomes a lot easier once you are able to make a clear distinction between interpretation and the inspired Word of God.