Protestant System of Hermeneutics Part 3

Interpreting Various Biblical Genres: General Interpretation Rules and Guidelines

The Old Testaments Narratives

1) The Pentateuch – The first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis – Duet)
- Moses was given this revelation and was passed on by Oral Tradition and Revelation combined.

2) The Nature of the Narratives

a. It’s telling a story from their (Moses, Joshua) perspective as led by the Holy Spirit. Moses comes on the scene and tells his own story. He’s giving us what God wants us to know.
b. It’s not necessarily complete history. It’s giving us the important information, that we might get the overall redemptive point. Important to know in the light of archeological studies.
c. Oral Tradition was told in a very poetic manner which made it easy to remember and useful for story telling.

3) Principles for Interpreting the Narratives:
a. Remember their purpose – to tell a story which records from a writer's perspective the specifically important events.
b. Interpret literally unless otherwise noted through figurative or symbolic language.
c. We learn from the Bible characters mistakes and successes.
i. Don't forget that there may be symbolic and typology within the story. Ex. Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac, Moses' lifting up of the bronze snake

ii. Avoid allegory. Don’t put symbolism where it doesn’t belong. We will discuss the rules regarding symbolism and typology latter.


The Prophets

1) The prophets are looking toward Christ (Jer 29:10; 31:30; 33:14) - They were pointing to the coming Christ. There are different levels of interpretation: Current application (historical), Messianic application (fulfilled hundreds even thousands of years later). See book for more detail.

2) We have built within the prophets the history of Israel in relation to Jehovah.

3) Ram says “The prophets are hard to interpret because…”
a. Ambiguity is built in (it’s purposefully written vaguely)
b. Prophecy is found from Genesis to Revelation – Prophetic language IS biblical language.

4) How to interpret the prophets
a. Give careful attention to the language of the prophetic passage. (here, now, then, a time will come, etc….)
b. Determining the historical background of the prophet and prophecy
c. Pay attention to the context and the flow of the discussion of the prophecy (Who’s he talking to?)
d. Pay attention to the “non-systematic” character of prophetic writings.
e. Find out which prophetic scriptures parallel others (the use of the symbolic language)
f. Determine if the prophecy is predictive or didactic, moral/ethical, or theological (i.e. book of Job tells a lot about God’s character).
g. Determine if the prophecy is conditional or unconditional (i.e. If you obey.., or if you don’t obey…, etc.)
h. Determine if prophecy is fulfilled, unfulfilled, or partially fulfilled.
i. If unfulfilled, proceed with caution.
i. Is it expected to be fulfilled?
ii. Are there any historical markers?
iii. There may be multiple fulfillments (Hab 5:1-6)

j. Take a literal view first. Let that be your controlling guide.
k. The New Testament does interpret Old Testament prophecy (Matt 24.)

The Gospels

1) Overall are considered Kerygmatic writings: They are stories with powerful lessons to be learned. It’s a living testimony. This means that they are dynamic (witnessing, preaching, teaching materials).
2) The nature of the gospels. They are written from four different perspectives with four different themes.
- They are testimonies of Christ.

3) The Historical content of the gospels is:
a. Overlapping (similar recorded stories in all)
b. Perspective (a particular man’s perspective, yet influenced by the Holy Spirit)
c. Thematic
d. History is not always complete

4) The Literary content was:
a. written to Gentiles, Jews, Educated, and non-Educated
b. written to a general as well as specific groups of peoples
c. There is style and focus in the Gospels.
d. The time period in which it was written (The first three were written between 50-60 A.D., but John was written as late as 90 A.D.

5) Hermeneutical Observation concerning the Gospels:
a. They are used to major on the majors. The focus is on what Christ did while he was here (specifically his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection)
b. They are to be treated literal unless otherwise noted.
c. They are theologically important
d. The context of the gospels is Redemption
e. Christ did speak in parables, and he used a lot of figures of speech

The New Testament Epistles

1) Letters written for a specific reason, for a specific group, during a specific time

2) Historical placement and cultural background (i.e. the city of Corinth had many evil religious activities [i.e. the temple prostitutes]). I would to share more on this particular subject but time does not allow. If you study the history of the church during this periods, you find much more background for the issues that Paul, Peter, James, and John were addressing.

3) The Epistles are written after the revelation of Christ
- The writers of the Epistles are making commentary on what has already been spoken by Christ, and how the teachings of Christ within Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were being interpreted by the Apostles. Very important. There has been a suggestion that Paul had a different Gospel when in reality Paul was reacting to the teachings of Jesus. The Epistles have tremendous value in that we see the teachings of Jesus applied to the first churches.

The Book of Acts

1) Luke was recording the acts and history (Paul & Peter in particular) of the Apostles as well as the Holy Spirit's movement within the church.
2) It’s the history of the early church
- As with the principle of “first mention”, we see the blueprint of the first New Testament church as specifically laid out in Acts 2:42-47.
3) Interpret the book of Acts unless otherwise specified.

4) It’s historically linked to the Epistles. (The whole ministry of Paul is in the book of Acts)

5) It’s not allegorical at all. It has no allegory, yet it has been used to describe the "seven ages of the church." Interesting huh? Just because it is in the Bible, does not make it prophetic.

6) It’s a historical narrative with a focused purpose.


Apocalyptic Writings

1) These are the most difficult to interpret because they are purposefully given in an ambiguous fashion. We will see God's wisdom when it unfolds.

2) The Book of Revelation and portions of Daniel, Jeremiah and other prophets are where this genre is found.

3) It is wise to approach these writings carefully. They are a sea of symbology, visions, flashbacks, flash-forwards, and just plain "hard to figure out" language. They are most likely not to be taken literally at all.

4) Many have made mistakes by interpreting Revelation to modern times. During the time of the Reformation, the Catholic Church was viewed as the great harlot and Babylon. Given the abuses during the time, they assumed it was the Pope who was the Anti-Christ.

5) Ronald Reagan was supposed to be the Anti-Christ with his name being 666. Books like 88 reasons why Jesus will come in 1988 and it's sequel, 89 reasons why Jesus will come in 1989 (we calculated wrong!). They sold many copies by the way.

6) My personal conviction is that we should get busy preaching the Gospel, warn people of His coming, and don't worry about the details. God will work them out.

Old Testament Law (sorry, out of place)

1) Two Divisions: Ceremonial Law & Moral Law
2) Moral Laws are transferred, assumed, and built into the New Testament teachings.
3) Ceremonial Laws are completed in Christ, although some still have practical and health benefits. Ex. Hand washing, don't drink blood, mold and mildew, skin diseases.
4) The OT Law contains a picture of Christ and His mission to fulfill the Law.
5) Hebrews is our companion book for OT Law. Hebrews will interpret the OT Law for us.


Question:

There is so much in this Module. As you look at the different genre's of the Bible, it becomes clear that you have to be careful how you interpret each. I am most interested in your thoughts on the difference between the OT and the NT. Take the time to outline the major differences between them as it concerns interpretation. Give examples.