Bible Question (short): How can we discern meaning of Bible? |
Question (full): If the meaning of the Bible "cannot be discerned through the normal understanding of language, how can it be discerned?" - - - - - - - - - - - - - Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, [5] and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh'? [6] So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." "Compare Gen. 1:27; 2:23-24. Observe in Matt. 19:4-6 Jesus' confirmation of the Genesis narrative of the creation" (New Scofield Reference Bible, Oxford, 1967). - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hank: Your post is excellent. In addition to what you have written, I urge readers to consider the above, as well as the following. Radioman2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Avoid allegorizing the Bible "Avoid spiritualizing or allegorizing the Bible. This is that which gives to the Bible some kind of mystical meaning. In other words, what is on the surface is not the meaning, but what is hidden becomes the meaning. This is very popular. Allegorizing means to say that the historical meaning is not the real meaning, and in fact may be nothing but a fabrication. The historical meaning is not the real meaning, the real meaning is the spiritual meaning hidden beneath the surface. "And once you say that something in the Bible is an allegory, that is, it is only a symbol of the reality, you have just made it impossible to know what that reality is because if that reality cannot be discerned through the normal understanding of language, how can it be discerned?" (from the radio message: "How to Study Your Bible: Interpretation" by John MacArthur on Grace to You broadcast) |