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Grasping God's Word: Discovering Meaning and Applying Biblical Truth

This text explores the levels of meaning in biblical interpretation, emphasizing the importance of understanding the author's intention in communication. It addresses the question of whether the Bible has different levels of meaning and discusses the dangers of spiritualizing or allegorizing the text.

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Grasping God's Word: Discovering Meaning and Applying Biblical Truth

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  1. Unit 3 Meaning and Application • Who Controls the Meaning? • Levels of Meaning • The Role of the Holy Spirit • Application

  2. Who Controls the Meaning? • Does the reader or the author control meaning? • The Wizard of Oz • Simple story of good vs. evil (reader) or • Political satire (author) • Reader response – reader as the one who determines the meaning • Authorial intention – stresses the author in the determination of meaning

  3. Central issue — communication • If we view the text as communication between the author and the reader, we should follow the authorial intention approach. • If we don’t care what the author is trying to communicate, we are free to follow the reader response approach.

  4. Should we view these texts as communication? • To ignore the author’s intention in texts that should be viewed as communication can have serious negative consequences for the reader.

  5. Central question—is the Bible merely inspiring literature or is it inspired communication from God? • Since we believe strongly that the Bible is God’s communication of himself and his will to us, we follow the authorial intention approach in Grasping God’s Word. • In biblical interpretation, readers do not create or control the meaning. Rather, we seek to discover the meaning that has been placed there by the author.

  6. With reference to the Bible, the term “author” refers to both the human and divine author. God works through human authors. Author • Definitions • This term refers to what the author intended to communicate when he wrote the text. Meaning will be same for all Christians. Meaning This is the response of the reader to the author’s meaning communicated in the text. Application will vary from Christian to Christian. Application

  7. Meaning Meaning Application • 1 – Grasping the Text in Their Town • What did the text mean to the biblical audience? • 2 – Measuring the Width of the River • What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? • Definitions and the Interpretive Journey • 3 – Crossing the Principlizing Bridge • What is the theological principle in this text? • 4 – Grasping the Text in Our Town • How should individual Christians today apply the theological principle(s) in their lives?

  8. Determining what the author meant • For proper interpretation (communication) to take place, we must determine what the author meant. • How? Context Word Studies Careful observation Translation Literary genre

  9. Levels of Meaning • Introduction • Does the Bible have multiple levels of meaning? • Are there deep “spiritual” meanings hidden in the text of the Bible that are unrelated to the historical-cultural and literary contexts?

  10. Spiritualizing • Looking for deep, secret, “spiritual” meanings apart from what the author communicated in the text. Poses a dichotomy between spiritual and literary. • Since God used literary conventions to communicate to us, the real spiritual meaning of the Bible will be the same as the literary meaning! • Question – will we seek the literary (and truly spiritual) meaning intended by the author or the “meaning” created by our own speculation?

  11. Allegorizing • Allegory – a story that uses an extensive amount of symbolism (e.g., Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress) • Allegorizing (or allegorical interpretation) • Looks for deeper, “spiritual” meaning below the surface of the text • The details of the biblical text stand for many different things (e.g., tent pegs representing Jesus) • Goes far beyond comparison or symbolism • Limited only by the fanciful imagination of the reader

  12. Bible codes • Gematria – letters of the Hebrew alphabet represent numbers and words are analyzed for their numerical value • Equidistant Letter Sequencing (ELS) – uses computers to string together the text of the Bible without spaces and search the string for hidden messages • Consensus of biblical scholarship that ELS is a sham! • Problems with probability (e.g., Moby Dick) • Unaware of variations in the Hebrew text of the OT

  13. Typology • Event or person in the OT that serves as a prophetic pattern or example of a NT event or person. • OT sometimes foreshadows or points to what is fulfilled in the NT. • Example – entire sacrificial system foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Christ • Part of one salvation story where we see a promise (OT) and later see its fulfillment (NT) • General connections made explicit by the NT (and therefore intended by the divine author)

  14. Conclusion • Does the Bible have different levels of meaning? • We do not believe it does. • One level of meaning—the literary meaning (intended by the divine/human author). Includes: • Meaning for the biblical audience (Step 1 of The Journey) and • Theological principle (Step 3 of The Journey)

  15. Avoid the temptation to spiritualize or allegorize. • Don’t be gullible or naïve and fall for ELS. • Affirm OT typology when it is identified in the NT. • Use the Interpretive Journey to help you discover the meaning communicated by the divine/ human author through the text. • By God’s design this meaning is very spiritual.

  16. The Role of the Holy Spirit • Introduction • Playing an instrument means you will one day think less about mechanics and begin to enjoy the wonder and beauty of the musical piece. • The role of the Spirit takes us beyond steps and procedures to the dynamic nature of relationship.

  17. The Spirit as divine author • Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of the human authors of Scripture with the result that they wrote what God wanted to communicate (2 Tim. 3:16). A finished work. Inspiration • Holy Spirit’s work of bringing believers to understand and receive the truth of Scripture. An ongoing work. Illumination

  18. The Spirit and the Word work together and must never be set over against one another. • The Spirit-inspired Word of God stands above personal experience and community tradition. • The Spirit does not add new meaning to the Bible; instead, he helps believers understand and apply the meaning that he inspired in the first place.

  19. Can we grasp God’s Word apart from the Spirit? • “Yes” – cognitive grasp of basic grammatical and historical content • “Yes, but only to a degree” • Sin has had effect on whole person, including the mind • Unbelieving preunderstanding • Understanding the meaning of a text involves more than just taking in information

  20. Cognitive Discerning Dimension Truth Application Holy Spirit’s Role • “No” – grasping involves accepting the message of the Bible in a personal, experiential way “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” – 1 Corinthians 2:14

  21. The Spirit does not make valid interpretations automatic—no “autopilot interpretation.” • The Spirit and the Christian interpreter • The Spirit does expect us to use our minds, proper interpretive methods, and good study helps to interpret the Bible accurately.

  22. The Spirit does not create new meaning or provide new, secret information. • The Spirit does help us grasp the meaning of God’s Word by discerning theological principles and applying them to our lives. • The Spirit does not change the Bible to suit our purposes or to match our circumstances.

  23. The Spirit does bring the meaning of the Bible to bear on our lives. • Convicts us that the Bible is divinely inspired • Impresses on us the full meaning of the Scriptures • Works in our hearts so that we accept its message “The Spirit’s work in interpretation is not to change the sense [the meaning of the text] but to restore us to our senses.” —Kevin Vanhoozer

  24. prayer devotional reading • Focus less on analysis of details and more on a personal, intimate time of listening to the Lord with your heart. • The Spirit often uses and to encourage growth to spiritual maturity.

  25. Conclusion • Methods and procedures are important (no “spiritual” switch we can flip where God does all the interpreting for us) • But there is a real danger of over-intellectualizing what it means to communicate with God. • As you study, pray that the Holy Spirit would work in you so that you can enter into the heavenly conversation.

  26. Application • Introduction • As we cross the principlizing bridge we are ready to apply the meaning of the text in our town. • Grasping God’s Word = understanding + obedience • We cannot apply the Bible without understanding it, but we can know the Bible without applying it.

  27. Knowing how to apply a biblical text g the subject of this chapter. • Actually applying a biblical text g up to you. • God’s goal is our transformation (actual application) • When we come to the point of truly grasping God’s Word, we will find God’s Word grasping us.

  28. Meaning and application • Meaning – what the author intended to communicate when he wrote the text. Meaning will be same for all Christians. • Application – the response of the reader to the author’s meaning communicated in the text. Application will vary from Christian to Christian. • Question – “What does this passage mean and how do I apply this meaning to my life?”

  29. Paul told the Philippians that he had learned to be content in a variety of difficult circumstances through Christ, who gives him strength. Paul is an imprisoned apostle. We are not. Neither are we members of the Philippian church. But we are members of Christ’s body, the church, and we are under the same covenant. In addition, many of us experience difficult situations as we seek to live out our faith. The river is narrow. • How to apply meaning 1 – Grasp the text in their town by summarizing the original situation (historical-cultural context) and the meaning of the text for the biblical audience. • 2 – Measure the width of the river. What are the differences between the biblical situation and our situation?

  30. Believers can learn to be content in a variety of circumstances through Christ, who gives them strength. or Christ will give believers strength to be content in a variety of trying circumstances that come as a result of following him faithfully. 3 – Cross the principlizing bridge. List the theological principle communicated by the text.

  31. Element 1 – A Christian (Paul) Element 2 – A Christian who is experiencing a variety of trying circumstances as a result of following Christ faithfully Element 3 – Christ will give the Christian strength to endure whatever the circumstances Parallel situation = contains all the key elements 4 – Grasping the Text in Our Town. a. Observe how the principles address the situation. Note the key elements present in the intersection. • b. Discover a parallel situation in contemporary life.

  32. Real-world scenarios or contemporized stories • Faithful to the meaning of the text and • Relevant to the contemporary audience • Are all the key elements present in your scenario or story? c. Make your applications specific

  33. Conclusion • God’s Word remains relevant for every generation. • We are learning to study the Bible not just to learn more about God, but to know and love God more. • Grasping God’s Word = understanding + obedience

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