I’ve taken a short break from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology to teach a short series on hermeneutics. I know that hermeneutics is a big word, and it is a somewhat technical study, however I am convinced that almost all bad theology starts with a skewed, or bad hermeneutical methodology.
I love St. Augustine. His book “On Christian Doctrine” had a very big influence on me while I was preparing for ministry. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it. In his preface lays out three types of people who might object to him writing a book on “the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning of scripture, and the mode of making known that meaning.”
Here are the three objections:
1. Those who fail to understand the rules laid down.
2. Those who fail to ascertain the meaning after understanding the rules laid down.
3. Those who have ascertained the meaning of scripture without aid from the rules laid down.
What I love about St. Augustine is that even though his book was written almost 1600 years ago, it has such real application to the 21st century! For I have heard these very objections to learning good rules to help us mine the endless depths of God’s Word.
Just like the first objection, many Christians put no effort to properly find the meaning of a text. In the post-modern air that we breathe, this is not uncommon. I fear many Christians don’t really believe there is objective meaning form a text, and therefore do not apply themselves to find the objective meaning. They go through their Christian life, bouncing from one devotional to another, finding joy in the devotionals that take either the least amount of time and effort, or the devotionals that spoon-feed their anemic soul.
I have also known Christians who live like the second objection. If I am not careful, I can often land here too. These are the Christians who like everything in scripture to be logical. They know the rules of interpretation very well. Yet, so often can miss the very meaning they are trying to get to. They can parse sentences very well, but forget that the very sentence they are parsing is the Word of God.
Finally, some Christians, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have seen the meaning of scripture, and feel that there is no logic involved. They often quote that there is no need for working hard to find the meaning of text, just pray and God will reveal it to you. Scripture can often become a “wax nose” with this understanding of interpreting scripture. For how do you know if it is the Spirit, or your own selfish evil heart that is giving the meaning to the text?
St. Augustine answers these objections beautifully.
“To reply briefly to all these. To those who do not understand what is here set down, my answer is, that I am not to be blamed for their want of understanding. It is just as if they were anxious to see the new or the old moon, or some very obscure star, and I should point it out with my finger: if they had not sight enough to see even my finger, they would surely have no right to fly into a passion with me on that account. As for those who, even though they know and understand mydirections, fail to penetrate the meaning of obscure passages in Scripture, they may stand for those who, in the case I have imagined, are just able to see my finger, but cannot see the stars at which it is pointed. And so both these classes had better give up blaming me, and pray instead that God would grant them the sight of their eyes. For though I can move my finger to point out an object, it is out of my power to open men's eyes that they may see either the fact that I am pointing, or the object at which I point.
But now as to those who talk vauntingly of divine Grace, and boast that they understand and can explain Scripture without the aid of such directions as those I now propose to lay down, and who think, therefore, that what I have undertaken to write is entirely superfluous. I would such persons could calm themselves so far as to remember that, however justly they may rejoice in God's great gift, yet it was from human teachers they themselves learnt to read..."
God has blessed us with the ability to communicate. He has also blessed us with the means to grow in understanding communication. This includes learning how to read, how to find the meaning in a text, and how to apply that meaning to our lives so that we would see Christ more clearly, causing our affections to deepen for him and his glory! Every Christian should dig deep into God's Word to learn more and more about Christ.
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