Recap of "How to Read the Bible" Session 2

On Wednesday October 30, 2019 we met for our second of four sessions to study "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth." This meeting focused on practicing the two fundamental steps for solid interpretation: Exegesis and the Hermeneutics. We applied these steps to the Epistles with specific attention on Colossians.

A written recap of the main points that we discussed is provided below.

We started off with a quick review of main points from last time. Then we turned to the book of Colossians. Our goals were to practice Exegesis and then Hermeneutics so that we can get used to doing the two-step approach to reading books of the Bible recommended by the authors.

Generally, the approach to doing exegesis was the start at a macro level understanding of the text and then begin to drill down into the verse-by-verse details. The main goal of exegesis is to understand the author's original intent of the text.

Four Questions to Answer When Reading an Epistle

The authors recommend reading and reading a given epistle and then, during those read-throughs, answering 4 questions about the text. We answered these questions about Colossians.

1. What Do You Notice About the Recipients Themselves?
2. What is the Author’s Attitude?
3. What is Specifically Mentioned as to the Specific Occasion for the Letter?
4. How is the Letter Organized?
   

Paraphrasing the Epistle

The next step, after answering those 4 questions (one of which should entail writing a general outline of the letter's organization), is to paraphrase the letter. That means reading through paragraphs or a couple sentences at a time and then summarizing the author's main point in your own words. We collectively offered up a condensed summary of Colossians in full in order to then give us a firm understanding of the flow and main points of the letter.

Exercises in Exegesis

Next we did a few exercises in exegesis. I offered some fictional but bad understandings of select verses and then as a group we talked about why those explanations are examples of bad exegesis. Below are the verses and understandings that we discussed. Given the outline of Colossians and the thorough paraphrasing, take a look and see if you can identify and explain why these are examples of bad exegesis.

• Colossians 1:15 says "He is... the firstborn" so Paul is saying that Jesus is a created being and thus a ‘lesser god’.
• Colossians 3:2 says "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" so Paul is telling them to ignore helping their neighbor and instead just pray.
• Colossians 1:24 says "I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions" so Paul is saying that Christ’s atoning sacrifice was not sufficient.

What About Unclear Passages?

We briefly discussed what to do when passages appear unclear and therefore doing exegesis, understanding the original intent, is challenging. An example of this is form 1 Corinthians 15:29 when Paul speaks about baptizing for the dead. What does this mean?

First we need to remember that the Epistles were written for a certain reason which may only make mention of topics that we want clarity on. We'd love to know more about this baptizing for the dead but that wasn't the point of the letter, it's just a side comment. So we need to be humble when interpreting things like this and learn what can be said for certain given a passage in comparison to what is merely possible. For unclear passages the authors recommend eventually going to commentaries to read different perspectives. But since unclear passages are speculative, we can't build too much off of them and certainly shouldn't be dogmatic in our viewpoint on them.

How Do We Do Hermeneutics?

We then turned to the task of hermeneutics - how does this apply to my life here and now? The risk in hermeneutics is that we can contort any verse to mean whatever we want. But we ought to consider two important guidelines or basic rules in hermeneutics to help us be more consistent.

1. A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its author or readers. I.e., A Text Means What It Meant!
2. Whenever we share comparable particulars (i.e., similar specific life situations) with the first-century hearers, God’s word to us is the same as his word to them.

But what doe we do when there's something in the Epistles that really isn't directly comparable to our situation? An example of this would be Paul's warning against participating in a pagan neighbor's feast (1 Corinthians 8). In cases like this we need to find the principle and then appropriately apply the overarching principle.

Regarding the pagan feast in 1 Cor 8 the point Paul is making is for mature believers not to flaunt their freedom in Christ by participating in ungodly activities like pagan feasts because it may be a stumbling block to less-mature Christians who erroneously think they can participate in pagan activity without suffering any harm. The mature believer should be mindful to help protect the immature believer. This is the broader principle we can apply.

Exercises in Hermeneutics

We then went through some examples of bad hermeneutics. As a group we discussed why these are poor applications of the verses, ultimately we determined that the bad hermeneutic is derived from a poor exegesis! 

Here are the examples of poor hermeneutics that we discussed. Take a read through and figure out what's wrong with them.

• Colossians 2:8 says "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy" so that means we shouldn't study philosophy.
• Colossians 2:16 says "let no one pass judgment on you" so that means that we shouldn't judge.
• Colossians 3:18 and 3:22 says "Wives, submit to your husbands...Slaves obey in everything those who are your earthly master" so that means that we ought to disempower women and encourage slavery.
• Remember that God will never give us more than we can handle because 1 Cor 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

The Problem of Cultural Relativity

We closed by listing some questions to ask when facing the problem of cultural relativity in doing hermeneutics - How do we figure out whether or not this thing in the Epistles ought to directly apply to us in the 21st century? Maybe it is just a first-century, culturally relative thing. 

These are the questions the authors recommend that we ask when faced with these problems.

• Is the topic part of central core message of the Bible or a peripheral issue? 
• Is the topic perceived as inherently moral? 
• Does the Bible have a uniform and consistent witness on this topic? 
• Is the point of the topic about a broad principle or specific application? 
• What kind of cultural options were known and available to the author? 
• What are the cultural differences between then and now relative to the topic? 
• In the end, be ready to exercise Christian charity!

Next Week

Our next meeting will be next Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 - 6:30 to 8pm in rooms 13-15 of the education building of Mt. Zion UMC. We will be looking at the gospels, parables, and Acts.

Hope to see you there!