We want to know what the Bible means
for us - legitimately so. But we cannot make it mean anything that pleases us and then give the Holy Spirit "credit" for it. The Holy Spirit cannot be brought into the process to contradict himself, and the Spirit is the one who inspired the original intent. Therefore, the Spirit's help for us will come in our discovering that original intent and in his guiding us as we try faithfully to apply that meaning to our own situations...
On this one thing, however, there must surely be agreement:
A text cannot mean what it never meant. Or to put it in a positive way, the true meaning of the biblical text for us is what God originally intended it to mean when it was spoken. This is the starting point.
Thanks for this quote, Persis. This is on the guys' reading list for the new school year. It's been very hard to whittle the list down, especially for Ink. I'm so glad there's no worry he'll stop reading after he has been graduated. Ha!
ReplyDeleteIf Ink suddenly stops reading, I would suspect that he was kidnapped by aliens and they left a pod in his place. :)
DeleteThis looks good Persis. I've been looking for a new book on this subject - Wonder how it compare's to MacArthur's How To Study The Bible.
ReplyDeleteI just started the it but it looks good so far. The bulk of the book is interpreting the different genres with a chapter per.
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