Katzpur said:
I've heard a lot of people claim that it's dangerous to accept the Bible in a literal sense. While I agree that there are definitely some parts of the Bible that God intended us to recognize as allegorical or figurative, I believe that these are relatively few. If we want to understand what God has told us, we need to stop insisting that He meant something other than what He actually said. I believe that when we interpret the Bible figuratively, the chances of mis-interpreting it are enormous. I believe God wants us to understand Him, and we can't do that if we're constantly second-guessing what He meant when He said something.
I agree one hundred percent. Literal interpretation, following the rules of interpretation, is extremely important for finding out exactly what is meant in a passage. The church exploded with light, once folks were allowed to read and understand the Bible literally. Literal interpretation does not mean there is no recogniton of allegories, parables, or figures of speech in the Scriptures. It means to take each word and passage in its plain, common, normal, literal sense unless the context clearly demands otherwise. William Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into the common language of the people said,: Thou shalt understand, therefore, that the Scripture hath but one sense, which is the literal sense. And that literal sense is the root and ground of all, and the anchor that never faileth, whereunto if thou cleave, thou canst never err or go out of the way. And if thou leave the literal sense, thou canst not but to go out of the way."
There are 2 basic ways of interpreting scripture, one is to draw the meaning From the text itself, the other to read a meaning INTO the text that is foreign to the normal sense of the words, grammar, and context. The first is exegesis, the may be called eisegesis, which is to read into the text an allegorical or mythical meaning different from the natural meaning of the passage. This best describes the method used by Amillinnialists, Postmillennialists, and their recent offspring Dominionists or Reconstructionists. In varying degrees this method is also used by mid-tribulationists, pre- wrath rapture proponents, and post-tribulationists. pre-tribulationists are more along the lines of exegesis.
A cardinal maxim of interpretation is, every passage has one basic meaning but many applications. You must first find the meaning of a passage before applying it, not start with your conclusion and find a Biblical illustration to support it.The most important single principle in determining the true meaning of any doctrine of our faith is that we start with the clear statements of the Scriptures that specifically apply to it, and use those to interpret the parables, allegories, and obscure passageds. This allows Scripture to interpret Scripture. The Reconstructionists in particular frequently reverse this order, seeking to interpret the clear passages by obscure passages, parables, adn allegories.
The second most important principle is to consistently interpret by the literal, grammantical, historical method. This means:
Each word should be interpreted in the light of its normal, ordinary usage that was accepted in the times in which it was written,
Each sentence should be interpreted according to the rules of grammar and syntax normally accepted when the document was written,
Each passage should also be interpreted in the light of its historical and cultural environment.
Most false doctrine and heresy of Church history can be traced to a failure to adhere to these principles. Church history is filled with examples of disasters and wrecked lives wrought by men failing to base their doctrine, faith, and practice upon these two principles.The Reformation, more than anything else was caused by an embracing of the lieral, grammatical, and historical method of interpretation, and a discarding of the allegorical method which veiled the Church's understanding of many vital truths for nearly a thousand years.
Thanks,
Joeboonda
But I've gone down this road before only to have most all of history get dismissed. Let me guess, you only stick to history in the first 100 years?