TOPIC: THE PROPER APPROACH TO THE BIBLE


INTRODUCTION

  One’s approach to what one studies has a marked effect on his interpretation. If the Bible were an ordinary book, one would know that its author was a man who is subject to making mistakes, limited in knowledge, and with whom one could choose to agree or to disagree.
However, if one takes the position that the Bible is not an ordinary book, but a book written by men who were divinely inspired by God, then the ultimate author of the Bible is God. If this be the case, then there can be no errors, (in science, history, geography, or spiritual things) no contradictions (when properly interpreted). The author’s (God’s) knowledge is unlimited; and all men, eventually, will be forced to agree with the author (God) and accept the Bible as the inspired word of God. At this point, it would be good to have an overview of some terms which demonstrate that the Bible is not an ordinary book.


THE BIBLE IS A PRODUCT OF DIVINE REVELATION

 This is the revealing of some facts of history, geography, or science (Genesis 1), some prophecies (II kings 7:1) or some spiritual Truth to man by God (1 Cor. 15:51,52).

The following are some examples.

1.  God speaking directly to His servant. (Exodus 3:4) This method was used over 3,800 times in the Old Testament. See Ezekiel 2:1-10

2.  God putting His thoughts directly into His servant’s mind (Gal. 1:12)

3.  God causing His servant to have special dream (Gen. 37:9 and 42:9). See

4.  God giving a prophecy through the mouth of a man. (John 11:49-52) sometimes they are His servants and sometimes not.

5.  God giving His servant vision (Ezekiel 1:1).  See Isa. 1:1; Hos.12:10

  Although most revelations from God have been written down, this is not always true and sometimes they have been directly forbidden by God to be written down (II Cor. 12:4 and Rev. 10:4).

Before proceeding to another subject of proper approach to the Bible, it is necessary to be reminded that there are several and various schools of thought on the subject of Revelation which are not discuss in this article.

THE BIBLE IS A PRODUCT OF DIVINE INSPIRETION

 Inspiration, according to L. Gaussen, is That inexplicable power which the divine Holy Spirit put forth of old on the authors of Holy scripture, in order to put their guidance even in the employment of the words they used, and to preserve them alike from all error and from all omission.

1.  God directed man to write the Bible (Exodus 17:14).

2.  Only the 66 books that make up the Bible are inspired by God.

3.  God allowed each writer to use familiar words of their own, their own minds, and at times their own research, but He directed them in their choice of words, thoughts, and concepts. See Luke 1:1-4

4.  Many scholars are of the opinion that, only the original manuscripts (the one with the author’s original materials and writings) were inspired.

5.  All of the original manuscripts have been lost.  Although this has happened, there are enough copies of the Bible that can compare the copies and obtain, with all probability, the original text.

6.  Most respected scholars believe that the Bible is the verbal inspired word of God.

Before proceeding to another subject of proper approach to the Bible, it is necessary to be reminded that there are several and various schools of thought on the subject of Inspiration which are not discuss in this article.

THE BIBLE IS A PRODOCT OF DIVINE ILLUMINATION

Illumination is God’s divine work through which His Spirit enables mortal man to have the knowledge and understanding of divine truth. Illumination is also connected with the term enlightenment. The root word of enlightenment means, “to bring to light,” “to make man see,” etc. In the context of the proper approach to the Bible, illumination can been defined as “the shedding of light on,” or “the getting of insight” which enables one to have the right understanding of the Bible.

1.  Every believer has this illumination to some extent. Jer. 31:33-34; Heb. 8:10-11; 2 John verse 1-2

2.  The believers who abide in God’s word increase in illumination to a greater degree than those who do not. John 8:31-32

3.  The following are the sources of illumination

A. The Holy Spirit 1 John 2:20,27

B. By diligent study of God’s word with meditation. Prov. 2:3-6; 2 Tim. 2:7 

C.  Asking God in prayers for ourselves and others. Psa. 119:18, 73,125,144; Eph. 1:17-18; Col. 1:9 (Psalm 119:18)

It is instructive to be reminded that there are several and various schools of thought on the subject of illumination which are not discuss in this article.


CONCLUSION

A tenable conclusion to the issue of the proper approach to the Bible should be enumerated as follows

A.             The Bible is a SPIRITUAL BOOK.

1.  The Bible deals with spiritual concepts which are supernatural and CAN NOT be understood by one’s natural senses.

2.  Part of the Bible can be properly understood only by men who have been Born Again and are filled with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14-16).

B.    The Bible is exactly like any other book.

1.                 It is written in human language.

2.                 It is written by human authors

3.                 It follows the laws of language and can be interpreted by the laws of General Hermeneutics exactly like all other books written in human languages.

4. The Bible student should try by all means to get the meaning that the author had in mind when writing and put that meaning to the word, passage subject, etc., when trying to understand or interpret the Bible.

C. Every believer can increase his quantity and quality of illumination.