This is where I’m coming from regarding the Holy Bible: It Is NOT the Problem.
- The Holy Bible is the God-breathed, inerrant Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16) – in its original form.
- It is profitable for teaching us what to believe, what not to believe, how to live our lives, how not to live our lives, and how to live the Good Life (2 Tim. 3:17).
- The first inviolable rule of Biblical interpretation is to let the Bible interpret the Bible.
- It is utterly impossible to accurately interpret the Bible without a basic knowledge of the languages, idioms, cultures, and contexts in which it was written.
- We must have the Holy Spirit’s help to comprehend it.
- If we believe the Bible’s Truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and strive our best to follow its precepts, we will be set for life.
Some people accuse me of tampering with or stretching the Scriptures to suit my view. Well, they’re entitled to that opinion! What I am attempting to do is to tamper with their interpretation of Scripture.
Original Languages Must Be Taken Into Account
Many people have drawn faulty conclusions by ignorance of the Bible’s original languages. For instance, one evening, a dear friend and I were talking about God, the Bible, etc in her car. When I told her that in the Koine Greek (the original language of the New Testament) there is absolutely no translatable equivalent to “homosexual,” her head dropped to the steering wheel, and she said, “That’s the trouble with you seminarians. You cause people to be confused with all that Hebrew and Greek.” (!)
When it comes to ignorance, one person’s bliss can be another person’s spiritual demise.
Idioms Must Be Taken Into Account
Hey, my hetero brothers, did Jesus really call you an adulterer and intend for you to pluck out your eyeball and throw it away when you, even for a split-second, check out a good-looking woman walking by who isn’t your wife or girlfriend? (Cf. Matt. 5:28-29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).
Here’s another classic Bible idiom: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
For the critics reading this site right now, do you think yourself a true disciple of Jesus? No, you are not! You haven’t yet decided to hate your loved-ones.
Now, of course you will say, “That’s not to be taken literally.” Ahh, you are smarter than I thought! So there you have it. In Biblical hyperbolic idiom, to “hate” by comparison means to prefer the other above and beyond it. You already knew that without my telling you. But the minute you insisted this verse not to be taken literally, you did just what you accuse me of doing: You re-interpreted the literal words of Jesus. What gives you the right to do that?
Context Must Be Taken Into Account
Some people have caused great havoc by taking the Bible out of context: Did you hear about the dear man who decided to let his finger be “led by the Spirit” and fall on a couple verses to hear what message God had for him that day? The first verse his finger happened upon was Matthew 27:5, where Judas went away and hanged himself. The second verse his finger fell upon was Luke 10:37, where Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
People do the same thing with Genesis 19 and the story of the destruction of Sodom. Interesting how, being convinced they are always “led by the Spirit,” in their Bible interpretation, their proverbial spiritual fingers never fall on the verse that distinctly states that this was a situation of egregiously violent gang-rape. Instead, they interpolate their prejudice into the narrative by demanding that this story serves to condemn Jesus-loving gay people who love their church family and who love and cherish their life partners. (Click HERE for further expounding on the passage.)
Culture Must Be Taken Into Account
The Apostle Paul tells us that “nature itself” teaches us that it is “a shame” for a man to have long hair. (1 Corinthians 11:14). How can that be? “Nature itself” causes a man’s hair to grow every bit as long as a woman’s! Obviously, Paul’s concept of “nature” was what was culturally “normal” in his day. Therefore, when quoting from the Bible, one should think twice before telling a person, “Your same-sex relationship is ‘against nature.’” (And, brother, if you’re not willing to do this, make sure you keep your hair nice and short!)
So there you have it. The Bible is not the problem when its original languages, idioms, cultures, and contexts are respected!