Not long ago a well-meaning Christian friend cautioned me that I should not take exegesis too far. “It is dangerous,” he said, “and it will make you change your mind about things you already believe.”
I should not have been surprised.
When fundamentalist/traditionalist Christians, whether they be Adventists, Baptists, Catholics, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, etc., are presented with advanced teaching from the Scriptures made possible by the practice of Biblical Exegesis one should not be surprised at their response.
Biblical Exegesis is, admittedly, very discomforting. Any Bible student who has been made to face the facts revealed by full, fair and honest exegesis can tell you all about the mental anguish they've experienced.
To do the job well exegesis is quite complicated and time consuming. It also reveals to us what we don't know as well as some things we don't know we don't know. This often brings us to the uncomfortable conclusion that what we thought we knew we don't really know. And many things we thought we knew for certain are quite mistaken.
It is true that God never changes. It is also true that God's law never changes. God and his laws are immutable, unchangeable. But we've seen enough development in the scientific world over the past several hundred years to realize that our understanding of reality has often had to be updated.
Reality, in general, doesn't change. For sure there are dynamics seen in reality that cause change to be seen. But in general, the laws of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and the like, have not changed. Only our understanding and application of them have changed as man has progressed through the centuries. They are still based upon the law of God our Creator.
For many years the church taught that the earth was the center of the solar system. Then, one day, Galileo, a faithful church member of the 16 th century, discovered that the earth was not the center of the solar system as the church taught. He presented his discovery as a fact, much to the embarrassment of the church. The church subsequently excommunicated him as a heretic. Some 400 years later, Pope John Paul II worked to have Galileo reinstated. After all, everyone knows now that the sun is the center of the solar system.
Theology is no different than science in this respect. We ask questions about God, who He is and how we are to relate to Him. Then we continue to study about this infinite, personal God and discover some new things.
Now, a question: Does God hold us accountable for the theological errors of the past?
Paul has something to say about this in Acts 17:30-31. Speaking to the men of Athens on Mars' Hill he said, “… While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
A more pertinent question now would be: Does God hold us accountable for the theological errors of the present, especially in the light of our exponentially increased knowledge?
Paul's word to the Athenians was that they had more to learn about God and that because judgment had been set all people everywhere are obligated to correct their ignorance.
Yes, we are responsible.
Or how about this from the book of wisdom …
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12
Yes, while it is true that good theology alone will not get one to heaven, it is also true that bad theology can get you into a lot of trouble.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian denominations? Why is the Christian church so divided? Or, perhaps, how did David Koresh go so far wrong? What theological mistakes led to the division among the Seventh-day Adventists when so many followed Desmond Ford out of the denomination, many to abandon their Christian faith altogether?
I believe the answer can be found in the subjective way scripture is interpreted. Paul told Timothy to: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15. The NRSV says, “… a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”
As you will remember, Peter warns against personal interpretations of Scripture, reminding us that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:20, 21
In these two verses we find the challenge to understand God's word properly as well as the key to interpretation.
The challenge is not difficult to understand. We have and sense a need to know something truly. But for most of us it is easier said than done. True Bible study is hard work. If one does not wish to be ashamed of his craft, whatever it is, he must put forth intelligently focused energy, determination, and labor. It does not come easily.
Also, of course, for the Christian, there is the responsibility of telling others the truth about Christ. Being able to teach requires an intimate and deep knowledge of the subject being taught. This, of course, requires deep study and a willingness to learn.
But here is the key. We can try to interpret scriptures according to our own experience. Peter calls it “private interpretation.” Or we can seek the meaning the author intended as found within the context of its writing. This context includes who these holy men of God were, where and when they lived, with whom and how? Why would the Holy Spirit prompt them to say and write such things?
These are completely opposite points of view in Biblical interpretation. The first is subjective , saying, “What does the Bible mean to me?” This is called “Eisegesis”. The other is objective, asking, “What did these words mean when they were written or spoken? How were they understood in the days of Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul and John? When, for example, the people of the church of Ephesus received their copy of the book of Revelation did they understand what they were reading? How did they understand it? How is their understanding different from our understanding? Why?
The area of study on how we study and interpret the Bible is called “hermeneutics.” The subjective side is called “homiletics.” The second, objective side is called “exegesis.”
Homiletics is homey, easier, more settled, generally a softer and less stressful way of looking at the Bible. Here we are only required relate personally to the current meaning of the words. The temptation here is to seek only warm, fuzzy, inspired feelings. In homiletics we interpret scripture according to our own experience. What we receive from such study is that which is self-assuring and generally supports what we already believe. There is nothing wrong with seeking encouragement and strength through this homey, comfortable, easier way. And there are many truths of scripture that may be easily understood and applied by a simple reading. But pure homiletics can make us lazy and self-centered and self-dependent. It limits how much of the Bible we use and understand. It depends wholly on how I am feeling today. At its extreme it is purely subjective and at its worst it divides the church.
On the other hand, exegesis is more demanding. It is exigent. It means digging deep into the past to exhume, to extricate, to extrapolate, to pull out the meanings that have been buried for centuries. It is objective because it demands to know what was in the author's mind when he wrote. It is hard work. It is digging for buried treasure. It is time consuming seeking an objective view of reality and it requires, among other things, the ability to use specialized tools. At its best exegetical Bible study can be instrumental in drawing the church together.
The caveat here is that when exegesis becomes a purely scholarly and secular exercise its findings are often used as an excuse to abandon faith in God. But the problem is not with the process and rules of exegesis itself but with the scholar's approach to biblical exegesis. Is the scholar seeking truth that strengthens and directs his faith in God or is he looking for a way to leave God entirely out of the picture? And that is altogether another subject.
Subjective and objective are opposites and we can bring these opposites together. “Self” is subjective and seeks personal meaning. Yet self must relate to that which is “not-self”, wishing to know it in truth or objectively. In the case of Bible study the need for personal application can be accurately satisfied within the framework of objective truth by well-founded “analogy.” And we can like ourselves for understanding and relating truthfully, honestly, and fairly with another part of the world around us.
There is an area of Bible study that looks, in some ways, like exegesis. It is called “Inductive” Bible study and is often passed off as being exegesis. But, in reality, it is not. Inductive Bible study limits the scope of study to that which can be found inside the Bible. Exegesis looks outside the Bible as well, seeking understanding from other parts of reality that affected its writing. We will look at this more later.
There are those who say they don't need the help of any human in understanding the Bible. They say they have the help of the Holy Spirit and that this is quite enough. After all, it was the Holy Spirit who gave us the Bible in the first place through His chosen human instruments: prophets, poets and historians who spoke on His behalf. And Jesus himself promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth.
But beware! Many people have claimed to be moved by the Holy Spirit in leading their followers. I don't doubt but what the followers of David Koresh were “sincere”. But they were sincerely wrong, sincerely misled by a selfish, evil spirit and are now sincerely dead. The doctrines of David Koresh that had no basis in sound biblical exegesis were based purely upon his own subjective view of scripture. And as they were, so they also were subject to his selfish human nature and personal ambition. Such is pure subjectivity.
We note that in Revelation, a blessing is promised to those who seek understanding. Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.”
But 1 Corinthians 2:14 tell us that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. And so Holy Spirit wisdom must be applied, mindful of the fact that there are other fallen, rebellious, evil spirits whose task it is to stoke the selfish intents of human hearts by all means, including the misinterpretation of Scripture and the clinging to traditions in spite of the evidence available.
And so, today the Christian world has its Adventists, Baptists, Catholics, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalians, Friends, etc. Each group has something good to offer the world, yet none of them fully understands. Each one of them has its distinctive doctrine or system that attracts or repels people on a subjective basis. Yet none of them is fully founded upon solid, objective exegesis. (I am not saying that none of them does any exegesis. I am saying that none of them does enough exegesis.)
Unfortunately, there is a great deal of tradition that colors our theology. We must be willing to sacrifice tradition for the sake of objective truth. There is a great deal of “precious” but mistaken theology that must also be put upon the altar.
Again, Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth … and that, of course, includes theological truth. All the other truths make better sense given a proper theological background.
But John, the evangelist, warned us to not believe every spirit. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And Jesus warned His disciples to beware false prophets in the last days (Matthew 24:24).
There are numerous examples of people in the Old Testament and New who listened to lying spirits.
In First Kings 12 and 13, for example, we find the story of a prophet who was sent to Jeroboam to condemn the king's idolatry. In chapter 13 verses 8 and 9, responding to the king's invitation to dinner, the man of God explains that he has been explicitly instructed to not eat or drink until he had returned home. Neither was he to return by the same path. On the way home he is greeted by another man who claims to be a prophet also and invites him home to dinner. Again, the man of God explains that he is not to eat until he returns home. But he is told that God has had a change of plans and that he is indeed to eat.
The man of God fell prey to the temptation, did not trust in the revelation already given him, did not test the words of the tempter and after eating was killed by a lion.
Test the spirits, John warns. There are false prophets by whom God will test you.
Consider the story of Ahab (2 Chronicles 18) who was campaigning with Jehoshaphat in a battle that was to return territory to Israel. Ahab's prophets, led by evil spirits sold a plan of destruction to their king. One lone voice spoke out in a warning from Yahweh. It was Miciah who saw reality in a way that Ahab and his blind, deceived prophets could not. Selflessly, fearlessly, Miciah spoke the warning and was shipped off to prison. Ahab, following blind ambition went to battle and to his death.
Prophets had spoken before and Miciah's words were no different in tone than those of the faithful prophets of God who were before him. Evil spirits had moved before as well and their prophets' words followed the same course as their predecessors'. The choice was clear. Follow Yahweh's prophets who were always honest and truthful, or follow the prophets of Baal and the other Canaanite deities whose words always led to doom.
Test the spirits … by objective truths found in the word of God … by the prophetic word that has gone on before and bears witness to the everlasting, self-sacrificing, love of God in words of judgment, warning and guidance. When the Holy Spirit speaks, Jesus said (John 16:8), He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.
God indeed spoke to holy men and pure exegesis means understanding the words from their viewpoint only … never our own.
There are many questions we can ask of a passage. All are based on these … who, what, where, when, why and how? Please note again that it is unsafe to assume that we already know the right answers because they agree with tradition.
Here are a few example questions.
• Who wrote the passage? Who is its author?
• When was the passage written?
• To whom was the passage written?
• What was the language in which the passage was written?
• Where did the author live?
• What was the author's occupation?
• What was the political situation of the day?
• In what religious environment was the passage written?
• In what literary form was the passage written? Poetry? Prose?
• How did the recipient of the writing receive it?
These are some of the more simple questions we can ask.
In order to do a complete and accurate exegesis the process gets more complex. Here are ten more factors involved in “rightly dividing the word of truth”.
• To find out what the text actually says in the first place one must study the original language.
• There are many manuscripts from which the text was compiled and translated. Find out if there are variants or corruptions of the texts in these various manuscripts.
• If so, find out if the original text can be recovered by applying the rules of textual criticism.
• There may be technical terms and phrases in the text. These held specific meanings. These words may have a range of meaning, a “semantic range”. Find out which meaning applies.
• There may be unusual, unique or seldom-seen words in the text. What can we learn about these words from cognate or parallel languages?
• Find out where the passage begins and ends. Define the limits of the text.
• The passage is part of a larger body. How does the passage under study fit into the overall theological context?
• What is the literary background of the passage? Is there other literature from the ancient near east that helps us understand how the subject was viewed?
• What of the historical background? How is the passage relevant to its time in which it was written?
• What can we know about the background of the passage as relates to cultural and religious ritual?
Of course, this list of questions is not exhaustive. Many more questions could be asked. And these are the kinds of questions asked by scholars who make understanding of the Bible their life work. Most of us are not equipped to find the answers to such questions on our own. So we must seek help from those who have gone before us.
Many of the answers can be found in the Bible itself. Others must be found in archaeology and other written history. For the first time in the history of the world we can understand Biblical passages that could not have been understood a hundred years ago. Since the first tel was excavated at Ugarit in 1928/29 (see http://www.theology.edu/ugarit.htm for a short history) thousands of artifacts and ancient documents have been unearthed throughout the Middle East. And what they have revealed has helped the scholar understand things about the Bible that could not have been understood before.
Should we think it strange to have these gifts of exegesis and of archaeology in the last days? I think not. Did not the angel tell the prophet Daniel that knowledge would be increased in the last days? And if God has opened up the scriptures to us in the last days as did Jesus on the road to Emmaus should not we receive the new light with joy?
Nineteenth-century Adventist author Ellen White had the following counsel for the church…
“Through His Holy Spirit the Lord is seeking to teach men humility. Those who are privileged to hear truth need to listen with receptive minds, appreciating the precious words spoken. Those who are trusted with the presentation of the sacred oracles need to feel the necessity of being taught by the great Teacher. They must remember that instruction is often sent through their fellow-laborers and through laymen whom the Lord has set apart to teach the truth.” (Sign of the Times, September 12, 1899)
And …
“In the Scriptures thousands of gems of truth lie hidden from the surface seeker. The mine of truth is never exhausted. The more you search the Scriptures with humble hearts, the greater will be your interest, and the more you will feel like exclaiming with Paul: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Every day you should learn something new from the Scriptures. Search them as for hid treasures, for they contain the words of eternal life. Pray for wisdom and understanding to comprehend these holy writings. If you would do this you would find new glories in the word of God; you would feel that you had received new and precious light on subjects connected with the truth, and the Scriptures would be constantly receiving a new value in your estimation.” (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, Page 266)
And there's more …
“In the parable, the field containing the treasure represents the Holy Scriptures. And the Gospel is the treasure. The man who bought the field searched every part of it to find the treasure he had secured. So we are to take the Word of God and search its pages, that we may find the treasures of truth. It is the Holy Spirit's office to direct and reward this labor. The searcher finds lodes of precious ore, and he sinks the shaft still deeper for still more valuable treasure. The gold fields of earth are not more closely interlaced with veins of precious ore than are the fields of revelation with veins of truth that bring to view the unsearchable riches of God.
“Many are too well satisfied with the surface truths of revelation. Precious gems are passed by because their value is not seen. Let the Bible student put his mind to the tax as he studies God's Word; for the meaning often lies hidden beneath the surface. The knowledge thus gained will be like heavenly seed planted by the divine Sower.” (Signs of the Times, September 9, 1906)
And again …
“Do you ask, What shall I do to be saved? You must lay your preconceived opinions, your hereditary and cultivated ideas, at the door of investigation. If you search the Scriptures to vindicate your own opinions, you will never reach the truth. Search in order to learn what the Lord says. If conviction comes as you search, if you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the truth, do not misinterpret the truth in order to suit your own belief, but accept the light given. Open mind and heart that you may behold wondrous things out of God's word.” (Christ's Object Lessons, Page 112)
And one more …
“… Advanced light is shining upon us in these last days. We cannot be accepted of God; we cannot honor him by rendering the same service, doing the same work that our fathers did. In order to be accounted guiltless before God, we must be as faithful in our time in following and obeying our light, as they were faithful in following and obeying the light that shone upon them. Of every individual member of his church, our heavenly Father requires faith and fruits according to the grace and light given. God cannot accept less. Every soul should place himself where the light will shine upon him. He should treasure every ray, that he may brighten and bless the souls of others with the heaven-sent radiance.” (Review and Herald, April 25, 1893)
And there is much more of such counsel.
I firmly believe that Sister White would be on the front lines encouraging not only Adventists but all Christian scholars to learn all they can today as she did a hundred years ago. And today we have even less excuse for not understanding the Bible. For God has given us the gifts of archaeology and history and with these He has given us the tools to do exegesis. And I believe that exegesis directed by the Holy Spirit is the process that God has given us by which we might indeed treat all scripture with the objective fairness it deserves as the Word of God.
No, my friend, we can never dig too deep.
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Our thanks to our mentor John W.McCall, the written works of Abraham Heschel, Eli Siegel, Francis Schaeffer and others for making this truth clear to us.