Knowing Scripture E-Book

R. C. Sproul

• Herausgeber: IVP
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 218

Beschreibung

The Bible is the written Word of God, and it is treasured by many. But it is also an ancient book about people and cultures very different than us. Thus, while we know we should read it, many of us have a hard time understanding the Bible. In this expanded edition of Knowing Scripture, R. C. Sproul helps us dig out the meaning of Scripture for ourselves. The author says, "The theme of this book is not how to read the Bible but how to study the Bible." He presents in simple, basic terms a commonsense approach to studying Scripture and gives eleven practical guidelines for biblical interpretation and applying what we learn. With a minimum of technical jargon, Sproul tackles some of the knotty questions regarding differences of interpreting the Bible, including - discovering the meanings of biblical words - understanding Hebrew poetry, proverbs and parables - approaching historical and didactic passages - being careful with predictive prophecy - discerning how culture conditions the Bible - choosing and using Bible translations, commentaries, Bible software and other helpsNow with a new preface, Knowing Scripture is a basic book for both beginning Bible readers and experienced students of Scripture.

Leseprobe

Expanded Edition

KNOWING

SCRIPTURE

R. C. SPROUL

Foreword by J. I. PACKER

To my father,

Robert C. Sproul Jr.

a layman who loved the Book

Contents

Foreword by J. I. Packer

Preface to the Expanded Edition

Preface to the Original Edition

1: Why Study the Bible?

2: Personal Bible Study and Private Interpretation

3: Hermeneutics: The Science of Interpretation

4: Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation

5: Culture and the Bible

6: Practical Tools for Bible Study

Notes

Glossary

About the Author

More Titles from InterVarsity Press

Copyright

Foreword

If I were the devil (please, no comment), one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. Knowing that it is the Word of God, teaching people to know and love and serve the God of the Word, I should do all I could to sur­round it with the spiritual equivalent of pits, thorn hedges and traps, to frighten people off. With smug conceit, no doubt, as if receiving a compliment, I should acknowledge that wise old Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) had me absolutely pegged when he wrote:

The devil never would attempt to beget in persons a regard to that divine word which God has given to be the great and standing rule. . . . Would the spirit of error, in order to deceive men, beget in them a high opinion of the infallible rule, and incline them to think much of it, and be very conversant with it? . . . The devil has ever shown a mor­tal spite and hatred towards that holy book the Bible: he has done all in his power to extinguish that light. . . . He is en­gaged against the Bible, and hates every word in it.

I should labor every day to prove Edwards’s words true.

How? Well, I should try to distract all clergy from preach­ing and teaching the Bible, and spread the feeling that to study this ancient book directly is a burdensome extra that modern Christians can forgo without loss. I should broadcast doubts about the truth and relevance and good sense and straightforwardness of the Bible, and if any still insisted on reading it I should lure them into assuming that the benefit of the practice lies in the noble and tranquil feelings evoked by it rather than in noting what Scripture actually says. At all costs I should want to keep them from using their minds in a disciplined way to get the measure of its message.

Were I the devil, taking stock today, I think I might be pleased at the progress I had made. But I should be very far from pleased to see this book by my friend—sorry, J. I. Packer’s friend—“R. C.”

For more than a century, Protestant theology has been in conflict about the Bible. The first storm center was inspira­tion and its corollary, inerrancy. Eighty years ago, the debate shifted to revelation, the method and content of God’s com­munication through allegedly fallible Scriptures. Interpretation is now the central interest, and the subjectivism which yesterday concluded that the Bible is neither true nor trustworthy today interprets it on the basis that its message to us is neither consistent nor clear. The results of so doing are often muddled and messy. Against this background, Dr. Sproul’s vigorous layman’s introduction to the interpretive task is more than welcome.

What are its special qualities? Clarity, common sense, mastery of material and a bubbling enthusiasm which turns the author from a good communicator into a superb one. The Bible excites him and his excitement is infectious. O taste and see! Sproul on Bible study will make you want to study the Bible, as well as equipping you to do so: and what greater virtue could such a book have than that? There are technical problems in hermeneutics that lie beyond its scope, but the basics are here, with a most salutary stress on the objectivity (the “there-ness”) of God’s instruction in the Scriptures and on the rationality of the method of deciphering and applying it. It is a pleasure and a privilege to commend to the Chris­tian public a book calculated to do so much good.

J. I. Packer

Preface to the Expanded Edition

R. C. Sproul

The Christian faith has enormous content. Our faith in Christ is not based on speculation but finds its foundation in the truth of what God himself reveals in sacred Scripture. When we talk about being “saved by faith,” we’re talking about faith that is grounded in information, in content, in truth. We’re talking about faith in the reality of the person and work of Christ, faith in the God whose character we know from the Bible, faith based on the actual history of God’s redeeming his people from Adam to the present day.

Because our faith depends on specific content—the content of Scripture—it’s vitally important that the Christian be immersed in the study of sacred Scripture. Notice that I use the word study. Reading the Bible is important, but we must do more than read it. We must study it. We must make a concerted effort to understand what we’re reading. For if our faith is grounded in the content of Scripture, we must understand the meaning of its content—its teaching—if we are going to have an informed faith in what God has actually said. We’re saved by Jesus, but not by just any Jesus. It’s not the Muslim Jesus or the Mormon Jesus. It’s the biblical Jesus. And we can’t know or trust in the biblical Jesus if we don’t understand what Scripture says about him, from Genesis to Revelation.

Martin Luther said that every Christian ought to read the Bible from cover to cover every year. But, likening the Bible to a forest, he also said that reading the Bible doesn’t become really enjoyable until you see not only the forest but examine each tree, each branch, and, finally, each leaf. Every little leaf of sacred Scripture must be turned over and studied in order to see the intricate truths that are revealed in God’s Word. To study the Bible is to look at every branch and leaf of Scripture so that we can find those intricate truths and know how they relate to one another. And just as there is a science to studying plants so that we can draw the correct conclusions (botany), there’s a science to studying the Bible so that we can make the right deductions from God’s revelation. It’s called hermeneutics, and it’s what this little book that you’re holding in your hands is all about.

I was converted to Christ during my freshman year in college, and from the very first day I trusted in Jesus I read the Bible. In only a few weeks’ time, I read the Bible from cover to cover. I had never read it before, but when I was converted and I started reading the Bible, I was absolutely astonished to discover the nature and character of God. I remember walking in the freshman boys’ dormitory at three o’clock in the morning, pacing like a caged lion in those hallways, and realizing from my reading of Scripture that the God of the Bible is a God who plays for keeps. If I was going to follow him, to be devoted to him, to worship him, I would have to take seriously that he could, just like that, take my life because of a transgression, like he killed Uzzah (2 Sam 6:5–15) and swallowed up Korah (Num 16).

What came across to me in my reading was the otherness of God, the holiness of God, the difference between who God is and who I am. And I grew in my initial conviction that led to my conversion, the conviction that I am a sinner and unworthy of the love and tender mercy of God. So I kept reading the history of radical rebellion against God that is described in Scripture, a history of which we are all a part, and I kept seeing not only his power and strength but also his tender mercy and his grace toward unworthy creatures. I realized that if I was going to follow him, I would have to follow all that he is, and all that he reveals of himself.

Over time, I not only learned about God but I learned the proper rules for reading his Word so that I could understand correctly who this God is, what he demands, and what he has done for sinners. Learning how to read Scripture, I dare say, was as important as reading the Bible itself. My reading of sacred Scripture from cover to cover and growth in understanding of how to read the Bible correctly—how to apply the proper rules of hermeneutics to Scripture—is what has defined my theology and my entire career of teaching and preaching the Word of God.

Four decades ago, I wrote this book, Knowing Scripture, because I wanted to help people know how to read the Bible so that they would be impacted by the same truths that changed my life and set the course for my life and ministry. I wanted them to understand how to read the Scriptures properly so that they could apply God’s truth to their lives and see the central theme of the kingdom of God that ties the Bible together. I wanted them to see all those tiny, intricate details in Scripture that show us how God fulfills every aspect of every promise that he’s ever given. I wanted them to be able to identify and interpret every vein of every leaf of Scripture so that they would grow stronger in the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people have told me over the years that this book has helped them do just that. By God’s grace, I pray that it would assist you as well.

Preface to the Original Edition

R. C. Sproul

Recent years have seen a renewal of interest in the Scriptures. Since neo-orthodox theology called the church back to a serious study of the content of the Bible, there has been more concern in the life of the church for understanding and applying its message to our generation. Along with this new interest, however, has come confusion; there has been little agreement among Christian scholars concerning the rudimentary principles of biblical interpretation. This con­fusion in the scholarly world has made an impact on the life of the whole church.

Our day seems to be the age of “lay renewal.” Much of this renewal is associated with home Bible studies and small group fellowships. Many people now gather to discuss, de­bate and comment on the Scripture for themselves. Often they find themselves disagreeing about what the Bible means or how it should be applied. This has had unfortunate consequences.

For many, the Bible remains an enigma capable of vastly different interpretations. Some have even despaired of their own ability to make sense of it. To others the Bible has a nose of wax capable of being shaped into con­formity with the vested interests of the reader. Too often the conclusion seems to be, “You can quote the Bible to prove anything.”

Is there any way out of this confusion? Can serious readers find any principles to guide them through the conflicting viewpoints they hear from all sides? These are some of the questions that this book is designed to deal with.

Although many of the issues have a scholarly dimension, I have not been motivated by a desire to enter the academic debate concerning the science of hermeneutics. Rather my prime motivation is to offer basic, “common sense” guide­lines to help serious readers study sacred Scripture profit­ably. In line with the Bible’s own view of itself, the book seeks to emphasize the divine origin and authority of Scrip­ture. Because of this, I have attempted to provide rules of interpretation that will serve as a check and balance for our all-too-common tendency to interpret the Bible according to our own prejudices. The book closes with a survey of various tools that are available to help either beginners or more ad­vanced students of the Bible. Above all, I would like this to be a practical book that will give assistance to lay people. Indeed, I have a fond hope that Christians will continue their study of the Scripture and continue the contributions they are making in the church. May this book be an encouragement to persevere with joy as well as understanding.

I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of people who assisted me in this project, among them Prof. David Wells, whose ad­vice has been invaluable in correcting the manuscript.

1

Why Study the Bible?

Why study the Bible? It may seem odd and foolish to raise this question since you probably would not be reading this book unless you were already convinced that Bible study is necessary. Our best intentions, however, are often weak­ened by our moods and caprice. Bible study often falls by the way. So, before we examine the practical guidelines for Bible study, let’s review some of the compelling reasons for studying the Bible at all.

Two Myths

First, we will look at some of the reasons people give for not studying the Bible. These “reasons” often contain myths that are passed off as truisms through much repetition. The myth that claims first place in our hall of excuses is the idea that the Bible is too difficult for the ordinary person to understand.

Myth 1—The Bible is so difficult to understand that only highly skilled theologians with technical training can deal with the Scriptures. This myth has been repeated many times by sincere people: “I know I can’t study the Bible, because every time I try to read it, I can’t understand it.” When some people say this, they may want to hear, “That’s all right. I understand. It’s really a difficult book, and unless you’ve had seminary training, maybe you shouldn’t try to tackle it.” Or perhaps they want to hear, “I know, it’s too heavy, too deep, too profound. I commend you for your tireless efforts, your strenuous labors in trying to solve the mystifying riddle of God’s Word. It is sad that God has chosen to speak to us in such obscure and esoteric language that only scholars can grasp it.” This, I am afraid, is what many of us want to hear. We feel guilty and want to quiet our consciences for neglect­ing our duty as Christians.

When we express this myth, we do it with astonishing ease. The myth is so often repeated that we do not expect it to be challenged. Yet we know that as mature, educated adults we can understand the basic message of the Bible. Indeed, the scholars who drafted and signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) affirm “that a person is not dependent for understanding of Scripture on the expertise of biblical scholars.”

If we can read the newspaper or blogs, we can read the Bible. In fact, I would venture to guess that more difficult words and concepts are expressed on the front page of a newspaper than on most pages of the Bible.

Myth 2—The Bible is boring. If we press people for an explanation for what they mean when they express the first myth, usually they respond by saying, “Well, I guess I can understand it, but frankly the book bores me to death.” This statement reflects not so much an inability to understand what is read as a taste and pref­erence for what we find interesting and exciting.

The preponderance of boredom that people experience with the Bible came home to me when I was hired to teach the Scriptures in required Bible courses at a Christian college. The president of the institution phoned me and said, “We need someone young and exciting, some­one with a dynamic method who will be able to ‘make the Bible come alive.’ ” While I knew what the president was getting at, I nevertheless wanted to say, “You want me to make the Bible come alive? I didn’t know that it had died. In fact, I never even heard that it was ill. Who was the attending physician at the Bible’s demise?” No, I can’t make the Bible come alive for anyone. The Bible is already alive. It makes me come alive.

When people say the Bible is dull, it makes me wonder why. Biblical characters are full of life. There is a unique quality of passion about them. Their lives reveal drama, pathos, lust, crime, devotion and every conceivable aspect of human existence. There is rebuke, remorse, contrition, con­solation, practical wisdom, philosophical reflection and, most of all, truth. Perhaps the dullness some experience is due to the antiquity and cultural distance of the material. How does the life of Abraham or of Timothy—lived so long ago and so far away—relate to us? But the characters of biblical history are real. Though their life settings are different from ours, their struggles and concerns are very much like ours.

The Clarity of Scripture

In the sixteenth century the Reformers declared their total confidence in what they called the perspicuity of Scripture. What they meant by that technical term was the clarity of Scripture. They maintained that the Bible is basically clear and lucid. It is simple enough for any literate person to understand its basic message. This is not to say that all parts of the Bible are equally clear or that there are no difficult passages or sections to be found in it. Laypeople unskilled in the ancient languages and the fine points of exegesis may have difficulty with parts of Scripture, but the essential con­tent is clear enough to be understood easily. Martin Luther, for ex­ample, was convinced that what was obscure and difficult in one part of Scripture was stated more clearly and simply in other parts of Scripture.

Some parts of the Bible are so clear and simple that they are offensive to those suffering from intellectual arrogance. I once was lecturing about how Christ’s death on the cross fulfilled the curse motif of the Old Testament. In the middle of my lecture a man in the audience interrupted me, saying loudly, “That’s primitive and obscene.” I asked him to repeat his comment so that everyone present could hear his complaint. When he re­peated it, I said, “You are exactly right. I particularly like your choice of words, primitive and obscene.” The entire his­tory of redemption is communicated in primitive terms, from the episode of the encounter of Adam and Eve with the ser­pent to the devastating destruction that God visits on the chariots of Egypt in the exodus to the crass and brutal murder of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible reveals that God hears the groans of all of his people, from the peasant to the philosopher, from the dull-witted to the sophisticated scholar. His message is simple enough for the most simplis­tic of his fallen creatures to understand. What kind of a God would reveal his love and redemption in terms so technical and concepts so profound that only an elite corps of profes­sional scholars could understand them? God does speak in primitive terms because he is addressing himself to primi­tives. At the same time, there is enough profundity contained in Scripture to keep the most astute and erudite scholars busily engaged in their theological inquiries for a lifetime.

If primitive is an appropriate word to describe the content of Scripture, obscene is even more so. All of the obscenities of sin are recorded with clear and forthright language in the Scripture. And what is more obscene than the cross? Here we have obscenity on a cosmic scale. On the cross Christ takes upon himself human obscenities in order to redeem them.

If you have been one of those who have clung to the myths of dullness or difficulty, perhaps it is because you have at­tributed to the whole of Scripture what you have found in some of its parts. Maybe some passages have been peculiarly difficult and obscure. Other passages may have left you be­wildered and baffled. Perhaps those should be left for the scholars to unravel. If you find certain portions of the Scrip­ture difficult and complex, need you insist that the whole of Scripture is boring and dull?

Biblical Christianity is not an esoteric religion. Its content is not concealed in vague symbols that require some sort of special “insight” to grasp. There is no special intel­lectual prowess or spiritual gift that is necessary to under­stand the basic message of Scripture. You may find that in Eastern religions where insight is limited to some guru who lives in a shanty high in the Himalayas. Maybe the guru has been thunderstruck by the gods with some pro­found mystery of the universe. You travel to inquire and he tells you in a hushed whisper that the meaning of life is the sound of “one hand clapping.” That’s esoteric. That’s so esoteric that even the guru does not understand it. He cannot understand it because it’s an absurdity. Absurdities often sound pro­found because they are incapable of being understood. When we hear things we do not understand, sometimes we think they are simply too deep or weighty for us to grasp when in fact they are merely unintelligible statements like “one hand clapping.” The Bible does not talk like that. The Bible speaks of God in meaningful patterns of speech. Some of those patterns may be more difficult than others, but they are not meant to be nonsense statements that only a guru can fathom.

The Problem of Motivation

It is important to note that the theme of this book is not how to read the Bible but how to study the Bible. There is a great deal of difference between reading and studying. Reading is something we can do in a leisurely way, something that can be done strictly for entertainment in a casual manner. But study suggests labor, serious and diligent work.

Here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is dif­ficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and bor­ing, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of in­telligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.

Karl Barth (1886-1968), the famous Swiss theologian, once wrote that all human sin finds its roots in three basic human problems. He included pride (hubris), dishonesty and slothfulness in his list of rudimentary sins. None of these basic evils is instantly eradicated by spiritual regeneration. As Christians we must struggle against these problems through our entire pilgrimage. None of us is immune. If we are going to deal with the discipline of Bible study, we must recognize at the outset that we will need the grace of God to persevere.

The problem of slothfulness has been with us since the curse of the Fall. Our labor is now mixed with sweat. Weeds are easier to grow than grass. Newspapers are easier to read than the Bible is to study. The curse of labor is not magically removed simply because our task is the study of Scripture.

When I lecture to groups on the theme of studying the Bible, I often ask how many of the group members have been Christians for one year or more. Then I ask those people how many have read the entire Bible from cover to cover. In every instance, the overwhelming majority an­swer in the negative. I would venture to guess that among those who have been Christians for a year or more, at least 80 percent have never read the whole Bible. How is that possible? Only an appeal to the radical Fall of the human race could begin to answer that question.

If you have read the whole Bible, you are in a small minority of Christian people. If you have studied the Bible, you are in an even smaller minority. Isn’t it amazing that almost everyone living in the West has an opinion to offer about the Bible, and yet so few have really studied it? Sometimes it seems as though the only people who take the time to study it are those with the sharpest axes to grind against it. Many people study it to find possible loopholes so they can get out from under the weight of its authority.

Biblical ignorance is not limited to laypeople by any means. I have sat on church boards responsible for the examination of seminarians preparing for the pastoral ministry. The degree of biblical ignorance manifested by many of these students is appalling. Semi­nary curricula have not done much to alleviate the problem. Every year many churches ordain people who are virtually ignorant of the content of Scripture.

I was shocked when I took a test in biblical knowledge for entrance to the theological seminary from which I gradu­ated. After I completed my exam, I was deeply embarrassed, ashamed to hand in my paper. I had taken several courses in college that I thought would prepare me for such a test, but when the test came I was not ready. I left question after question blank and was certain that I had failed. When the grades were posted, I discovered that I had received one of the highest grades in a group of seventy-five students. Even with the grades scaled, there were several students who scored less than 10 out of a possible grade of 100. My score was poor, yet it was one of the best of the bad.

Biblical illiteracy among the clergy has become so prev­alent that I often find pastors getting annoyed and angry when their parishioners ask them to teach them the Bible. In many cases pastors live in mortal fear that their ignorance will be exposed by being thrust into a situation where they are expected to teach the Bible.

The Biblical Basis for Bible Study

The Bible itself has much to say about the importance of studying the Bible. We will examine two passages, one from each Testament, in order to catch a glimpse of these man­dates.