THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504070083
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THE ISSUE of how humans interpret Scripture brought in lots of response . . could edit out a single paragraph to capture the writer's perspective. I'll try to respond personally to those readers over the coming weeks. Here, however, is a small sampling of your ideas on the topic.
From Cheryl McGuire of Norfolk: ``You say that you have some truths that you believe are literal and that you believe everything else is `up for grabs,' . . . This is heathen. . . . I hope and pray to God that this column doesn't last. It's bad.''
From Charles L. Holman of Regent University: ``We, too, in our Divinity School, approach Scripture `critically,' as far as employing the criteria of original languages, cultural considerations of the ancient world, authorial intent, etc. which you well brought out. . . . My main question is what criteria do you use for deciding which biblical teachings to take `literally' and which to filter through critical criteria? You `pretty much believe that everything . . . is up for grabs,' apart from four areas you identify, which largely concern God's love and our responsibility to love.
``I would say that a good critical approach would itself provide us with more of a basis to decide what to take seriously for application. It may be that there is more in the message of Scripture to take seriously for ourselves, especially teachings that bear upon the sovereignty and holiness of a God to whom we all are responsible.''
From Tommy Steele of Virginia Beach: ``(Quoting) two or three verses of Scripture and then saying the rest is up for grabs is, in my opinion, not enough to base one's salvation on. No one will question that God loves us, but that is not all there is to God. He also hates sin. No one will question that God wants us to love our neighbor, but then neither does God want us to love the sinful deeds of our neighbor.
``The problem is when we interpret Scripture to suit and support our beliefs in order to make us feel good. That is when interpretation becomes wrong. . . . How we interpret one or two verses of Scripture is not as important as to understand God's plan of salvation for sinful man. Therefore we are told to search the Scriptures. All of them.''
From Cindy of Norfolk: ``If you wrote a column, would you want somebody to come behind you and interpret it? Would you want me to take a paragraph and say, `Well, I know it says this but what she really meant was this?' You are intelligent enough to put on paper what it is you want to say and I know that God is powerful enough to make sure that his words say what he wants it to say.'' (Columnist's Note: Cindy, whether I want people to interpret my column or not, they do. Sometimes they get it right; other times I wonder what column they read. And then there are times they find wisdom I never intended. The same is true for the Bible, as it is for anything humans read or see or hear. We all interpret. It is part of how we communicate.)
From Dr. James Watt of Norfolk: ``I have always wondered how to know when anyone had achieved compliance with the first command in Matthew 22:36-40 (Love God with all your heart, soul and mind). In reading your column today I decided that the best way to measure compliance with the first of the two commandments was to see to what extent one obeyed the second (Love your neighbor as yourself). After all, the parable which follows tells us how to get from the abstract to the specific, or, how to move from the Word to the thing.''
From Wende A.K. Barton of Virginia Beach: ``I believe the Bible is a `telephone' to God. I believe he uses it, not just as a book of words and sentences to teach us and tell us about his love and how to live, but also as a critical tool of communication with him. He uses the Holy Spirit within us to help send and receive the message of the moment. I think this also explains why, through the years, we read something new into the Word when we've `read' those same words several times before. God reveals his message to us each time we read Scriptures in an attitude of prayer and communication.''
One final thing: Suffolk reader Jonathan Brown asked, ``What is the Christian Testament?'' The Christian Testament is what is commonly called the New Testament. The Hebrew Testament is what is commonly called the Old Testament. As do many, I feel these terms more accurately reflect the content of those testaments than do the common terms. (And please, folks, don't accuse me of trying to be politically correct. It has nothing to do with P.C. It's about accuracy.) by CNB