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Biblical Thought is pleased to present a five part series on biblical interpretation by Pastor Glenn Leatherman.  Pastor Glenn has reflected on a recent discussion with Mormon elders and their abuse of John 10:30 and has decided to get down to the nitty-gritty: hermeneutics.  Hold on and enjoy the ride as Pastor Glenn offers his pastoral heart in teaching and walks you through the following:

• Part 1: The Consequence Of Fast Theology - A Flat Bible (posted today)

• Part 2: A Flat Bible Perspective Erroneously Tries To Arrive At Interpretations And Definitions Independently From The Context Of The Verse (will post later)

• Part 3: A Flat Bible Perspective Erroneously Tries To Arrive At Interpretations And Definitions Without The Context And Perspective Of All Of Scripture (will post later)

• Part 4: A Flat Bible Perspective Erroneously Tries To Arrive At Interpretations And Definitions By Normalizing A Single Definition Through A Word Study Or A Concordance Study (will post later)

• Part 5: Conclusion - Christians Need To Avoid The FLAT BIBLE ERROR Because It Will Kill Their Witness To Unbelievers Who Use The Same Hermeneutical Principle. (will post later)

Here is part 1.

Avoiding the “Flat Bible” Problem

An example in talking to Mormons about John 10:30

Part 1: The Consequence Of Fast Theology - A Flat Bible

Last week I had a very disturbing conversation with 3 Mormon elders who would not look at the context of a particular passage of Scripture.  Instead they wanted to standardize all definitions of the word “one” based on a traditional interpretation of John 17:20-21.  This conversation occurred after a talk on Mormonism at our Wednesday Night Apologetics Bible Study with Faith Defenders Ministry.  These Mormon elders came ready for debate and refused to listen or deal with hermeneutical issues (the science of biblical interpretation) first so that we could agree on how we go about explaining and interpreting a certain portion of Scripture.  This article has grown out of my reflection over how I must handle scripture in my witnessing.  In my reflection of witnessing with cults like Mormons concerning specific texts of the Bible, I find that many if not most Christians have difficulty in solid Biblical interpretation because our American Culture has dumbed-down our ability to think deeply about issues that we read about.  Ours is a visual culture which is not favorable for the rigorous disciplines of Biblical Interpretation.  We want things made simple and handed to us in 3 minutes or less.  Like our fast food we want fast theology, and this will always fail us when we witness to other religions that study more than we do but develop hermeneutical fallacies as the basis of their beliefs. 

Do You Have A Flat Bible?

We can see the result of fast theology in our witnessing today.  Many Christians have a hard time with witnessing to cults and Mormons today because they follow the same hermeneutical mistakes that these cults (i.e. like Mormons) use in their exegesis and in developing their theology (that usually becomes from both a tabloid theology and folk theology).  While many Christians maintain an orthodox Christology for the most part, they seriously hurt themselves in their Christian walk by making the Bible flat because of their personal emotions on an issue (Existential/Mystical Theology), their past beliefs, experiences, tradition (Folk Theology), and current popular cultural beliefs or fads (Tabloid Theology).  Now to be better and effective witnesses to Mormons, we need to avoid this FLAT BIBLE PROBLEM that Mormon’s have. 

Now you may ask, “What is a flat bible?”  Good question.  One needs to realize that when interpreting the Bible (or any piece of literature), that the authorial intent of the passage controls the interpretation and meaning of the words, phrases, and sentences regardless of what the definition of the Words and meanings we might place on them.  Realtors say “location, location, location” is what counts in determining which property to buy and understanding its future value.  Biblical exegetes and Bible students must say the same thing when it comes to rightly interpreting any passage of scripture - “location, location, location” or “context, context, context” - because words have no meaning by themselves without the context of the author, occasion of writing, and recipients of the writing.  Proper interpretation of Scripture is hard because each passage has 2 authors (a human author and God).  So a Flat Bible is actually a mistaken personal interpretative perspective of misinterpreting words to always have the same definition regardless of context.  Like avoiding a “Flat World” perspective in the study of the science of astronomy, avoiding the FLAT BIBLE PROBLEM in studying Scripture is very important because many Christians make this mistake in their word studies which affects their theology. 

How Do Christians Mistakenly Develop A Flat Bible Perspective?

While Christians benefit greatly from reading books on different interpretative positions, many Christians today create their own flat Bible because they don’t take the time to do painstaking exegetical study of passages to define the meaning of words within each phrase, sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book.  Then they refuse to see how the author meant the word phrases, paragraphs, chapters to relate to each other.  Communication gaps take place all the time and sometimes they do hurt us spiritually.  Flat Bibles occurs because people mistakenly believe that people see the world and interpret the world, life, truth, justice, morals, meaning and beauty in the same exact way.  So words always mean the same thing because we ignore these communication gaps.  Mormons will try to make the word “one” mean the same thing in both John 10:30 and in John 17:20-21, because of their commitment to this hermeneutical error.  We will discuss this more later, but for now I want you to see that the way people flatten out their Bibles is because they make some man the starting point for their definitions of words, and ignore the multiperspectival issues in language and syntax. 

I cannot tell you how many times as a pastor people get either upset with me in interpreting scriptures based on biblical hermeneutics, because they don’t deal or want to deal with these communication gaps of the Biblical text.   Flat Bible Christians then usually take someone else’s opinion on the Bible that he has written in a book somewhere, and try to get you to change your definitions and delineations of biblical words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books to become more in line with theirs.  Don’t fall for this procedure.  It is favorite one of the cults.  No one man has all the answers, nor do they understand the totality of Scripture.  So the goal is not to get people to our viewpoint but to get each person to God’s viewpoint - God’s intended meaning of the revelation He revealed through the human authors of the Bible.  The Bible is the only infallible, inerrant revelation we have from God.  Many Flat Bible Christians develop their theology from a starting point of a man’s reason, experience, feelings, or faith.  Sound familiar?  This is exactly what Mormons do, and what Joseph Smith did.  How can you expect to effectively witness to Mormons if you commit the same errors in interpreting the Bible (just in different areas)?   The truth is you can’t. 

We create a FLAT BIBLE because we give words and phrases the exact same meanings in every location we read them.  Do not fall into this trap, or it will really hurt your ability to live the Christian life.  Don’t let all meanings be based on your own understandings.  Work hard at defining the author’s words and don’t assume he would use words the same way you would. Do biblical exegesis!!  I have seen the failure of exegesis hurt people all the time, even when a Christian is passionate about Christ and his word, because they ignore the communication gaps in interpreting Scripture and the sad result is the development of  an existential, folk, or tabloid theology.  These seemingly passionate Christians have a FLAT BIBLE that will render their witness ineffective to Mormons, religious persons, or secular humanists that commit the same hermeneutical error. 

Is There Helpful Solution To Avoid The Flat Bible Fallacy?

So how do we avoid the Flat bible problem?  First, we can avoid the flat Bible problem by developing a Humble Biblical Hermeneutic approach that acknowledges that there are communication gaps with any language and any scriptural pericope.  The Bible was written over 2,000 years ago in a radically different culture, language, geography, and point in history.  21^st Century Americans have a funny tendency to treat everything like the world revolves around us; like we’re the only ones that ever existed, and that everyone in the world and in history acts, talks, walks, and thinks like a 21^st century American.  We have to fill the language, culture, geography, and history gaps first, before we can ever hope to accurately understand God’s message in Scripture and apply it correctly to our lives today.  In other words, If we ever have any expectation of learning how to interpret God’s Word properly and accurately, and if we ever hope to learn how to discern truth from error in the conversations that we have, and in what we read in books, see on television, and hear on the radio - we must learn to scale the language, cultural, geography, and history gap.   One must learn that people who believe, use, and teach false doctrines, very often use the exact same terms and phrases as someone who adheres to biblical truth, while ignoring the authorial intent of the words and phrases and denying the sufficiency of Scripture in determining the moral instruction and meaning behind the verse or passage.    

Secondly, we can avoid the flat Bible problem by adhering to the good Historical grammatical hermeneutical method.  The following points on the good Hermeneutical method come from chapter six of J.I. Packer’s A Quest For Godliness: (The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. “The soundness of their [Puritan] method is unquestionable; we shall do well to follow in their footsteps” (Packer, 105)):

• 1. Interpret Scripture literally and grammatically. Ask yourself: What do these words actually mean? What is the authorial intent of the Author?

• 2. Interpret Scripture consistently and harmonistically. Ask yourself: What light do other Scriptures throw on this text? Where and how does it fit into the total biblical revelation?

• 3. Interpret Scripture doctrinally and theocentrically. Ask yourself: What truths does it teach about God, and about man in relation to God?

• 4. Interpret Scripture christologicly and experimentally. Ask yourself: How are these truths related to the saving work of Christ, and what light does the gospel of Christ throw upon them?

• 5. Interpret Scripture experimentally and practically. Ask yourself: What experiences do these truths delineate, or explain, or seek to create or cure? For what practical purposes do they stand in Scripture?

• 6. Interpret Scripture with a faithful and realistic application. Ask yourself: How do they apply to myself and others in our actual situation? To what present human condition do they speak, and what are they telling us to believe and do?

Thirdly, we can avoid a flat bible problem by keeping the “Big Picture” in Mind: The Following are some observations about the Whole of Scripture   

Big Picture 1: The Bible is a historical document. Therefore, always ask, “What did the author want the original readers to understand by this statement?”   

Big Picture 2: The original authors wanted the original readers to respond in some ways. Therefore, always ask, “What application did the original author want the readers to make to their lives?”  

Big Picture 3: The whole Bible is about God! Therefore, we should always ask, “What does this text tell us about God?”  

Big Picture 4: The center of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ. The entire Old Testament leads up to him and points to him, and the entire New Testament flows from him. Therefore, we should always ask, “What does this text tell us about the greatness of Christ?”  

Big Picture 5: All history can be divided into several major “ages” or “epochs” in salvation history. Therefore, we should read every passage of the Bible with a salvation history timeline in our minds and constantly remember where every passage fits on the timeline. 

Big Picture 6: Themes: Because the Bible is a unity (it has one divine Author though many human authors), there are many themes that develop and grow from Genesis to Revelation. Therefore, for each significant element in any text, it is helpful to ask, (a) Where did this theme start in the Bible? (b) How did this theme develop through the Bible? and (c) Where is this theme going to end in the Bible?

Fourthly we can avoid the flat Bible problem by treasuring Gospel doctrine as broad and thick rather than minimalistic as many do today.  John Piper has said so well:

“Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all its treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable. Doctrine guards the diamonds of the gospel from the pirates who don’t like the diamonds but who make their living trading them for other stones. Doctrine polishes the old gems buried at the bottom of the chest. It puts the jewels of gospel truth in order on the scarlet tapestry of history so each is seen in its most beautiful place.”  -John Piper, God is the Gospel

Finally we can avoid the flat bible problem by being Cross centered.  Just as every sermon must have a sighting of the hill called Calvary, so too, our witness must bring people (including Mormons) to the cross because each passage of Scripture points us to the cross. In Christ-Centered Preaching, Bryan Chapell writes,

In its context, every passage possesses one or more of four redemptive foci. Every text is predictive of the work of Christ, preparatory for the work of Christ, reflective of the work of Christ, and/or resultant of the work of Christ.

This issue of a flat Bible come into sharp focus when we talk with cults like Mormons who want to flatten out the scriptures based on some other authority than Scripture itself. Let us be diligent to avoid the flat Bible perspective as we look at how this plays out in our witness and interpretation of John 10:30.  Part 2, 3, and 4 deal with understanding how the flat Bible fallacy interacts with the different interpretations of John 10:30.  I am greatly indebted to by Rob Bowman posts at parchment and Pen blog (www. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog ) dealing with John 10:30 and the person of Jesus Christ - his 3 posts are entitled: In What Sense Are Jesus and the Father One? Part I: One in Person?, In What Sense Are Jesus and the Father One? Part II: One in Power?, In What Sense Are Jesus and the Father One? Part III: One in Purpose? Calvin’s View.  I have added and edited some information of his posts, but the credit for much of the exegesis goes to Rob.  Let’s now engage in humble hermeneutics to see how we can combat the Flat Bible problem in interpreting the specific text of John 10:30 as it answers a question concerning the oneness of God, the Father and God, the Son.

End of part 1.