Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth! I really don’t like that what I’m including tonight is under the topic of Christian sound bites. However, I decided to put it here because Christians are the ones who usually take the Scripture text more seriously, as they should. However, there are proper ways to settle disputes on how a text should be interpreted.
This is not one of them.
Many of us have done it. Imagine laying out a case for how you interpret a text of Scripture only to hear “Well that’s just your interpretation!” Never mind the work you might have put into coming to an understanding of the text. Your opponent is using this as if it addresses you.
The first thing I want to say in response to this every time is “Yes. That is my interpretation. Thank you for pointing that out.” Of course, you can also, if you are aware of it, point to other exegetes who hold to the same interpretation. The point of saying “That’s just your interpretation!” is just that that doesn’t tell if the interpretation is right or wrong.
Now we should all know that the text of Scripture does not error. However, as has been said and demonstrated numerous times, our interpretations can error. You can read a commentary by a Calvinist or Arminian, a futurist or a preterist, a young-earther or an old-earther. We all know we have our share of in-house debates and we all seek to point to the text.
Who’s right? Of course, we all believe we are. The only reason you hold to an interpretation of a text is because you believe that is what the text says. When interpreting a text, that does not mean you agree with the text, though we should agree with Scripture. It just means you’re saying “This is what the text means.” Whether it’s true or not comes afterwards.
What I am stating here applies not just to Scriptural text, but all texts, even oral or body language. My wife can act in certain ways that let me know she wants to spend some time with me without ever saying a word. My offline friends also know my penchant for sarcasm and when I say something with a certain tone in my voice, they know that I should not be taken in a literal sense.
What do we do? The first thing to realize is the meaning of the text lies in the text itself. You do not find meaning and put that into a text. You draw the meaning out of the text that the author meant to put into the text. You can try to think about what the author had in mind, but all you have direct access to is the text.
As I said earlier, other factors can play a part. Is the text originally in another language? Go back and look up and see what the word meant in that language. Many ideas can often be lost in translation. One of my favorite examples is the 1 John 4 passage of “Perfect love casts out all fear.” It sounds nice to us, but the Greek use of the word “ballo” for “casts out” indicates more like a barroom bouncer throwing out hard an unwanted guest. It definitely enriches my understanding of the passage!
What is the social context? For instance, when you read about marriage in the Bible, you are reading about a male-female unit establishing a family, but you are also reading about an institution that was often arranged by parents and meant to link up two families more than two individuals.
The world of the Bible was very different from the world as it is today. We can easily place our own time and mindset onto the text. Ancient societies did not live as we do today however. They were not individualistic but relied on the group for identity instead. Can that affect how you read the text? Absolutely!
Why would someone go to all this work? Simple. They want to know what the text means. Does that mean that all texts are cut and dry? No. Some passages are very hard to understand. (Usually, these are the ones commentators skip over.) The way to reply to “That’s Just Your Interpretation!” is to ask where it’s wrong. You want to know if you’re wrong don’t you? I hope so.
Make sure you know your opponents’ side. Why do they believe what they believe? Knowing your opponent’s interpretation is as important as knowing your own. It should be the case that if you need to, you could stand before an audience and give a presentation on the other side and why it should be believed.
The sound bite as given however gets to a more postmodern view as if each interpretation is as valid as another. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see the merits a contrary interpretation has. What we need to realize is that the text really does mean something. To argue this way is to just be lazy and say someone’s opinion is just that only instead of addressing if it’s right or wrong.
And as Christians, we need not be lazy concerning Scripture.
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