The Golden Rules of Biblical Interpretation

1. Come to the Scriptures prayerfully. Most of the great Bible interpreters were guided by prayer in their studies. The necessity of the involvement of the Holy Spirit is vital!

2. Allow Scripture to interpret itself and refuse to be clouded by personal doctrinal presuppositions. This really sets the great Bible expositors apart from those who refuse to depart from their denomination's guidelines.

3. Begin with understanding what the passage actually says, and yet always ask, "What does the passage really mean?"

4. Pay as much attention to the original Hebrew and Greek as your learning will allow you. (For those without language training, an interlinear Bible can be very helpful as can be a Bible dictionary).

5. Never use one of the paraphrased (very loose) translations to establish doctrine! The KJV, NKJV and NIV are very sound primary study translations, but the more paraphrased versions, such as the NLT, have a place in more devotional reading.

6. If you are an absolute novice (quite new in the Faith), don't try to tackle deeper theology before you attain some basic knowledge; I find that many make this mistake and just become very confused, then they often accuse the article writer of being 'confusing' - but, so often, the problem is that they are just not used to the discipline of theology! Being a good, clear logical thinker is essential for the discipline of theology. But don't attempt to run before you can walk!

7. Always take into account the full context of the passage. Read verses in the context of the whole passage, the chapter and even the book. And, of course, always keep in mind the larger context of the New Testament or Old Testament.

8. The Bible is progressive revelation. This means that, generally speaking, the New Testament specifically interprets the Old Testament. Don't forget that the Old Testament can be called 'The Book of the Old Covenant', but Jesus inaugurated the 'New Covenant' - it doesn't mean that the Old Testament can't teach us anything - it has many lessons for us - but that one should never, ever, use a vague or cloudy verse in Leviticus to overthrow a clear statement of Jesus or Paul. This has been a major error of the cults and sects! This can be very well demonstrated in our attitude to the Sabbath. Various seventh day groups will ask, 'Which day is the Christian Sabbath?' - but even in asking that particular question they are revealing very flawed biblical exegesis; they are taking a topic of Old Testament importance (the Sabbath), but imposing an equal New Testament concern for the subject (which, truthfully, does not exist), by employing the word, 'Christian' - a far better question would be 'What did Jesus show us about the real meaning of the Sabbath?' (Matthew 11:28-30, Mark 2:23-28).

9. Always consider all the passages dealing with a particular topic. For instance, don't try to understand faith by only looking at a few more sensational 'faith verses' (as the Word-faith people do), but get a thorough grounding in what the whole Bible says about faith. A Bible concordance will prove essential here.

10. Always interpret the more difficult or unclear passages by the clear ones. A favourite device of the cults is to choose a difficult passage and build their unique doctrines upon it.

11. Always take into account the different genres of writing within the Bible - here again, the cults and sects have regularly stumbled! The Bible contains different forms of writing; there is history, proverb, parable, apocalyptic, letters (epistles), Old Testament prophecy, genealogies and other elements too. We must respect what these different forms of writing set out to achieve! Sometimes the cults could not find some detail they were looking for within prophecy, so went looking for it in other biblical genres which are unconcerned with prophecy! This would be somewhat similar to reading the main news in a newspaper, perhaps an article about President Bush or Tony Blair, finding a vital detail had been left out, so going looking for that detail in the newspaper's 'gardening section', or 'sports section' or 'television programmes section' - plainly quite daft!! The founders of the cults and sects were unabashed about abusing the Scriptures in this way, mainly because of their lack of knowledge, but we can learn from their shortcomings!

12. Beware of novel, new, or unusual interpretations, always check various conservative commentaries on the passage. There is really very little that is new under the sun, as the saying goes, 'The gospel is the gospel is the gospel!' Many of the heresies of the cults have been dealt with thoroughly in various well-authenticated works. It is also interesting to note that even though there are many Christian denominations, their opinions never differ very greatly on the essential doctrines! There is solid agreement on the pivotal doctrines of the Christian Faith.
Museltof
2003