On Biblical Interpretation

Ahhh…yes I loved the discussion of biblical interpretation that we had in class today. It was interesting to hear from the perspectives of English majors rather than my usual hearing about it from my classmates in the field of biblical and religious studies. I think it is important to interpret Scripture with recognition given to its original context. And as much as I hate to admit it, because I know how much I struggled in my study of it, I think it is important to have the ability to interpret Scripture from its original language. I cringed as I typed that because I know how much I wanted to die when I took Koine Greek (okay so maybe I am being a little dramatic but not really) it was a painful experience. Anyway, you know how they say beauty is pain? Well, I suppose such is the case with interpreting from the original language and context. It isn’t an easy process, but it allows us to interpret Scripture and bring it into the context of present day. And yes I will admit that it is strangely rewarding to be able to translate from the original language. Ok, but what about those who don’t have the education and/or ability to translate in such a way? This is something a friend and I were recently discussing. She is studying Christian Ministries and I Religion, so we have both been taught all kinds of things about biblical interpretation that we wouldn’t know if we weren’t studying in the Bible/Religion Department. Yet both of us question…isn’t God a clear and contextual communicator? Wouldn’t he communicate in such a way that the common person would be able to read and understand the Bible? I want to say yes, but I really don’t know. Sometimes the more I study the Bible and Religion the more I honestly feel like I know nothing of it. We all come to the Bible with our own presuppositions. We give different hierarchal value to different sources. Hence the flatbook verses hierarchal reading of Scripture. Hence the countless ways in which various denominations interpret Scripture. Is one of us correct? Is there a certain ordering of sources we should use in out method of interpretation? These are questions that seriously plague me on a daily basis. I know this post is out of control grammatically, but it is rather stream of conscious. I want to believe that there is one correct way of reading the Bible, and yet I want to believe that it can be read and understood by all people. I want to believe that the context in which it is written can be translated into present day. I want to believe that God communicates clearly and contextually throughout time. There are so many cans of worms though…biblical hermeneutics, biblical exegesis, dispensationalism, reading the Bible as a flatbook as opposed to a hierarchal view of Scripture, reading through a binocular verses reading through a telescope. There are so many questions, and so few solid answers. I am going to be a student at divinity school next year…these questions are going to plague me even more than they do now. As a theologian I am going to be responsible for giving my best answers to some of these questions. Oh my, what have I and am I getting myself into? Overwhelmed.