by mrs lily 
I have known some people who get pretty worked up over taking the Bible out of context. And I can understand it ... to a point.
There is no doubt that man has twisted and used Scripture for his own means, misinterpreting the Word to back up their own cause. And I believe it is also true that there are some things in Scripture we will never fully understand unless we understand the culture and time period in which it was written. Often when we try to apply those things to the 21st century and our life today, we will misunderstand a lot of things and miss powerful works of God. So yes, context is important.
But.
I would suggest that context is not always
critical. The reason is God is
sovereign. A friend pointed out the Word of God is multidimensional. When understanding literal meaning begins to blind us from other aspects of Scripture, I think we can miss some vital things the Lord is trying to show us.
For instance, this past week I was reading through a set of Scripture I have grown up reading whenever I needed encouragement, and I realized my whole life I was totally misunderstanding the original meaning of the verse. It was like God opened my eyes to the real meaning, and to what was going on during that time, and I learned something so completely different than ever before. That doesn't negate the work God did in my through that verse, does it?
Similarly, we are all at different places in our lives, with different wiring, and different understanding. If a person is completely off-base, we should pray for wisdom to humbly and lovingly speak truth to that person - but while I think it is good to have knowledge and understanding of the original texts and the translation of the Greek and Hebrew and what the traditions were and so forth - I think it is also important not to be tied to the knowledge of man so much that we miss what else God is saying to us and perhaps even, getting in the way of how God is moving in someone's life in a way they will understand.
Do you think it is important to understand the context in which Scripture is written?
Comments (23)
Well duh, of course it's important to understand context...but my question is, how do we know which verses were meant just for the time period, and which apply today? Time and time again, especially here on Xanga, I've seen people quote Leviticus to prove why homosexuality is wrong, only to be attacked by all the other laws of Leviticus that most people don't follow, like killing children who disobey their parents, eating shellfish, etc.
And in the New Testament, Paul says women are forbidden to pray without their heads covered...yet when I go to church none of the women wear head coverings. So how do we determine what's relevant in the 21st century and what's not? Should we be taking every word of the Bible literally without question?
Yes, context is very important in anything... not just when it comes to the bible. Understanding things in their original context is a safeguard against misinformed subjective interpretation (which may lead to false theology, doctrine, heresy, etc).
If taken the wrong way however, context can, like you said, make it bland and somewhat almost irrelevant and "lifeless". For example, what do you do about the ancient Israelite Old Testament laws in today's 21st century Christianity context? Some prefer to dwell in the New Testament because it's more relevant than the OT.
Yet, if taken rightly, context should enrich our understanding. Back to the OT Laws again as an example. Many people miss that point of the whole old system of sacrifice; it is not about the legalistic ceremonial things they have to do to obtain forgiveness of sins. Does anyone seriously think that the blood of animals and burnt offerings can forgive a human being's sins? Of course not... in the end, it is God himself out of His grace and mercy who forgives when the sinner truly repents and confesses (e.g. Psalm 51 of David confessing his adultery and murder sin).
The whole point of the OT Laws is to show humanity the seriousness of sin and that we cannot cleanse ourselves from sin It foreshadows the coming of Christ as the ultimate perfect sacrifice, once and for all.
Sorry... got a bit carried away there. Yes, a agree with you too that the Word of God is multidimensional. After all, it is the Living Word of God; active rather than passive. If it was passive, then it would simply be just like any other historical book and lives would not be changed by one reading it. The Word of God is sharper than a double edged sword, able to thrust deep into our spirits, convicting us and revealing truths.
For example, once I was reading the last chapter of John, where Jesus was reinstating Peter by asking him 3 times "Do you love me?". At that time, I was stagnant in my Christian walk, and when I read those words, it was as if Jesus himself was speaking those words to me directly and personally (although the original context is that he spoke those words to Peter, by the Sea of Galilee, in the 1st century).
Yes, context is important if take the right way, but one should also be open to the Holy Spirit to reveal extra-dimensional truths when reading Scripture.
I think if the word of God transformed the lives of many who aren't literate, then God still speaks through the bible despite misinterpretations. We ought to try to understand the bible to its fullest, but God meets us at our level of knowledge and speaks to us things that aren't so profound as to totally confuse us and leave us unedified. That might mean God gives us directions that are sort of like the trainer-wheels for a bicycle. they're not exactly essential to the bicycle. They're add-ons, and they're things that help us imagine God or relate with him, but should be removed from our understanding of him as we become more mature. As we grow in our faith and maturity, we have to unlearn concepts that we were taught as spiritual babies. That sort of went on a tangent.
To answer your question, context is important, but not essential for spiritual growth. I think God gives every one an intuition to guide his reading.
The mantra of my professors was "There is only one interpretation, but countless applications."
Yes.
Yes it is important. Taking what anyone says out of context is crazy. It goes against what God actually wanted to say. Its not up to our whims what we want to believe, but rather it is up to God. Yes you may have gotten encouragement out of mis-contextualizing a passage, but undoubtedly there is another spot in the bible that would have served the same purpose. Misunderstanding the bible is always wrong, its not what God is actually saying.
I think it's very important for some people. Not everyone is on the same spiritual level, and I don't think everyone can "handle the truth".
But then again, my beliefs about the Bible aren't exactly fundamentalist. I think God speaks different ways, and I think Paul and all of the other writers were human. This isn't Islam; God didn't wave his finger and write things down for us. We had human links along the way, and humans are fallible.
Yes. It is critical. The scripture was not intended to be taken in a "to each his own" kind of way. That is how a lot of false doctrines spring to life. There's a reason why there is an absolute Truth found in the Scripture.
Gods word does transcend time... sometimes we can find relevant Truths within the context of the scripture that will apply directly and personally to our own life, but the problem is that if you aren't speaking in context, then you have a lot of liberty to create anything you want from the scripture.
It is best to let the Truth speak by itself and let God do the work within peoples hearts.
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Do you think it is important to understand the context in which Scripture is written?//
Absolutely. Take the Bible out of context and voila! The Reformation begins again.
As my professor in seminary used to say:
A text without a context is just a pretext for making it mean whatever you want it to mean.
As @Theophilus166@xanga said.
Context is absolutely critical. There is a verse in the bible that says "there is no God". Taken out of context one would think the bible is declaring that God does not exist. In proper context it says "The fool says in his heart there is no God." Context is crucial.
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! I increasingly get the sense that in today's evangelical culture, we have elevated the scripture of God above God himself; that is, we have idolized something that, while good and comes from God and is one of our primary means of knowing him, is not on par with God himself. I know that I easily substitute my concept of the strength of my relationship with God with my capabilities to understand or intellectualize the Bible. I am good a analysis and interpretation; I am not good with relationships.
It is very much like the man Jesus healed who was born blind. He went to talk to the pharisees about Jesus and they mocked, insulted, and abused him because he was "steeped in sin since birth". The poor guy had no idea who healed him, had little understanding of Jesus' true and redemptive nature; all he is able to do is articulate a very simple statement of faith: "I was blind but now I see!" And the irony is that Jesus comes back to say, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.... If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains." Is this not exactly how many Christians (myself included) have so twisted ourselves up in the act of Christianity that we completely miss the work of Christ himself and the opportunity to fellowship with his believers?
The more important question is how does one acquire the correct context?
Modern philosophy gives authority over correct interpretation to the individual. This means that for any text that needs to be interpreted there could possibly be as many interpretations as there are people.
Where the Bible is concerned, this philosophy is catastrophic. If the Bible is the truth, then there can only be one truthful interpretation of it.
But if each individual has authority to interpret Scripture than that means there are possibly as many interpretations of it as there are people. Consequently, that means there are possibly as many versions of the truth as there are people.
Any thinking person would rightly conclude that Scripture is bunk and that the truth is relative.
Context is crucial in determining authorial intent. There may be many applications of a given passage (which will vary from person to person and time period to time period), but there is only one intended meaning of any passage. Other approaches tend to renders the Bible thoroughly subjective.
Cm ~
Yes, I do.
There's no such thing as absolute context.
of course it is. important. if the church actually cared about learning the context and original meaning of the text, we wouldn't have this crazy escapist doomsday the-earth-is-goin'-down-so-we-might-as-well-help-it-along-before-we-vanish excuse for theology.
Yes, it is very important.
Culture IS important for the original meaning, but people can get other meanings out of it as well... which, of course, are often contradictory. So, I guess it depends on what you are reading the Bible for... for accurate interpretation or what you think it's saying based on your experiences?
You are correct that a loving Heavenly Father will continue to work with us no matter what our level of understanding. He will increase the light in our lives according to His timing and the diligence we apply in asking, seeking, and knocking.
However, when we accept a particular verse or concept on face value, either in our own study or from the teachings of preachers, ministers, and priests, without confirming those teachings with the Lord through His Spirit, we risk accepting an individual’s interpretation of truth, which may be incomplete.
Context is critical, even in such a basic principle as salvation. For example, if you take Acts 16:31 by itself, then all you have to do to be saved is believe. But if you search the entire New Testament for all references to salvation, eternal life, etc., you see that there are many requirements listed for salvation. You might think that you could pick any of those requirements to be saved, but a spiritually mature person realizes through the Spirit of God that we are responsible for all those requirements.
To be sure, after all that, we still do not earn salvation. Even after we have done all that we can, we still come to a gap that we cannot cross and over which Jesus will have to carry us. But if we are not striving and if our effort is not sincere, why should we think that Jesus will carry us across that gap. He is our Savior and Redeemer, and He sets the terms of the covenant, not us. He will not take away our choice, nor will He choose for us. His arms are open, and we can walk into those arms and be held all the back to the presence of the Father. That is our divine destiny.
i posted a comment to this before...
if you can make the Bible mean whatever you want it to mean, how does it remain authoritative? should the primary religious document of a religion that desires a monopoly be taken ONLY in objective context? it's so ironic to me that Christians try to advocate a more personalized faith this way, and ignore the simple facts about the religion.
if it's valid for an individual to get meaning out of an incorrect understanding of a verse... then it's equally valid for an individual to arrive at the conclusion that there is no meaning at all. and that takes away Christianity's claim as the one true faith.
The context in which we read God's word is VERY important. Not understanding the context of a particular scripture or verse has led and continues to lead many Christian's astray. When we don't understand the context or the circumstances during which time a particule portion of scripture was written we are left to our own interpertation, blended with our own set of circumstances to lead us. This is a huge problem today in modern christian theology and in the christian church. We are being led to believe that every portion of scripture applies directly to our lives in every situation and circumstance we face. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Understanding God's word and His truths require us to also understand that God dealt with certain people during different circumstances during history to give us insight into the historical implications of His relationships with His people and humanity. Are there scripture that directly applies to us? Absolutely. But one should not attempt to apply scripture randomly because doing so is to be in error.