The Bible and Scholarship

Does scholarship have a legitimate place in helping us to understand and/or interpret the text of the Scriptures? Of course it does! You would be exceedingly foolish to deny it. So I am in favor of using scholarship as an aid to our understanding but not as the source of our understanding.

Yet in this short excursion, I want to deal with those who make too much out of scholarship. Too many, whether intentional or not (I will let God judge), are giving biblical scholarship the same importance Catholicism gives to the Church. Catholicism teaches only the Church via its priests, can interpret the Scriptures for the laity (those who are not ordained priests). The reason for this is because the Church is the "mother of the word." In other words, Catholics want to argue that God brought the Word into existence through the Church and therefore only the recognized officiants of the Church (the priests and the hierarchy) can interpret it. If that were true (that God brought the Word into existence through the church), it might be a fair argument. Fortunately, the New Testament is too clear to be misunderstood even by the laity of the Catholic church if they would only read the scriptures for themselves. Specifically, it is the Word of God that brought the church into existence, for the Word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11). 1Timothy 3:15 states that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth; that is, the church emanates from the truth.

Consequently, if one argues that because we are dependent on scholarship for our English translations we are therefore dependent on scholarship for interpreting the scriptures, they are drawing a conclusion that is neither logical nor demanded by the premise (a non sequitur, if you prefer). Yes, we are dependent on scholarship for those reliable English translations (which are based on the extant manuscripts) written in the original languages. However, the very fact that the Word is translated into English, or any other language for that matter, means it can be understood by those who speak the language into which it is translated!

How else could you explain the scene in Acts 2? The gospel was being translated into the native tongue of all those present (see verse 5-12). What is ironic is the reaction of the people, as the apostles BEGAN preaching the gospel, they said, "'we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.' And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine'" (vv. 11b-13)

Notice also, that when Peter begins his answer to them, he points them to the scriptures and says this is what the prophet said (2:17-ff). So (and here is the irony) by the end of the sermon, some of the same people were crying out to the very same men – men to whom they had said, "What does this mean?" or perhaps had even accused of being drunk --  asking, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Yes, they were dependent upon a translator for the translation but as far as the interpretation and meaning of what they heard, they were dependent on the Scriptures and their own will to believe it. Today, we have the same message, from the same men, in both a trustworthy and reliable transmission of the text and English translation.

A further irony found in the scripture, for those who want to assert the necessity of scholarship for understanding and interpreting the Scriptures, is Luke 10:25-28. "And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How do you read it?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'" The two questions Jesus' asked him put the responsibility for knowing what the law said and for interpreting the meaning of it on the lawyer - one skilled in the law as a proclaimer! To be sure, there were competing Rabbinical schools of interpretation among the Jews, in the First Century, who were bona fide scholars. However, Jesus didn't ask what the latest scholarship had to offer in the way of interpretation. He put it squarely on the shoulders of the individual.



Here are Jesus’ 3 rules for receiving eternal life based on Luke 10:25-37 (this has long been a favorite sermon of mine to preach):


1) Find out what God said: What is written in the Law? 


2) Have the right attitude toward what God said: How do you read it? 


3)Then commit to it: Do this, and you will live (OBEY IT)