How do Baptists Interpret The Bible.

[37818]

About 10 minutes

 

[David Lamb]

About 10 minutes

There is no single way in which Baptists interpret the bible, because one of the distinctive marks of Baptists is the autonomy under Christ of the local church. There is no "baptist pope" or "baptist synod" which defines what all Baptist church are to believe, and how they are to conduct themselves.

 

[37818]

There is no single way in which Baptists interpret the bible, because one of the distinctive marks of Baptists is the autonomy under Christ of the local church. There is no "baptist pope" or "baptist synod" which defines what all Baptist church are to believe, and how they are to conduct themselves.

Typical Baptist Interpretation.

1) Literal
2) Historical
3) Grammatical

@David Lamb,
How do you see it deferent than that?

I know, for a fact, Baptists interpret some baptism passages differently. Even though a believer's baptism is commonly held.

 

[Deacon]

I just received this book in the mail today.
Mere Christian Hermeneutics by Kevin J. Vanhoozer

"...principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians"​

"Reading the Bible to the glory of God.
In 1952, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity eloquently defined the essential tenets of the Christian faith. With the rise of fractured individualism that continues to split the church, this approach is more important now than ever before for biblical hermeneutics.
Many Christians wonder how to read the text of Scripture well, rightly, and faithfully. After all, developing a strong theory of interpretation has always been presented by two enormous challenges:

1. A variety of actual interpretations of the Bible, even within the context of a single community of believers.
2. The plurality of reading cultures—denominational, disciplinary, historical, and global interpretive communities—each with its own frame of reference.

In response, influential theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer puts forth a "mere" Christian hermeneutic—essential principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians.
To center his thought, Vanhoozer turns to the accounts of Jesus' transfiguration—a key moment in the broader economy of God's revelation—to suggest that spiritual or "figural" interpretation is not a denial or distortion of the literal sense but, rather, its glorification."
AMAZON REVIEW​

This will not be an easy read. He compacts a lot of information into each paragraph to build an argument.
Glancing through it I see many names, from Aquinas to Zinn, with countless current authors along the way.

I'm ready to be stretched.

Rob

 

[David Lamb]

Typical Baptist Interpretation.

1) Literal
2) Historical
3) Grammatical

@David Lamb,
How do you see it deferent than that?

I know, for a fact, Baptists interpret some baptism passages differently. Even though a believer's baptism is commonly held.

Yes, I personally believe that except in obviously non-literal instances such as Jesus saying "I am the door" the bible is literally and historically true. I am sure that some Baptists interpret many passages differently from other Baptists; I'm not sure about different beliefs on passages about baptism, as all Baptists I know or know of believe in the baptism of believers by immersion.

 

[Deacon]

Mere Christian Hermeneutics by Kevin J. Vanhoozer

Oh boy, I don't want to encourage anyone to rush out and purchase this book.
I reminds me of a doctoral thesis - many scholarly terms, philosophical jargon and frequent references to other authors and their opinions.
I can already see myself spending a month wading through this book, a few pages at a time, before finally setting it aside half finished.

Satan quoted Scripture in Matthew 4 (the temptation of Jesus) literally.
Jesus obviously disagreed with the way he applied it, demonstrating that interpretation is closely related to application.

Anyway, the idea that Baptist interpretation of the Scriptures can be summarized in three words is simplistic.
I don't think there is a simple "Baptist" method... any more than there is an "Evangelical" or even "Protestant" method of interpretation.

Proper interpretation must evaluate many different aspects of the text we study:

• genre (narrative, poetry, apocalyptic among many, many others),
• context,
• authorial intent,

...to name only a few.​

I literally have a shelf in my bookcases devoted to books on hermeneutical methods of interpretation.

I will mention two very worthwhile texts available on Amazon:
Howard Hendricks, Living By The Book, the art and science of reading the Bible ($10 pb)
and
J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God's Word, a hands-on approach to reading, interpreting and applying the Bible ($27 hb textbook)

Rob

 

[37818]

What sets Baptist Biblical hermeneutics a part from Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox interpertations.

The differences in presuppositions needs to be identified. Such as, what constitutes the word of God.

 

[Dr. Bob]

Many say "you can't interpret the Bible literally. They might forget that GRAMMAR (interpreted literally) still has all the elements of speech.

**Metaphor - comparison of items or Simile - use "like" or "as" in a metaphor is still "literal". (When Jesus called Herod a "fox", we have brains to understand language and know Herod didn't sprout fox ears)
**Personification - attributing a personal nature to inanimate objects or abstract notions (When Bible speaks of the arm of the Lord, it doesn't mean God works out in the Gym building physical muscle and bone)
**Synecdoche - substituting a part for the whole (When Jacob speaks of his gray hairs going to the grave, we realize he's talking about his whole body)
**Hyperbole - obvious exaggeration for effect (When spies saw stature of enemies, they felt like grasshoppers)
**Euphemism - substitution of mild or vague expression for a harsher (When death is referred to as "sleep" or "grave")
**Fable - story to teach moral truth obviously not based on fact (When the trees had a meeting and elected a bramble, did they talk? Of course not)
**Allegory - figurative treatment of spiritual subjects by physical or concrete forms (When Jesus said he was a door, did his body change to oak?)
**Parable - special stories thrown alongside to help understand (or hinder others from understanding) a message

The Baptist "historical, grammatical, literal interpretation" contains these and more, and even people with public school education can understand it.

 

[Dr. Bob]

BTW, some want to say Adam & Eve, Noah, and Jonah were "fables" and NOT real people. JESUS said they were real, to make sure people wouldn't just think the Bible was made of "myths" and not true.

Last I checked, Jesus didn't lie. Let me know if you find evidence God is a liar, and we can talk.

 

[David Lamb]

Many say "you can't interpret the Bible literally. They might forget that GRAMMAR (interpreted literally) still has all the elements of speech.

**Metaphor - comparison of items or Simile - use "like" or "as" in a metaphor is still "literal". (When Jesus called Herod a "fox", we have brains to understand language and know Herod didn't sprout fox ears)
**Personification - attributing a personal nature to inanimate objects or abstract notions (When Bible speaks of the arm of the Lord, it doesn't mean God works out in the Gym building physical muscle and bone)
**Synecdoche - substituting a part for the whole (When Jacob speaks of his gray hairs going to the grave, we realize he's talking about his whole body)
**Hyperbole - obvious exaggeration for effect (When spies saw stature of enemies, they felt like grasshoppers)
**Euphemism - substitution of mild or vague expression for a harsher (When death is referred to as "sleep" or "grave")
**Fable - story to teach moral truth obviously not based on fact (When the trees had a meeting and elected a bramble, did they talk? Of course not)
**Allegory - figurative treatment of spiritual subjects by physical or concrete forms (When Jesus said he was a door, did his body change to oak?)
**Parable - special stories thrown alongside to help understand (or hinder others from understanding) a message

The Baptist "historical, grammatical, literal interpretation" contains these and more, and even people with public school education can understand it.

Thanks! I had wondered what "Grammatical" meant in 37818's list of 3 aspects of Baptist biblical interpretation.

 

[Deacon]

BTW, some want to say Adam & Eve, Noah, and Jonah were "fables" and NOT real people. JESUS said they were real, to make sure people wouldn't just think the Bible was made of "myths" and not true.

Last I checked, Jesus didn't lie. Let me know if you find evidence God is a liar, and we can talk.

I totally understand why pastors and preachers are unable to keep up with current issues in theology.
Keeping things simple, maintaining doctrinal stability, teaching the basics, these are important when speaking to a mixed congregation.
Your post has strong logic but falls flat when realizing that Jesus didn't directly mention Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6-9).
Paul certainly did, (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22,45; 1 Timothy 2:14,15), Jude even mentions Adam (14).
It's how their identities were used and what was meant when their names were mentioned that has become an issue.

The Adam and Eve debate is not a Baptist issue, it's far bigger than that.
Among the first questions many children ask when listening to the creation stories is, "Where did Cain get his wife?"
It's actually a very good question... and one the Bible doesn't answer... a question that is brushed away with a seemingly obvious answer.
But it really isn't so obvious... and that answer certainly isn't biblical... it's a simple deduction from a very limited number of given facts.
The point being that the Bible teaches us doctrine; it doesn't provide all the facts needed to answer all our questions.

The issue of Adam and Eve is a rapidly evolving topic.
The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary had a seminar on the issue back in 2022.
The topic has become quite complicated lately, particularly after the recent contribution from the field of genetics.

Simply dismissing it by saying "Jesus didn't lie" misses the mark.

(nice to have you back Dr. Bob)

Rob