Over-Literal Hermeneutic?

[Martin Marprelate]

On another thread I offered the following:

Deuteronomy 22:8-11. 'When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

You shall not plough with an ox and a donkey together.

You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together'

A question for all readers. If you were preaching from these verses, how would you approach them and what applications would you draw?

Only @John of Japan replied:

Four points:
1. Build your house with care.
2. Sow your seed with care.
3. Treat your animals with care.
4. Wear your clothes with care.

So I would interpret literally, then give applications for the Christian life. Please be aware that interpretation and application are two different steps.

I didn't come back to my post because other important questions were being discussed and I didn't want to side-track the thread, but now I would like to draw members' attention to the question.

I will leave this open for a day or so to give others a chance to reply, but my purpose is to ask the question: is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

I think the point is that there is a distinct difference between a literal interpretation with application, and an allegorical interpretation.

 

[Yeshua1]

On another thread I offered the following:

Deuteronomy 22:8-11. 'When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

You shall not plough with an ox and a donkey together.

You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together'

A question for all readers. If you were preaching from these verses, how would you approach them and what applications would you draw?

Only @John of Japan replied:

Four points:
1. Build your house with care.
2. Sow your seed with care.
3. Treat your animals with care.
4. Wear your clothes with care.

So I would interpret literally, then give applications for the Christian life. Please be aware that interpretation and application are two different steps.

I didn't come back to my post because other important questions were being discussed and I didn't want to side-track the thread, but now I would like to draw members' attention to the question.

I will leave this open for a day or so to give others a chance to reply, but my purpose is to ask the question: is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?

I would teach the spiritual and practical applications that God would have for us today, explaining what it meant under the OT times, and what it meant for us to learn from them under the NT now!

 

[Rob_BW]

No. 1 seems the easiest, that you are responsible for unsafe creations. Made me think of the passage regarding digging pits in Exodus.

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

For example, the Old Testament is full of prophecies that are literally about Israel, but they have application to the Church, however that does not mean they are about the Church.

 

[John of Japan]

I will leave this open for a day or so to give others a chance to reply, but my purpose is to ask the question: is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?

The very first task of the preacher as he prepares is exegesis. If he does not understand the passage properly then he should never preach it. The second task is application. Preaching without application is failure. It is presenting knowledge without love, and that puffs up.

If I were to preach the above off-the-cuff outline, the "big idea" would be that just as the ancient Jews, we must live day by day in the will of God. I would begin each point by explaining the historical and religious background of each point--grammatical-historical interpretation, in other words. I would follow up on each point with practical applications to the Christian life.

The danger to me is not overly literal exegesis, it is metaphorical interpretation that ignores the real meaning of the text, something that is much more common than overly literal interpretations, even among those who don't believe in allegorical interpretation. Examples of an unmerited metaphorical slant to this message would be:

1. Build your house with care.--Your house is your body, so exercise.
2. Sow your seed with care.--This is the seed of the Gospel, so watch who you witness to.
3. Treat your animals with care.--This refers to your neighbors, so love your neighbors.
4. Wear your clothes with care.--This means we as Christians have the white raiment of the righteousness of the saints.

 

[Yeshua1]

The very first task of the preacher as he prepares is exegesis. If he does not understand the passage properly then he should never preach it. The second task is application. Preaching without application is failure. It is presenting knowledge without love, and that puffs up.

If I were to preach the above off-the-cuff outline, the "big idea" would be that just as the ancient Jews, we must live day by day in the will of God. I would begin each point by explaining the historical and religious background of each point--grammatical-historical interpretation, in other words. I would follow up on each point with practical applications to the Christian life.

The danger to me is not overly literal exegesis, it is metaphorical interpretation that ignores the real meaning of the text, something that is much more common than overly literal interpretations, even among those who don't believe in allegorical interpretation. Examples of an unmerited metaphorical slant to this message would be:

1. Build your house with care.--Your house is your body, so exercise.
2. Sow your seed with care.--This is the seed of the Gospel, so watch who you witness to.
3. Treat your animals with care.--This refers to your neighbors, so love your neighbors.
4. Wear your clothes with care.--This means we as Christians have the white raiment of the righteousness of the saints.

We flesh out and take away from the OT the spiritual applications God for us now under the new Covenant, as the NT is the full revelation of what the OT had in shadow and types only!

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

[QUOTE="Martin Marprelate, post: 2435784, member: 10536"] is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?[/QUOTE]

Yes absolutely...(see Mark 8:14-16) then take a look at Mark 8:17-19.

 

[Yeshua1]

[QUOTE="Martin Marprelate, post: 2435784, member: 10536"] is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?

Yes absolutely...(see Mark 8:14-16) then take a look at Mark 8:17-19.[/QUOTE]
And how the Catholics take their Mass from John 7!

 

[Aaron]

On another thread I offered the following:

Deuteronomy 22:8-11. 'When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

You shall not plough with an ox and a donkey together.

You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together'

A question for all readers. If you were preaching from these verses, how would you approach them and what applications would you draw?

Only @John of Japan replied:

Four points:
1. Build your house with care.
2. Sow your seed with care.
3. Treat your animals with care.
4. Wear your clothes with care.

So I would interpret literally, then give applications for the Christian life. Please be aware that interpretation and application are two different steps.

I didn't come back to my post because other important questions were being discussed and I didn't want to side-track the thread, but now I would like to draw members' attention to the question.

I will leave this open for a day or so to give others a chance to reply, but my purpose is to ask the question: is it possible to gave an over-literal or over-restrictive hermeneutical approach which may be having a detrimental effect on preaching?

1. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

... exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

2. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

4. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

First, a quote from A.W. Pink:
'The O.T. Scriptures are something more than a compilation of historical records; something more than a system of social and religious legislation; something more than a code of ethics. The O.T. Scriptures are fundamentally a stage on which is shown forth in vivid symbolism and ritualism the whole plan of redemption. The events recorded were actual occurrences, yet they were also typical prefigurations.'

Now from the Apostle Paul:
'For whatever things were written before [i.e. the O.T.] were written for our learning, that we, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope' (Romans 15:4).
So the O.T. was written for the teaching of believers in the Gospel age in order to build up their endurance and perseverance, their comfort and exhortation, in order to produce an anticipation of heavenly glory.

Now please read 1 Corinthians 10:1-12. Paul expresses his desire that his readers should not be ignorant of the typical or figurative significance of the events surrounding the Exodus and the wanderings in the desert. Yet it is clear that he extends this to all O.T. history. 'Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come' (v.11). We are to go therefore, with very great expectations to the O.T. to find figurative parallels for corrections, warnings and encouragements.

Now please look at another text. 1 Corinthians 9:7-10. Here Paul uses Deuteronomy 25:4-- 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain'-- as a text to prove that Gospel ministers should be maintained. He asks, Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt.......' Note that Paul does not allegorize here. He does not change the literal meaning of the words. but rather shows that they cover far more than may first appear. Calvin wrote on this text, 'If [God] wants the dumb animals to be treated well, He expects much greater fairness to be shown by men in their dealings with one another.' He then adds, 'We must not make the mistake of thinking that Paul means to explain the commandment allegorically, for some empty-headed creatures make this an excuse for turning everything into allegory, so that they must change dogs into men, men into angels, and convert the whole of Scripture into an amusing game.'

So with these thoughts in mind, let us look at the texts I quoted in the O.P.

Deuteronomy 22:8-11. 'When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.'

C.H. Spurgeon preached on this verse, and showed that God keeps His own law in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints-- that He does not allow his own elect to fall way to ruin. We therefore must do the same in our families, protecting our children, by godly example and instruction from falling into spiritual disaster.. Spurgeon claimed that this was the original intention of the text and even more important than children sustaining physical injuries.

Spurgeon and Whitefield could never have preached their sermons, and Matthew Henry could never have written his commentary if they had been hamstrung by an over-literal hermeneutic.

The next three verses are somewhat similar but have their differences.

Deuteronomy 22:8-11. You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.
We must teach the pure doctrines of the Bible. A partly true and partly false Gospel is defiled.
You shall not plough with an ox and a donkey together.
We must not share our ministry with those who preach a different Gospel.
You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together'
Our own profession must be sincere and pure. Linen was the material of which the priests' 'holy' garments were made (Exodus 28:2, 5 etc.).

This is not to allegorize, but to see that all the O.T. has relevance for us, and there is a deeper meaning behind the text