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Interpreting Scripture: A General Introduction
Interpreting Scripture: A General Introduction
Definition
Interpreting Scripture is the process of personally discovering what God through his human authors intended the biblical text to mean and effect. Through exegesis and theology one assesses, synthesizes, and applies God’s inerrant Word.
Summary
This study clarifies why we must interpret Scripture, synthesizes what presuppositions should guide our interpretation, and offers a process for how to interpret. Scripture plays a foundational place in all of life, and Scripture itself stresses the need to faithfully interpret in order to stand unashamed before the Lord. Interpreting Scripture faithfully necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word, assumes that Scripture’s truths are knowable, requires that we respond appropriately, and demands that we engage in the task depending on God. The interpretive process is about personally discovering what God through his human authors intended the biblical text to mean and effect. It includes assessing, synthesizing, and applying God’s inerrant word by means of exegesis and theology––both the narrow activity of identifying and drawing out what God was actually saying through his human authors in specific passages and the broader activity of relating this message to God’s overarching purpose in redemption culminating in Christ, with specific application to our present situation.
The move from exegesis to theology includes at least twelve interrelated steps:
(1) genre,
(2) literary units and text hierarchy,
(3) text criticism,
(4) translation,
(5) clause and text grammar,
(6) argument-tracing,
(7) word and concept studies,
(8, 9) historical and literary context,
(10, 11, 12) biblical, systematic, and practical theology.
圣经诠释:总论
定义
诠释圣经是个人发现上帝通过其人类作者所赋予圣经文本的意义和效果的过程。通过释经学和神学,人们可以评估、综合并应用上帝无误的圣言。
概括
本研究阐明了我们为何必须诠释圣经,总结了指导我们诠释的前提,并提供了一套诠释方法。圣经在生活的方方面面都占据着基础性的地位,圣经本身也强调,为了在主面前无愧,我们必须忠实地诠释圣经。忠实地诠释圣经要求我们视其为神的话语,假定圣经的真理是可知的,要求我们做出恰当的回应,并要求我们依靠神来完成这项任务。诠释的过程在于个人地发现神通过其人类作者所赋予圣经文本的意义和效果。这包括运用释经学和神学来评估、综合和应用神无误的话语——既包括狭义地识别和阐释神通过其人类作者在特定经文中实际表达的内容,也包括广义地将这一信息与神在救赎中的总体旨意(最终在基督里达到顶峰)联系起来,并将其具体应用于我们当下的处境。
从释经学到神学至少包含十二个相互关联的步骤:
(1) 文体,
(2) 文学单元和文本层级,
(3) 文本批评,
(4) 翻译,
(5) 从句和文本语法,
(6) 论证追踪,
(7) 词语和概念研究,
(8, 9) 历史和文学语境,
(10, 11, 12) 圣经神学、系统神学和实践神学。
What's in your Bible ( versions ) ?
Bible Version Verse Comparison Charts
What's in your Bible?
- Westcott and Hort's Magic Marker Binge (1/2), (2/2)
Would you take a magic marker to your Bible and cross out words from passages? This chart illustrates what was done when the text used by Christianity for 1800 years was replaced with a text assembled by Westcott and Hort in the nineteenth century and now serves as the basis for nearly all modern New Testament translations. - Various contradictions and omissions
A table-style view of some differences between Bible versions including verses that are indisputably contradictory. - Bible Versions and the Preeminence of Christ
A table-style view of how our Lord is addressed in different Bible versions.
One of the fundamental deceptions being promoted by modern Bible publishers is that the new Bibles are merely in different styles of writing; that they are simply easier to read than the KJV; that nothing is being removed or changed in God's word.
There are many problems with these claims. Here we will focus on the claim that "all versions really say the same thing."
Why is this important? It is simple: if two books say different things, or if two books say inherently contradictory things, or if of two books one says more than the other, they cannot both be God's word. This is simple, basic logic. To say otherwise is to accuse the Holy Spirit of doublespeak.
There are many, many reasons for the differences we are about to examine. One of the primary reasons for these differences is that the underlying original-language text of the Bible that was used for 1800 years has been replaced by modern scholarship with a text that was assembled in the nineteenth century. There are several articles on this website describing this fact and these competing texts (their sources, history, and content), and you are encouraged to read them.
But the purpose of these comparisons is mainly to show you that anyone telling you there is no substantive difference between the KJV and modern Bibles is either ignorant or intentionally deceiving you. You simply cannot see the differences and honestly say they do not exist!
Do these verse charts in some way prove that the KJV is perfect? Of course not, and they are not meant to. What these charts will do is stir you to study. When you see glaring differences between Bible versions that create shrouds of doubt surrounding the veracity of sola scriptura, you should want to know why these differences exist. I do believe that the very nature of the differences can convince someone that the modern Bibles are corrupt, but that is not the primary goal here. The goal is to prove to you that all Bibles do not say the same thing.
Part 2 :Magic Marker Binge
Westcott and Hort's Magic Marker Binge!
(Part 2: Acts - Revelation)
| Acts | |
| 2:30 | Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, |
| 7:30 | And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel |
| 7:37 | This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; |
| 8:37 | |
| 9:5-6 | And he said, Who art thou, Lord? |
| 10:6 | He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: |
| 16:31 | And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus |
| 17:26 | And hath made of one |
| 20:25 | And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom |
| 20:32 | And now, |
| 23:9 | And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, |
| 24:6-8 | Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, |
| 24:15 | And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection |
| 28:16 | And when we came to Rome, |
| 28:29 | |
| Romans | |
| 1:16 | For I am not ashamed of the gospel |
| 1:29 | Being filled with all unrighteousness, |
| 8:1 | There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, |
| 9:28 | For he will finish the work, and cut it short |
| 10:15 | And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel |
| 11:6 | And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. |
| 13:9 | For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, |
| 14:21 | It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, |
| 15:29 | And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing |
| 16:24 | |
| 1 Corinthians | |
| 1:14 | |
| 5:7 | Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed |
| 6:20 | For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, |
| 7:5 | Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to |
| 10:28 | But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: |
| 11:24 | And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, |
| 11:29 | For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the |
| 15:47 | The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is |
| 16:22-23 | If any man love not the Lord |
| 2 Corinthians | |
| 4:6 | For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of |
| 5:18 | And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by |
| 11:31 | The God and Father of our Lord Jesus |
| Galations | |
| 1:15 | But when it pleased |
| 3:1 | O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, |
| 3:17 | And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God |
| 4:7 | Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God |
| 6:15 | For |
| 6:17 | From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the |
| Ephesians | |
| 3:9 | And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things |
| 3:14 | For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father |
| 5:30 | For we are members of his body, |
| 6:1 | Children, obey your parents |
| 6:10 | Finally, |
| Philippians | |
| 3:16 | Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, |
| Colossians | |
| 1:2 | To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and |
| 1:14 | In whom we have redemption |
| 1:28 | Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ |
| 2:11 | In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of |
| 3:6 | For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh |
| 1 Thessalonians | |
| 1:1 | Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, |
| 2:19 | For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus |
| 3:11 | Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus |
| 3:13 | To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus |
| 2 Thessalonians | |
| 1:8 | In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus |
| 1 Timothy | |
| 1:17 | Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only |
| 2:7 | Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth |
| 3:16 | And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: |
| 4:12 | Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, |
| 6:5 | Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: |
| 2 Timothy | |
| 1:11 | Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher |
| 4:1 | I charge thee therefore before God, and the |
| 4:22 | The Lord |
| Titus | |
| 1:4 | To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and |
| Philemon | |
| 1:6 | That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ |
| 1:12 | Whom I have sent again: thou therefore |
| Hebrews | |
| 1:3 | Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had |
| 2:7 | Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst |
| 3:1 | Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, |
| 7:21 | (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever |
| 10:30 | For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, |
| 10:34 | For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have |
| 11:11 | Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, |
| 1 Peter | |
| 1:22 | Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth |
| 4:1 | Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered |
| 4:14 | If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: |
| 5:10-11 | But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ |
| 2 Peter | |
| 2:17 | These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved |
| 1 John | |
| 1:7 | But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. |
| 2:7 | Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had |
| 4:3 | And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus |
| 4:9 | In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only |
| 4:19 | We love |
| 5:7-8 | |
| 5:13 | These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, |
| Jude | |
| 1:25 | To the only |
| Revelation | |
| 1:8 | I am Alpha and Omega, |
| 1:11 | Saying, |
| 2:13 | I know |
| 5:14 | And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped |
| 6:1 | And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come |
| 11:17 | Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, |
| 12:12 | Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the |
| 12:17 | And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus |
| 14:5 | And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault |
| 16:17 | And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple |
| 20:9 | And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from |
| 21:24 | And the nations |
See more corruptions and omissions.
Magic Marker Binge
Would you take a magic marker to your Bible and cross out words from passages?
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Welcome to the Amazing Westcott and Hort Magic Marker Binge!
The chart below illustrates what was done when the text used by Christianity for 1800 years was replaced with a text assembled by Brook Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort in the nineteenth century and used as the basis for the English Revised Version, which nearly all modern translations closely follow.
The text shown here is the King James Version. Words, sentences, or entire verses in strikethrough illustrate portions that have been removed from the traditional text underlying the KJV New Testament to make the modern critical text. Not all modern versions are the same. Sometimes the ESV will include a word the NIV doesn't, or the NASB might omit a phrase the NIV and NRSV both retain, etc... but for the most part, the examples below represent nearly all of the popular modern versions. (Psudeo-KJV versions such as the NKJV are far more subtle and are a different case. See the articles section for NKJV examinations.)
Compare your modern version and see what the KJV has that yours doesn't. This list is not comprehensive, it is just a sample! The modern critical text that forms the basis for nearly all modern versions omits the equivalent of the entire books of 1st and 2nd Peter.
A note before we get started...
Critics commonly charge that the traditional Bible text used by believers for 1800 years adds material, and that we should be thankful for Westcott and Hort who came along in the 19th century to restore the text of the New Testament that had been corrupt for 1800 years and during the entire reformation. This charge is of course made against evidence to the contrary, as you will find if you research the text lines (read other articles on this website). Further, it is interesting to note that one of these verses is this:
Romans 13:9: For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The phrase "thou shalt not bear false witness" is missing from the modern critical text (and therefor most modern versions). Now I ask you: is it reasonable to assume that a scribe added a self-incriminating phrase to the passage? Isn't it more likely that "those who corrupt the word of God" (2 Cor. 2:17, KJV) removed the phrase which indicted them?
Now on to Westcott and Hort's Magic Marker Binge!
(Part 1: Matthew - John)
| Matthew | |
| 1:25 | And knew her not till she had brought forth her |
| 5:44 | But I say unto you, Love your enemies, |
| 6:13 | And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: |
| 6:33 | But seek ye first the kingdom |
| 8:29 | And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, |
| 9:13 | But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners |
| 12:35 | A good man out of the good treasure |
| 13:51 | |
| 15:8 | This people |
| 16:3 | And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. |
| 16:20 | Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was |
| 17:21 | |
| 18:11 | |
| 19:9 | And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: |
| 19:17 | And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, |
| 20:7 | They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; |
| 20:16 | So the last shall be first, and the first last: |
| 20:22 | But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, |
| 23:14 | |
| 25:13 | Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour |
| 27:35 | And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: |
| 28:9 | And |
| Mark | |
| 1:14 | Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel |
| 1:31 | And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and |
| 2:17 | When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners |
| 6:11 | And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. |
| 6:16 | But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen |
| 7:8 | For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, |
| 7:16 | |
| 9:24 | And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, |
| 9:42 | And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe |
| 9:44 | |
| 9:46 | |
| 9:49 | For every one shall be salted with fire, |
| 10:21 | Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, |
| 11:10 | Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh |
| 13:14 | But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, |
| 13:33 | Take ye heed, watch |
| 14:68 | But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; |
| 15:28 | |
16:9-20
| |
| Luke | |
| 1:28 | And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: |
| 4:4 | And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, |
| 4:8 | And Jesus answered and said unto him, |
| 4:41 | And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art |
| 7:31 | |
| 9:54-56 | And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, |
| 11:2-4 | And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father |
| 11:29 | And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas |
| 17:36 | |
| 21:4 | For all these have of their abundance |
| 22:31 | |
| 22:64 | And when they had blindfolded him, |
| 23:17 | |
| 23:38 | And a superscription also was written over him in |
| 23:42 | And he said unto Jesus, |
| 24:6 | |
| 24:40 | |
| 24:49 | And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city |
| 24:51 | And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, |
| John | |
| 1:14 | And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only |
| 1:27 | He it is, who coming after me is |
| 3:13 | And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man |
| 3:15 | That whosoever believeth in him |
| 4:42 | And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed |
| 5:3-4 | In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, |
| 6:47 | Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth |
| 6:69 | And we believe and are sure that thou art |
| 11:41 | Then they took away the stone from the place |
| 16:16 | A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, |
| 17:12 | While I was with them |