For Christians, how do you interpret the scripture?

Question

Experience is interpreted through scripture

Scripture is interpreted through experience

Julia, kindly refrain from answering my questions. I was not asking you.

Answer 1

some scripture is clear in meaning and mentioned many times in the bible, it like a puzzle, some meaning give more info than others, but when you put it together then i gives the 100% clear meaning...theolgians call this harmonutics or something like that

some scripture is called a "grey area" which means it can be looked at in different way and people can view it different way, kinda like looking at a cloud in the sky , you will see things in the cloud different than i do becuase you personality and feelings are different than mine, but the bible teaches us to search God on this (see 1 john 2:27) and not the church, which churches like to tell you their opinion on this rather than telling you to seek god on it

Answer 2

The language of scripture clues the reader in to different suitable matters which perceive parameters, context, and matters that isn't be obvious upon preliminary examining in accordance with one million Cor. 2:13. case in point: Acts 3:19 cf. Isaiah 28:12 Gen. 3:15 cf. Rom. sixteen:20 Heb. 12:14 cf. Matt. 5:8 Acts 17:26 cf. Isaiah 10:13 etc.... (be conscious - those could basically be obvious interior the KJV) collectively as claiming to base interpretation on custom, and the pope's infallibility whilst conversing ex-cathedra, what extremely occurs is that the Catholic church comes to a decision doctrines and traditions that are expedient for their church and administration. Then they re-interpret (or push aside as beside the point) scriptures to examine those expedient doctrines. additionally, the RCC holds custom (Mk. 7:9, 13; Col. 2:8; ) at a greater physically powerful point of authority than the Bible. Their chain of command in this order is: one million. custom 2. The Magisterium (chain of command from pope on down...) 3. Then scripture with apocrypha, interpreted with the help of them

Answer 3

Actually both ways, one believes, are fully adequate for the understanding of scripture. Man does not live on bread alone, as the book says! We have no terms of reference in understanding the written word unless we have some knowledge of the world of which it speaks. We experience the meaning of the words in the world it describes and we reflect upon the world using the words we read.

Scripture is forever a window that can be gazed through in both directions and in so doing the meaning of the text is further enriched.

I hope that you are not offended with a non-Christian answering this question, but one feels that we have a common hermenuetical goal here.

Answer 4

Well, first I must suggest that people learn good hermeneutic skills. But one of the most important things to keep in mind when reading and interpreting the Bible is to read it with an "authorial intent" mindset instead of a "reader response" mindset. Reader response ask the question "what does this verse mean to me?" and causes all kinds of mis-interpretations and other problems. Authorial intent ask the question "What is the author trying to say here?" Doing so will gives a more accurate interpretation because you are trying to figure out the meaning that the author wanted to give.

Answer 5

The Bible says that God interprets scripture and it has been my experience that examining the rest of the Bible and looking for similarities will usually reveal the meanings of anything in question. Unfortunately, most people are unwilling to spend the time or take the trouble of doing this. They usually just let other people tell them what it means, without ever reading the scriptures for themselves.

Answer 6

In Acts 17:11,12 it talks about the Thessalonicans and Beroeans they were two groups of people who were visited by Paul and Silas. When they were preached to they carefully examined the scriptures, back then they had scrolls that were carefully guarded. Therefore, interpretation is by cross reference and using the whole Bible to understand the scriptures. The Bible is truly a beautiful book written for our benefit as a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father.

Answer 7

Interpretations of the scriptures should be done first off by praying that God will guide you in understanding them. Secondly the scriptures must be viewed in both the cultural, historical, and symbolic view points. Thirdly the interpretation also depends on the perspective and intention of the person trying to understand them. One person can find peace in one verse and another will find a principle for fanatical beliefs.

Answer 8

The Bible, being a compilation, should be read like literature, with account for the time, date, place, background of the author, context, etc. Some books are symbolic poetry, others are historic documents, others are narrative, still others are combinations of the two.

All spiritual experiences should be examined under the microscope of scripture, but not all experiences are spiritual.

Answer 9

Scripture is the "cannon". Cannon means "to measure".

So scripture is the measurement of truth, and it is the measure of all things since it comes from God. Experience, which is subjective, has to always be analyzed through the lens of God's word, which is timeless, objective & unchanging.

Human experience cannot be the measure of all things, since that would place man higher than God.

Answer 10

Scripture interpreted through hermeneutics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics