thoughts and ruminations while in exile (1 Pet. 2:11)

These are just some thoughts I had as I begin my roughdraft. What you see in this blog, as well as those in the future may not appear in my final draft. However, I do want to get you excited about my final project. Here is what I've got so far:

One of, if not the most perplexing issue of studying the Bible is interpretation. Many throughout church history have lamented all of the divisions within Christendom. In light of the fact that in John 17 Jesus prayed for His people to be one, Christians have sought to be obedient to our Lord's prayer. If all Christians desire to be obedient to Jesus, and wholeheartedly long to please Him, why is there so much division in the church? Of course, the most obvious answer is sin. However, all of this division rises from the fact that the people who love Jesus and want to serve Him, understand what He says differently. This is certainly a distressing situation.
In fact, it is this very issue that can lead persons into nihilism. In light of all of the different interpretations being put forth, even the late renowned theologian Carl Henry asked, "Can we escape hermeneutical nihilism?" (God, Revelation, and Authority, 296). Is it even possible to understand the Bible? How can so many well respected theologians disagree on what the Bible says? At a more pastoral level, what is the average Christian to do? If the intelligentsia disagree, what chance does the lay-person have?

The response of some is to dismiss all of this discussion with a cavalier attitude and say it is only a problem for the academy. Such a response is indicative of the rampant anti-intellectualism that currently pervades the church. It seems that there is still a wariness of too much study. The idea is that if a Christian reads or studies too much, he or she will become cold to the things of the Lord. This is the age-old dichotomy between the head and the heart; a dichotomy the Lord never intended to exist in the first place. After all, was not this the problem the scholastics made? The backlash of all of this study is still witnessed today in those traditions which descend from the Pietist movement.

All that has been said is to highlight the fact that this issue is important for every Christian. This is true since every Christian (hopefully) reads the Bible. The importance can be stated this way: you can have a Bible, you can read a Bible, but unless you understand what the text means by what it says you do not have the message. It makes absolutely no sense to expend all your efforts to read the Bible if you do not apprehend what God means by what He says. You can read all the commentaries in the world, buy the best study Bible available, but if you disagree with what the commentator writes you will simply say, "Well, this guy is a Baptist, you can't believe what he says because he writes with a bias."

Or, you will hear something like, "It's a good commentary, I just disagree with the writer's opinions about predestination, infant baptism, speaking in tongues, millennial views and the rapture. Other than that it's great!" By now the issue should be settled: how one interprets the Bible is everything. This is not something that should only occupy the time of professional scholars. Every Christian must care about how the Bible is to be interpreted.