This lesson is part of Mel Lawrenz’ “How to Study the Bible” series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.
Some people believe that, because there have been so many different interpretations of the Bible over the centuries, trying to get at its actual meaning is almost hopeless. Nothing could be further from the truth. While there will always be small details in the biblical text that seem elusive to understand, the basic meaning of the Bible, passage by passage, is accessible to us all. Think of it this way: when Paul wrote a letter to a group of a believers he meant something specific and he wanted to be understood. So also David writing a Psalm or Jeremiah speaking an oracle or the writer of Chronicles giving a timeline or Luke giving his “orderly account” of the details of the life and ministry of Jesus. And, if the Bible is the word of God, we can also assume this: God wants to be understood. God has graced us with wisdom and guidance, with confrontation and warning, with love and hope—all delivered through the words of the prophets and apostles.
There are a few basic principles of Bible interpretation that actually apply to understanding any text. If we can hold these ideas in our heads when we read Scripture, most of what we read will be clear.
1. The simplest and most natural explanation of a Biblical text is always the best. This is how your friend expects you to read and understand a letter or an email, and this is what the writers of Scripture expected when they wrote. If the text says that Jesus and his disciples traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem, that is exactly what they meant.
2. The Bible is its own best interpreter. Most of the expressions in Scripture that seem challenging or mysterious have probably appeared in Scripture elsewhere. We therefore look up and cross reference these instances, and the meaning becomes clear.
3. Recognize how figurative language works. The metaphors and similes, parables and symbols of Scripture are powerful ways the writers communicated. When Jesus said he was the “door” of the sheepfold, he gave us a memorable figurative expression of his protection. Symbolic and figurative language is not inferior to the literal.
4. Take an expression as literal when the natural way of reading the text is to take the words in their usual sense. Jesus is not literally a door, but when in John 20 it says that the disciples were gathered behind locked doors, we take door there in its normal literal sense. Unfortunately, sometimes today we use the word literal to mean really or truly, which is not what the word literal has historically meant, and it causes confusion. If someone says, “it’s literally raining cats and dogs outside,” he or she does not mean pets are dropping from the sky. So yes, we take the Bible to be literal where its language is meant to be literal, but figurative where the biblical authors intended to be figurative or symbolic. One is not superior to the other.
5. The methods we use to understand the Bible are basically the same as the way we interpret any written text. We get at the meaning of words, the way words work together, the background of the texts, the historical setting of the text, etc. The outcome we get is the life-changing word of God, but the way we come to understand that is the way we interpret written texts in general. (This, by the way, is why ordinary believers can read and understand the Bible for themselves rather than being dependent upon a few enlightened teachers who are the only ones who can understand the Bible.)
6. A particular biblical text has a particular meaning. It may be applied in various ways, but the meaning is specific to the intent of the author. This prevents us from making biblical texts mean whatever we want them to mean, which is an insult to the intent of God.
7. The Bible has large controlling themes, and these help us with interpreting its various parts. In the Old Testament the idea of God’s promise, of covenant, of the people of God, of the land, are a few examples of the major ideas. In the New Testament, the central theme is Jesus the Christ. From the perspective of the New Testament we understand how the coming Messiah is a central theme in the Old Testament as well.
Interpreting the Bible correctly is the way we respect the biblical authors, revere God, and best help ourselves with the actual truth of God.
Mel Lawrenz trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s minister at large. He has a Ph.D. in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel is the author of 18 books, the latest, How to Understand the Bible—A Simple Guide and Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.