Topic: To Avoid Error – Have The Right Interpretation Of
The Scripture (5)
Continued from last episode-
Preamble: There is obvious gross interpretation of the
Scripture as a result of the way and manner the Scripture has been studied and
read. The inappropriate studying and reading of the Scripture has led to wrong
interpretation of the Scripture and that has resulted into wrong application of
what the Scripture says.
Anchor Text:
“And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the
prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?”
Acts 8:30
Text of Interest:
“But ye have not so learned Christ;”
Ephesians 4:20
In any erroneous teaching there is the absence of the
knowledge of the truth in it, and that makes it an error. Therefore, we should be
looking at how to communicate that which is the knowledge of the truth; this is
very important because it is the crux of the matter and cannot be overlooked.
Firstly, we should accept the fact that the message of the Scripture is
communicated mainly in writing and not verbally and the written words are a
product of human languages. This implies that no part of the Scripture is
written in “heavenly” or spiritual language though the thought behind them are
heavenly or spiritual. Having said that, it is also vital to accept that these
languages are just a projection of human ideas or ideologies because their
development and making never came from heaven they are man’s invention. On this
note, for one to have the right understanding of what the scriptures are saying,
it is therefore pertinent and imperative for such a person to study the
languages in which the scriptures are written.
This factor is very important, because most of the errors
we witness these days is as a result of lack of understanding of the root languages
of the Scripture. The original manuscripts of the Scriptures are written in two
major languages which are the Hebrew language for the Old Testament and the
Greek language for the New Testament. From these two major languages the
Scriptures have been translated into many other languages in the world today.
In this part of the world where I dwell, what we have is Scripture translated
from Hebrews to English and from Greek to English, as a result of that what we
have is Scripture written in English language.
It is interesting for one to know that during the time of
translation of the Scripture from its original languages to English, the
English language has not fully developed to the level at which it is in this
present day. So many words in the original languages couldn’t find a better
expression in the English language because of its limitation. Because of this,
so many words in the original languages lost their proper meaning in the
content and context they were used and hence their translated meaning somehow
becomes obscured to comprehend. In this case, the meaning of so many words in
the English translated Scripture are understood literally but when one goes to
the original or root words he or she discovers that these words have different
interpretation and can be expressed differently.
Therefore, to understand the English translated Scripture
one has to read and study the content, context, pretest and posttest by this
method, one can ascertain for sure the meaning of the English words used by the
translators. This shows that no word in the English translated Bible should be
taken literally unless one has gone through the process I have stated
above. For instance, to understand what
I am saying, let’s see this verse in the Bible.
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but
he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Matthew 10:22
In the verse above, many have come to the conclusion that
endurance can lead people to their salvation. Because it says in the verse
that, “but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” The truth is that the
word endureth and saved are two different English words and can only be
understood by their usage in the content and context of the writing. On this
note, accepting the fact that endurance can lead one to salvation is an error
because doctrinally, endurance cannot bring someone to salvation therefore, the
meaning of that word ‘endureth in the verse is not what it appears to mean
literally.
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on basking in the Arena
of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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