Tag: r c sproul

Thoughts on Interpreting Scripture

The process of reading, interpreting and ultimately understanding what the Bible says ought to be the greatest priority of the follower of Jesus.

I am reading through some material that has been sitting on my desk (and floor, for that matter) and interacting with it. I will be doing this more often over the next few weeks. This will give me a way of putting this information on the site and providing a way to search through a lot of material quickly.

I came across this article by R. C. Sproul, Sr., in Tabletalk Magazine. In it Dr. Sproul is looking at how do we interact and interpret the Bible. The following reflections and quotation page numbers are taken from the January 2011 magazine.

Two Principles to Govern Interpretation

1. The Analogy of Faith: This is the idea that scripture is its own interpreter. What this means on a practical level is that a through investigation of what the Bible has to say on a subject should be done before any exploration of other sources.

2. “Sensus literalis“: This does not mean that “every text in the Scriptures is given a “woodenly literal” interpretation, but rather that we must interpret the Bible in the sense in which it is written” (6). What this means is that we do not violate the laws of grammar or genre in order to arrive at an understanding of what the text says. Sproul makes this plainly clear.

“Though the Bible is not like any other book in that is carries with it the authority of divine inspiration, nevertheless, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit over a written text does not turn verbs into nouns or nouns into verbs. No special, secret, arcane, esoteric meaning is pourted into a text simply because it’s divinely inspiried. … No, the Bible is to be interpreted according to the ordinary rules of language.” (6-7)

At the heart of this principle is the idea that we start with what we know and understand and then trying to make sense of those areas that are not as clear. In order to treat the Bible as a cohesive text we have to maintain that sense as we engage it. To do otherwise is to violate the integrity of the message that the bible contains. Sproul provided this clarifying thought. “Though we affirm the basic clarity of the sacred Scripture, we do not at the same time say that all passage are equally clear” (7).

The process of reading, interpreting and ultimately understanding what the Bible says ought to be the greatest priority of the follower of Jesus. These two principles are helpful guides as you study.

Let me know if you agree with Dr. Sproul or not…

When The Church Looks Like The World

I came across the following article on Ligonier Ministries, the online home of Dr. R. C. Sproul, Sr. In the article you see some of Michael Horton‘s thoughts from the forward to Sproul’s new book-length critique of Roman Catholicism. Horton outlines four disturbing trends that seem to be infiltrating and becoming the norm with in the evangelical church.

Here are the four trends that Horton identifies in the article:

  1. We are all too confident in our own words
  2. We are all too confident in our own methods
  3. We are all too confident in our own good works
  4. We are all too enamored of our own glory

Horton provides some further explanation of what he means by each of these. While these trends are related and connected they are each detrimental to in and of themselves. Our failure to see, evaluate and fight against these trends is no excuse. As the church, we have a responsibility to guard our hearts with and for the Gospel.

What makes these trends particularly disturbing to me is how easy they have been accepted in the church. At times I wonder if we actually think we are getting the Christian faith correctly, when we might in fact be getting it wrong. That is the most disconcerting reality that these trends reveal. Over the course of the last few years I have come to realize that while there are a few areas that need significant improvement in the church, there is one that is terribly lacking–we no longer see theology as important or necessary. Theology is what academics, theologians and pastors do. That is not for the “lay” person. The study of theology is not about getting degrees or increase ones knowledge. At the heart of theology is God himself. To devout our lives to the studying of the person of God. This should be the desire of every child of God.

This discrepancy was pointed out when I had a conversation with a friend at a recent weekend retreat. He was talking about my tendency to use “church” words when I talked. He was describing how he felt that doing this could potentially be discouraging to young listeners or new believers. However, he had started to tell me that this was changing for him because in every other area of life we have to learn the vocabulary. If you are a doctor, lawyer, engineer, baseball player or online gamer, you have to learn the lingo. Why is the church so afraid to educate her members?

I have some thoughts about why we do this. They tend toward the not so flattering, so I will keep them to myself for the moment. For the time being I’ll just say that part of it is fear in one form or another. Feel free to read the article below and comment your thoughts.

[Source: 4 Disturbing Trends in the Contemporary Church.]

Learning How to Mourn is Never Easy | “Missing Missing” by R.C. Sproul Jr.

R. C. Sproul Jr., a theologian and apologist in his own right, is the son of R. C. Sproul Sr. (I know that’s just crazy right!). Anyway, late last year his wife passed away. In this post, R. C. Sproul Jr., speaks about the process of mourning. It is moving and difficult to read. You find yourself wondering and imagining how you would feel in those same circumstances. And yet, there is comfort in knowing that Jesus is good and God is most loving to those that serve him.

These sentences serve as an example of what I mean.

She has, rightly, wisely, and through the very love of our Savior, left me. And I feel lost. By His grace, however, I have a path to follow. For His pierced feet leave bloody prints all the way out of the valley, all the way up the mountain. I will follow Him, who promised to be with me, even until the end of the age. [Source]

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