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| Dale Melchin Commentaries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volume 1 Edition 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What's wrong with the world today? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scriptural Illiteracy | By Dale Melchin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After spending much time thinking about it I have managed to identify at least 8 problems in mainstream evangelicalism.� If you can tell me more please email me and I will write articles on those as well.� I will first list them all and then I will deal with the first one on the list.� In the coming weeks I will deal with the other 7 in detail. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6)Always, always remember that Scripture has a particular context.� Certain people wrote it to certain people, for a certain reason.� So we must make our best attempt to understand Scripture from the mindset of the authors and of the people that lived during those times.� If we don't seek that first before moving into application, we will have more trouble. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1) Scriptural Illiteracy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2)Scriptural Unfaithfulness | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3) Lousy leadership | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obviously, I am only 22 years old.� I don't have the last word on such matters.� I will have a link to a booklist for hermeneutics and other such things so you can go further in your own studies.� However, I believe if you follow these principles in interpreting Scripture you will be on the path to understanding the Bible more than you were before.� Not to sound pragmatic, but if it worked for me, it can work for you too. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4) Anti-intellectualism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5)Divorcement from Historic Christianity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6) Historical Ignorance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7)The Importing of Humanism into the church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8) Parental Unfaithfulness | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I would like to highlight Scriptural Illiteracy first.� This is not the same thing as biblical ignorance.� Illiteracy is mostly unintentional whereas ignorance is intentional.� You have to actively ignore something in order to be IGNORE-ant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next week, Scriptural Unfaithfulness. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Email me with your questions, or comments. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [email protected] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First let us look at illiteracy is in the clinical sense.� It is the inability to read or comprehend written speech.� Sometimes possibly spoken speech.� Now working from that analogy it is not necessarily the fault of the person who is illiterate that they got that way.� Maybe the parent weren't diligent to teach the child, or maybe the quality of education they received wasn't very high (which is another article entirely).� Never the less they can't read.� Now when the person realizes they can't read or comprehend written speech, that is when they should begin to take responsibility and do something about it.� If they know they have a problem and don?t make an effort to fix it, then they are fully to blame for any continued consequences of not being able to read. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recommended Reading | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This link will take you to the Classical Christian Etheral Library. I probably would endorse most of the books they have on hermenutics. Happy hunting! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missed Last Week's Issue Click Here! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEW! From the Hip By Adam Kuehner Volume 1 Issue 1 Volume 1 Issue 2 Volume 1 Issue 3 Volume 1 Issue 4 Volume 1 Issue 5 Bonus Material |
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| Contents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About the Author of All Things | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Now, let us look at illiteracy as it relates to biblical things.� A person might read the Scriptures and not understand all of what is going on.� They might understand the words or some concepts, but where things relate that is the problem.� In fact faulty ideas may even come from the lack of understanding.� What should we do?� Take the Bible away from the populace?� NO, that's Roman Catholicism.� So what should we do?� We should learn hermeneutics, the art/science of interpretation.� We however cannot learn just any hermeneutics because that may result in even more faulty ideas.� I offer a few solutions to this problem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1) Read Scripture with the church fathers.� The people who lived closest to Jesus' time will have a better understanding of things that we moderns can on our own. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2) Read Scripture with the Protestant Reformers.� These men recovered what the Roman Catholic Church lost. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3) Have Scripture interpret Scripture.� This principle of hermeneutics will save people a lot of time and trouble.� If there is something in Scripture that doesn't make sense, look it up in the Strong's concordance and study the theme through out the Scriptures.� Looking up words to find there meaning through the Scriptures is very helpful and can shed light on a lot of problem passages. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4) A corollary to these principles is this:� Not more can be said other than what has been said already.� In other words, we should listen to those people who have interpreted the Scriptures before us.� When I say us I mean people like the Early Church fathers or the Protestant Reformers.� The fathers are good for bridging the culture gap, but I don't recommend we get all of our theology from them. However, using both will help us hasten our understanding of the Bible.� When we go along with the historic interpretation rather than interpretations that are only 200 years old, we stand a better chance of getting a correct grasp of the passage.� It is also very unwise to attempt to strike on your own in interpreting Scripture.� That usually leads to heresy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5) Always remember the literal interpretation of Scripture.� This was a principle of interpretation that was rediscovered during the Protestant Reformation.� It means to interpret Scripture according to the kind of literature that it is.� I.E.� We don?t make didactic passages of Scripture (such as Paul? letters) to be allegorical.� And we don?t turn the locusts in Revelation into tanks.� If it is prophetic, we interpret it like prophecy.� If it is Poetry, like poetry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||