Chapter 4: Principles of Interpretation. When I pulled the package out of my mailbox, I knew exactly what was inside of it: it was more abstracts from Texas Utilities Mining Company. An abstract is a compilation of all of the deeds and other instruments affecting the chain of title to a particular tract of land. I was in store for another day or two of dull reading, yet hundreds of thousands of dollars would hinge on my interpretation of the reams of deeds and other documents contained in the abstracts.
With that much at stake, I couldn't afford to just guess about things. No, I had to use reliable principles of interpretation. The first principle of interpretation we have considered is, basically, common sense: begin with a blank slate. The second principle is just as basic: start at the very beginning. I always begin a title examination by first reading the patent. The patent is the instrument by which the government originally conveyed a land to a private owner.
In Texas, this usually means going back to sometime before 1850, often back to when Mexico owned the land. Once I have studied the patent, I then trace the title forward, reading every single deed—lease, will, mortgage, lien, and other instrument that may affect title to the land. I would never dream of skipping over to the 20th century when deeds began to be typewritten, and beginning at that point. Likewise, when interpreting any single document, such as a deed or will, I always start at the beginning.
I don't skip down to the middle of the document and then start reading. This same principle applies to Scripture. When searching for the truths of Christianity, this means going back to the words of Jesus himself. This is a rather obvious principle, yet here the majority of evangelical Christians get sidetracked. They begin with Paul, not Jesus. Many evangelicals virtually ignore Jesus's teachings, claiming that they apply to an earlier dispensation or to the kingdom age.
Others reshape Jesus's words in order to make them fit Paul's words. How very strange. Jesus said, "A disciple is not above his teacher." Matthew 10:24. Yet we make Paul the disciple greater than Jesus the teacher. We subordinate Jesus to Paul. We understand Jesus's words only in the context of Paul's writings. In sharp contrast, the early Christians understood Paul in the context of Jesus's teachings. Their gospel was, above all, the gospel of Jesus.
Principle number 2: Start at the beginning, with the teachings of Jesus. Our upside-down approach to Scripture is a fairly new tradition. It began with Martin Luther, who said that the Book of Romans is the chief part of the New Testament. We may not use his exact words, but in practice we follow in his footsteps. However, a common sense approach to Scripture requires us to begin with the author of Christianity, Jesus Christ, not with Paul.
In our illustration of discovering what Scripture teaches about salvation, it means that we begin with the four gospels. The American Law Institute states another common sense principle that document lawyers use: where language has a generally prevailing meaning, it is interpreted in accordance with that meaning. In other words, begin by giving all words their ordinary, plain meaning. Principle number 3: When reading Scripture, begin by giving each sentence its literal meaning if taken alone.
In applying these common sense principles to our illustrative study of salvation, it would mean that as you read through the New Testament, give each verse its plain, literal meaning. At this stage, don't worry about trying to harmonize any verse with what other verses may have to say. That will come later. At the same time, it's essential that you look at every statement in the New Testament that pertains to salvation, or that may pertain to salvation. No sentence in Scripture was intended to stand alone.
Statements in one portion of the Bible often intermesh with statements made elsewhere. That's true for all written documents. For that reason, the American Law Institute has laid down this additional principle: a writing is interpreted as a whole, and all writings that are part of the same transaction are interpreted together. Restating this in the context of Scripture interpretation, we have Principle number 4: look at every statement in Scripture that applies, or could apply, to the topic being considered.
In short, it is not enough to simply give each passage in Scripture its most natural, literal meaning. It is equally important to consider all of the passages of Scripture that relate, or that might relate, to the subject under consideration. Next subheading: Putting it all together. Now let's review these four common sense principles we have considered up through this point. 1) Begin with a blank slate. 2) Start at the beginning, with the teachings of Jesus.
3) When reading Scripture, give each sentence its literal meaning if taken alone. 4) Look at every statement in Scripture that applies, or could apply, to the topic being considered. After finishing this book, I encourage you to follow these steps to see what Scriptures really teach about salvation. I did that very thing several years ago, but I'm not going to tell you what conclusions I came to. I want to see what conclusions you come to on your own.
Besides, I don't want to digress by getting into a protracted discussion about a major theological issue. Rather, for the sake of brevity, let's begin with a topic about which the New Testament has very little to say: the woman's prayer covering. In fact, only one passage in the New Testament even discusses this subject: 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. The prayer covering makes an ideal topic for our discussion because nobody would regard it as one of the key doctrines of Christianity.
So we should be able to talk openly and honestly about it without getting sidetracked from our real topic: understanding Scripture. This subject is ideal in another way. It will really put our system to the test. That's because 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 contains several ambiguous statements that modern Christians have interpreted in a variety of ways. Let's read this passage together, keeping in mind our four principles of interpretation.