An Apostolic Approach to Scripture
The Bible is the infallible Word of God and the supreme authority for salvation, Christian living, and Christian ministry. "The Holy Scriptures … are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:15–17, NKJV). Since God gave His Word to teach and benefit us, by a diligent, humble, multifaceted study of the Bible we can understand God's message for us today.
All of us make certain assumptions when we interpret the Bible. Instead of unknowingly following certain traditions and presuppositions, we should use principles and methods of interpretation that are consistent with our high view of Scripture and that are based on Scripture itself.
The Hermeneutical Spiral
Hermeneutics is the science and art of interpretation. It is science because there are principles to follow. It is art because there is a subjective element of discernment and judgment with honest-hearted people differing to some extent based on their personalities, backgrounds, experiences, and theological assumptions. Interpretation includes both understanding the Word and applying the Word. Application not only means applying general principles to specific situations but also applying ancient statements to modern contexts.
As modern readers, we are removed from the historical and cultural context of Scripture. We bring our own presuppositions to the biblical text and are involved in the development of meaning for today. We should approach the Bible with an attitude of learning, allowing it to inform and correct our beliefs. Of necessity, we start with a pre-understanding and use it in interpreting the text. But we should modify our pre-understanding by what we learn from the text and then go back to the text for a new interpretation based on our modified understanding. We continue the process until we perceive that our understanding fits the total expression of the Bible. We can describe this process as the "hermeneutical spiral," because the goal is to get progressively closer to an accurate understanding as we continue to compare our interpretation to the biblical text itself.
This process is necessary if we are to acknowledge the Bible as the Word of God and the revelation of eternal truth. On one hand, we cannot pretend that, without any self-analysis or reflection, our commonsense reading of the text will directly and automatically lead us to a neutral, objective, timeless meaning of the text. On the other hand, we cannot abandon the search for divine intention and objective meaning. Thus, we must start by identifying and acknowledging our pre-understanding and then test and correct it by our reading of the text even as we use it to approach the text.
The Grammatical-Historical Method
Since the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we must allow the Bible to teach and correct us instead of adapting its message to fit our preconceptions and desires. We should approach a passage by asking: What does the text say? What did the writer intend to convey? What did God intend by inspiring these words? We should not start by asking: How does it support my view? What do I want it to say? We should seek to bring meaning out of the text, which is exegesis, instead of putting our preferred meaning into the text.
We can call this method of interpretation grammatical-historical. It is grammatical because it derives the meaning from the grammatical context—the definition of words and their grammatical forms and relationships. It is historical because it derives the meaning from the historical context, seeking to understand the words and expressions when they were written. Moreover, it focuses on the natural or usual implication of an expression, the ordinary and apparent meaning of words in their literary, social, and theological context.
The Bible's origin and message are unique, but fundamentally its use of language is not. Since it is divinely inspired, some of its statements have fuller implications or fulfillments than the human authors realized, and its principles have applications in our culture and time that were unknown to the original readers. Nevertheless, these implications, fulfillments, and applications must be rooted in the grammatical-historical meaning of the text.
This approach results in a relatively literal interpretation of Scripture, but it does not deny the existence of figurative language. Sometimes the biblical writers used idioms, figures of speech, symbols, and special literary forms. When we determine by grammatical-historical analysis that they intended a statement to be figurative, then we must interpret it as such. Moreover, God sometimes established types in the Old Testament to foreshadow truth in the New, and we can discern the divine intention by a careful study of both testaments.
The alternative to grammatical-historical interpretation is the allegorical method, which seeks to find a hidden, "spiritual" meaning beneath the apparent one. The interpreter comes to the text with his or her own beliefs and finds hidden parallels to them in the text. The problem with this method is that the interpreter imposes his or her own theology upon the text, and the Bible ceases to be the authoritative source of instruction, guidance, and correction.
As an example of the allegorical method, the fifth-century writer Jerome interpreted the good ground in the parable of the sower in terms of marriage. The plants that produced a hundredfold are virgins, the sixtyfold are widowed, and the thirtyfold are married. This interpretation does not arise from the text itself but from an unbiblical presupposition that celibacy is more sacred than marriage.
Apostolic Distinctives
Conservative Christians generally reject the allegorical method in favor of the grammatical-historical. Yet many do not accept key Apostolic Pentecostal beliefs such as the oneness of God, the new birth according to Acts 2:38, and some practical applications of holiness. To a great extent these distinctives stem from specific principles of interpretation unique to Apostolics or that Apostolics emphasize more than other groups do. We briefly identify six such principles and explain how they come from the Bible itself.
1. Apostolic Authority. Apostolics regard the preaching, teaching, experience, and practice of the apostles as normative and authoritative. Jesus commissioned the apostles to establish the church, proclaim the gospel, and teach His commandments. The early believers continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. For most groups today, the message and experience of the apostles is only the starting point for theological discussion, but for Apostolics it is the ending point. For this reason, Apostolics emphasize that baptism in Jesus' name and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial sign of tongues are commands for the church today.
2. Old Testament Foundation and New Testament Fulfillment. The Old Testament is the foundation for the New. God revealed truth to the apostolic church by using the law as a tutor to lead people to Christ. Instead of reading the New Testament through the lenses of church tradition and creeds, we read it with the concepts and definitions of the Old Testament in mind. Thus, when we read in the New Testament that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh, we understand Him to be the revelation of the one true God of the Old Testament. We should not change the definition of God to allow a plurality of persons.
3. Centrality of the One God in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead incarnate and the supreme revelation of God to us. His atoning death, burial, and resurrection are the focal point of human history. Therefore, we interpret the whole of Scripture in light of the revelation of the one God in Jesus Christ.
4. Importance of Spiritual Illumination and Spiritual Experience. The carnal mind cannot understand the things of God, for they must be discerned spiritually. While the grammatical-historical method can help anyone understand the basic teaching of Scripture, in order to appreciate its true significance and make proper application to our lives, we need the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in order to have a good understanding of the supernatural, such as the gifts of the Spirit, we must have experience in the realm of the Spirit. Experience does not become our authority for doctrine, but it helps us to understand and apply the Word of God to our lives. It becomes part of the hermeneutical spiral.
5. Interpretation in Light of the End Time. Jesus taught that it is important to discern the time in which we are living. We interpret Scripture with the realization that we live under the new covenant, in the time of the great latter-day outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in the last age before the coming of the Lord. We apply Scripture in light of the urgency of His coming.
6. Presumption of Relevance and Applicability. All Scripture is given for our admonition. While culture has changed from Bible days, we still must follow the principles of the Bible. In every area of our lives, from adornment and dress to sexual morality and marriage, we must obey the practical instructions of the New Testament to the church.
—David K. Bernard
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