圣经研究3——他赐给我们圣经: 解释圣经的基础 HGB——第二课   预备释经

目录

一、介绍

二、依靠圣灵工作

默示

神圣源头

人类途径

光照

三、需要人尽力

重要性

影响

解经

互动

经历

四、结论

一、介绍

启动任何项目之前，智慧的做法就是做合适的预备。主耶稣亲自在路加福音第14章举例说明了这一点。他描写一个人想盖一座楼，因为他没有好的预备，结果他的项目就失败了。其实，解释《圣经》和这情形十分相似。要想明白《圣经》的含义是一个复杂的项目，要求人做各种不同类别的活动，这些预备活动其实要贯穿我们的一生之久。因此，我们必须保证以正确的方式来预备我们解释《圣经》。

这是《他赐给我们圣经：释经的基础》这系列的第二课。本系列专注探索跟从基督的人应该如何解释《圣经》。我们给这一课加的标题是「预备释经」，因为我们要关注的，是在我们读《圣经》、解释《圣经》之前，要做的对我们有帮助的事。

我们在这一课要看我们自己预备释经时的两个关键元素。第一，我们要来看我们要依靠圣灵的工作。第二，我们要讲需要我们自己人尽力的问题。让我们首先来看我们需要依靠圣灵的问题。

二、依靠圣灵的工作

当我们提到圣灵时，我们知道不同的基督徒会有不同的回应。可能你来自强调圣灵恩赐的教会，认为日常生活里都有祂的同在，赋予我们能力。可能在你的教会背景中，认为圣灵在信徒日常活动中并没有太多参与。不过，我们所要谈的是圣灵在《圣经》的解释上所做的，会让我们每个人既有确信又得挑战。我们在解释《圣经》时，必须有意识地让自己领受和经历圣灵的引导，因为《圣经》本身在这方面给我们有一些的特定教导。忽视圣灵是极其愚昧的，但是，我们必须要照着《圣经》所教导的来领受圣灵的作为。解释《圣经》时，要依靠圣灵的带领，这究竟是什么意思？

大多数福音派基督徒在理论上承认，圣灵在我们解释《圣经》这件事上发挥至关重要的作用。但是，现代论述《圣经》释经学的学术专著和论述几乎毫不关注圣灵发挥作用的问题。我们而是通常把《圣经》解释看作就像是一个非位格化的事件，一个过程，我们很简单只要实施一系列的原则或方法，就能明白一段经文。但是，《圣经》对释经的观点却是非常位格化的，因为这牵涉到解释《圣经》的人和圣灵这位格之间的互动。

人要有意识地依靠圣灵来解释《圣经》，这样做至关重要，这至少有两个原因。第一，圣灵是《圣经》默示的源头。第二，圣灵赐光照给解释《圣经》的人。

让我们首先来看默示的问题。

默示

我记得有一次，我有机会见到一位著名的作者，他写的书在我基督徒人生的某个关键时期对我特别有帮助。坐下谈话时，我兴奋的告诉他，他的书籍是怎样极大地帮助了我。谈话中，我提到他的一本书里让我特别受益的某个见解。但是，让我特别吃惊的是，他看着我，说道：「你误解我的用意了，我写的不是那个意思。」听他那么说，我真是尴尬极了。但是，我记得自己深吸一口气后，对他坦承说道：「我想写书的人当然是要比我更清楚那段话的意思！」

其实就许多方面而言，《圣经》也是如此。   上帝的圣灵启示感动人写下《圣经》的每个字句；就此而言，祂是《圣经》的作者，也因此我们必须从祂来领受祂的书所要显示的见解。

在非常基础的意义上，默示这个教义说的是圣灵感动人把   上帝的启示写成《圣经》，监督人的工作，使他们的写作无缪误。

请听彼得在彼得后书1章20和21节是怎样表达这种观念的：

经上所有的预言没有可随私意解说的；因为预言从来没有出于人意的，乃是人被圣灵感动，说出   上帝的话来。（彼得后书1章20-21节）

彼得在这一段经文说，《圣经》所有的预言都是源自于圣灵，圣灵感动人写下   上帝的启示。这个过程确保他们所写的是绝对真实，身为人类作者的话语也是   上帝的话语。保罗在提摩太后书3章16节也表明，《圣经》都是这样由   上帝默示的。

《圣经》是有机的真理，前后有关系，而且是从生命发出来的生命的道，供应生命的需要的一本奇特的书，因为作者是同一位，就是圣灵，所以圣灵不可能抵触自己，不可能自己跟自己矛盾……你看无论是耶利米、是保罗、是俄巴底亚、是约拿，他们都用不同的名词，但是他们背后的精神是一样的，因为是一位灵感动众位他所拣选的人。——唐崇荣博士

基督和他的门徒坚持这种观念，即圣灵默示给《圣经》的人类作者。努力跟从基督的人几乎总是在某种意义上确认，《圣经》是   上帝默示的。即使如此，承认基督教信仰的人一直以来都以不同方式尝试认识默示的实质。

按照我们的目的，我们会集中来看三种对默示的看法，它们在现代教会中占有主要地位。第一，一些人相信我们称之为浪漫式的默示观点。按照这种观点，圣灵默示《圣经》作者的方法，是和世俗诗人或音乐家受到灵感创作的方式是一样的。在他们看来，《圣经》并不是   上帝无缪误的真理，只是身为人类作者个人的反思和意见。

第二，其他基督徒相信我们称之为机械式的默示观点。按照这种看法，《圣经》的作者写作《圣经》时是相对被动的。   上帝的灵实际上是口授《圣经》，人类作者则是简单地把他说的活记录下来。

第三，大部分的福音派基督徒确信，圣灵默示的工作是有机式的默示。按照这种观点，圣灵感动人类作者写作，监督和指引他们的话。结果就是《圣经》的话语就是   上帝的话语。与此同时，圣灵监督人类作者写作时，使用了他们的个性、经验、着眼点和意图。就这样，《圣经》的话语在很大程度上也是人类作者的话语。这种观点最贴切地反映出《圣经》本身对默示性质的见证。

阅读《圣经》是非常有趣的过程，因为《圣经》是不同的作者经过数百年的时间写作，集合而成。从《圣经》里，你可以看到那些作者的性情，透过他们的书写风格显露出来；看他们怎么与周围的人互动，以及他们各自使用的语言。他们各人独特的性情对于   上帝的话语贡献是非常重要，因为   上帝以不同的方式使用他们。例如，《圣经》的作者群里有牧者、农夫、牧羊人、君王、医生、甚至还有一个等同于现今希伯来大学的博士，那就是使徒保罗，他对于旧约，以及希腊文化和语言都有精辟认知，能够流畅自如，合宜的运用希腊文表达神学思想，远胜于任何一个存在的语言。——霍华德•艾里弛博士

例如，请听彼得在彼得后书3章15节是怎样描写默示的有机性质的。

我们所亲爱的兄弟保罗，照着   上帝所赐给他的智慧写了信给你们。（彼得后书3章15节）

彼得在这一段话中说明了人应该怎样领受保罗书信。他一方面说「保罗写信」。这样彼得就是确认保罗参与了书信的写作。但另一方面，彼得不是仅仅把这些书信归于保罗，而是指出，保罗「照着   上帝所赐给他的智慧」写信。保罗的书信因着有圣灵引导，就代表了   上帝的智慧。

有关   上帝话语，有两点都为真：《圣经》里的每个字都是人受圣灵感动而写下的，但同时，每个字也都是出于真实的人所写。以奇特的方式，   上帝的主权督导每个《圣经》作者的恩赐和经历，使得他们所写的，显出各自的性情和写作风格；然而同时，《圣经》也正是   上帝自己的话语。因此，当你读《圣经》时，例如，耶利米书，你会感受他对于   上帝百姓的忧伤和关切；你读路加福音时，会感觉他很注意一些医学的细节，以及对于历史的热爱，特别是确切的历史记载。我的意思是，这些《圣经》的作者们，他们的个性和经历，从《圣经》经文里展现出来，但与此同时，   上帝的话语也没有失去   上帝自己的权柄，及其祂的感动与大能。——菲利普•莱肯博士阅读《圣经》经文的人会发现不同的作者，以他们各人独特恩赐，选择不同的写作方式，表达出不同风格的作品。例如，就福音书而言，马可写的方式着重于动作场景的描述，但论述的文字很少；而约翰福音则是另一种关注，充满论述性的记载。这些作者们的作品反映出他们各自的风格，生活背景，和表达方式。《圣经》里不同的经卷都显出这样的一些特质。   上帝感动引导他们所说，也支持他们所说的，但祂允许他们以各自的方式表达。——达雷尔•博克博士

我们要讲到关于有机默示的两个重要方面，这会帮助我们为自己调整好方向，预备完成解经这项任务：第一，圣灵是《圣经》来源的神圣源头；第二，圣灵通过人类途径写成《圣经》。

让我们首先看圣灵是《圣经》具有终极神圣源头的这个观念。

神圣源头

作为默示全部《圣经》的那一位，圣灵对《圣经》的含义，《圣经》传递这含义的方式有深刻认识。所以我们预备解释《圣经》时，要亲自面对那是《圣经》终极作者的圣灵。我们要谦卑地来到《圣经》面前，完全降服在他之下。

我们需要依靠圣灵，才能深入明白《圣经》的话语。我认为人显然也可以不依靠圣灵，就可以晓得《圣经》的信息。但若是仅仅如此，《圣经》就没有达成传福音的功能。为了要深入的了解经文，依靠圣灵是绝对必要的。当然，教会一向宣称和相信是圣灵感动《圣经》的人类作者，我当然同意这样的观点。因此，为了全然明白圣灵到底透过这些作者要说什么，我们需要触及这属灵的源头。——大卫•鲍乌尔博士

《圣经》的作者讲到《圣经》时，有几次公开和直接承认圣灵的默示。他们不否认人类作者起的作用，但是承认圣灵是《圣经》终极的作者。

例如，在使徒行传4章25节，彼得和约翰带领教会确认诗篇第二篇，他们说：

你曾借着圣灵，托你仆人、我们祖宗大卫的口说。（使徒行传4章25节）

希伯来书3章7和8节几乎以同样方式讲到诗篇95篇7到8节：

圣灵有话说：「你们今日若听他的话，就不可硬着心。」（希伯来书3章7-8节）

在这些和很多其它经文里，《圣经》作者指出圣灵是默示《圣经》的那一位，所以祂是《圣经》的终极作者。他们依靠对默示的这种认识，预备自己来阅读、解释和应用《圣经》。

《圣经》源自于   上帝的其中一个最重要含义，就是《圣经》具有无可置疑的正确性。不幸的是，时不时都有一些心怀好意的人说，他们相信圣灵参与了《圣经》的默示，但他们不肯定圣灵保护了《圣经》免于出错。但是，请听耶稣在约翰福音14章16和17节是怎样讲到圣灵的：

父就另外赐给你们一位保惠师，叫他永远与你们同在，就是真理的圣灵。（约翰福音14章16-17节）

耶稣称圣灵是真理的圣灵，这就表明圣灵完全是本乎真理。所以我们可以肯定，圣灵默示的《圣经》也是完全的真理。《圣经》从不说谎，不自相矛盾。所以，我们为解经做的部分准备，就是要确立圣灵和祂默示的《圣经》是绝对可靠的。

保罗告诉提摩太，《圣经》是   上帝所默示的，乃是   上帝口中呼出的气息而成。我们知道，若是   上帝所说的，那个源头必然是完美，没有错误的。凡出于   上帝的必是美好无误的。这就是   上帝的默示。若《圣经》是圣灵的启示，而现今圣灵居住在我里面，那么当我研读学习   上帝的话语时，我需要安息在祂里面，相信圣灵会光照我，帮助我理解。因为最初《圣经》是圣灵所默示的，那么查考《圣经》时就要先认识这位默示《圣经》的圣灵。要理解一本书，最好的老师就是书的作者；而《圣经》的作者就是圣灵。光照我们心思的就是圣灵，要明白《圣经》到底在说什么，启示什么，没有比圣灵更好的老师了，因为祂就是那位《圣经》原本的作者。——米格尔•努涅斯博士

希波主教奥古斯丁在他的第82封信，1章3段里表明了这种确信，他写下了这段文字：

我已学会只把这种敬重和尊荣归给《圣经》正典；唯独对它们，我是至为坚信，它们的作者是完全没有错谬。

奥古斯丁的话以实例表明初期教会对《圣经》真实性的普遍观点，反映出圣经本身教导的观点。

每一个熟悉《圣经》的人都知道，《圣经》里有很多部分，连最好的解经家都觉得充满挑战。时不时《圣经》好像是与科学、我们个人的经历、甚至《圣经》的其他经文相矛盾。我们应当怎样处理这些看起来的难题？解经家有不同的方法处理这些类型的问题。在很大程度上，他们各自的解决方案不同，这并非是《圣经》特点的原因，而是因为解经家对   上帝自己的态度各有不同的缘故。

一方面，否认圣灵带着权威默示《圣经》的人，是批判性地解释《圣经》，把他们自己的认识抬高到《圣经》权威之上。另一方面，承认圣灵带着权威默示《圣经》的人，是顺服地读《圣经》，期望、认定《圣经》是真实和谐，即使他们不能证实验证它的真实性时也这样认定的。

阅读《圣经》不只是像读任何一本人写的书。我们阅读的《圣经》乃是   上帝奇妙启示而成的。这就意味着我们读《圣经》，不能只像读其他的书那样。当然，   上帝和我们沟通时，是用我们的语言，我们的认知方式，我们最初就是按着字面意思来解释《圣经》。不过，如果我们只停留在这一点上，就忘记《圣经》乃是一本神圣的书，   上帝不单只是在最初时给予默示，也继续启迪引导我们的心思；因此为了不让我们的软弱，或是人的罪性盖过《圣经》的真理，圣灵必须继续在我们心里运作，让我们阅读和解释《圣经》的时候，能明白   上帝透过那些经文到底要对我们说什么。——约翰•奥斯沃特博士在解释《圣经》时，圣灵扮演了什么角色？这是一个重要的问题。首先，圣灵既然默示《圣经》的书写，我们当然要认识谁是《圣经》的主要作者，祂作了什么事？透过《圣经》，圣灵教导我们   上帝是谁。其次，要正确明白经文，认识圣灵是绝对必要的。在哥林多前2章谈论就是这个问题。14节是这样说的：然而，属血气的人不领会   上帝圣灵的事，反倒以为愚拙，并且不能知道，因为这些事惟有属灵的人才能看透。（哥林多前书2章14节）这个能让我们看透的那一位就是圣灵。为此，我们需要祈求   上帝差遣圣灵来充满我们，好使我们能够忠心的领受祂话语正要教导我们的事。——温•皮薛士博士

在看了《圣经》神圣源头的是圣灵之后，我们要提的有机默示这教义的第二方面，就是圣灵使用人类途径来写成《圣经》。

人类途径

有时基督徒的表现看起来仿佛他们宁可   上帝把《圣经》直接赐给我们，就像摩门教和穆斯林宣称领受他们的圣书一样就好了。摩门教徒相信神把《摩门经》完整给了约瑟夫•史密斯，伊斯兰教徒也类似宣称说，《古兰经》是直接从天上降下来的。但   上帝并不是这样赐给我们《圣经》。

  上帝而是通过人类的作者写成《圣经》；他通过不同人的恩赐和能力启示他自己。无疑圣灵是可以除掉《圣经》中人类作者的任何影响或他们的存在。他本可以如此地启示每一段经文，让我们分辨不出这一部分是由这个人所写，那部分是由另外一人所写。但是，圣灵没有这样做。他按着他无限的智慧，选择通过人类作者的观点、动机和个性，让选召人参与进来，通过人做工。所以我们在解经时依靠圣灵的其中一种表现，就是尊重他有机默示《圣经》的方式，并且相信他默示的人类作者。所以，如果我们要按圣灵要我们的那样去解释《圣经》，我们就要明白《圣经》是由不同的人写成的，《圣经》反映出人类作者的多样性。

例如，福音书的作者马太、马可、路加和约翰所写的，基本上是耶稣的生、死和复活的相同事件。但是，他们写的书卷并不相同。马太福音和马可福音不同，马可福音和路加福音不同，路加福音和约翰福音又不相同。这并不是《圣经》的缺点。它是圣灵选择默示《圣经》方法的产物。

因为《圣经》是有机的默示，我们总是必须要同时接受它既是来自   上帝的话语，又是人类作者所写的。我们预备自己来解释《圣经》的时候，很重要的是要认识到，我们是正在寻求圣灵   上帝启示的含义。但是，如果我们就到此为止，我们的准备工作仍然不到位。我们还需要领会圣灵是怎样使用人类作者，以他们不同的个性、人生经历、各自角度和强调重点来工作的。《圣经》的每一个词句都是   上帝的话语。然而，   上帝的话语是通过圣灵所默示的人才临到我们，《圣经》的人类作者以不同的方式、在不同的时间写下《圣经》。因此，我们总是要预备我们自己意识到，   上帝的灵以不同的方式透过《圣经》的人类作者来讲话的。

在看了《圣经》作为圣灵的默示，是怎样要求我们依靠圣灵之后，让我们把关注点转向我们应该怎样也依靠他持续光照的工作。

光照

在《圣经》释经学的范畴内，光照可以定义为：

圣灵把对《圣经》的准确认识传递给人类的工作。我们需要弄清楚两件事情。首先，圣灵是感动《圣经》的那些作者们，给予他们能力，使得他们能够写出   上帝的话语，是   上帝所要说的，而不是人们所想的话。另一方面，圣灵也光照我们，祂是住在信徒里面，开启我们的心思，让我们能够明白并且领受《圣经》里，祂已经默示的。——温•皮薛士博士

圣灵通过光照赐我们对他话语的知识。这种知识不完全是认知性的。它也冲击我们的想象力、直觉、情感、意志、动机、愿望、道德良心——我们人的这些部分，每一部分都可以被圣灵光照，促进对《圣经》的认识。

有时候基督徒以为，我们只需要认真思想，就能明白《圣经》的教导。但实际上，人类是如此深受罪的影响，以致于靠我们自己，是无法明白   上帝的事。我们急需   上帝他自己——圣灵——来光照我们。请听保罗在哥林多前书2章11到13节，是怎样讲到圣灵的光照的：

除了   上帝的灵，也没有人知道   上帝的事。我们所领受的，并不是世上的灵，乃是从   上帝来的灵，叫我们能知道   上帝开恩赐给我们的事。并且我们讲说这些事，不是用人智慧所指教的言语，乃是用圣灵所指教的言语，将属灵的话解释属灵的事。（哥林多前书2章11-13节）

保罗在此解释说，没有圣灵动工，我们就没有指望按应当的来领会   上帝的心意。这就是为何圣灵亲自光照对我们解释《圣经》来说有如此重要的原因。

圣灵的光照这个议题很少被长篇大论的探讨，但是有个重要的探讨是出现于约翰•欧文写的一本著名的书里。他的生平是1616-1683年，他所写的：《圣经所证实的圣灵光照》，扼要的谈到我们研读《圣经》时，圣灵如何光照引导我们：

我们需要知悉并且相信关乎   上帝的所有真理，才能信靠和顺服   上帝，或投靠并住在基督里，也保守我们不陷入迷惑。这些真理记载在《圣经》里，透过   上帝的启示让我们知道。若是单靠我们自己，我们是无法明白《圣经》的这些目的。若是我们能够全然明白，就无需圣灵来教导我们了。然而，圣灵教导我们这些事情，乃是要我们能够分辨，理解和认识它们。

欧文明智的指出《圣经》能够给予我们一切所需要知道的，包括「信靠和顺服   上帝，投靠并住在基督里，和能保守我们不陷入迷惑」。虽然不信的人也可以拿起一本《圣经》来读其内容，但除非圣灵指教我们，让我们「能够分辨，理解和认识它们」，否则「我们是无法明白《圣经》的这些目的」。

提摩太后书3章16节说道，《圣经》是   上帝所默示的，它隐含的意思是《圣经》乃是   上帝的启示，或是更正确的说，是   上帝从心里将祂的气息呼出，因此《圣经》乃是出于   上帝自己。当我们说被什么启示的时候，我们乃是讲自己对那些事情很热切或是能够理解；‘光照’就是有这样的含意，圣灵无误的默示   上帝的话语，我们需要祂来帮助我们领悟和理解，让我们心思被   上帝的真理所光照，而能够清晰明白地把握那些真理。——西门•沃伯特博士默示涉及到   上帝启示《圣经》的人类作者，而我们阅读时，   上帝是光照我们而非默示我们，也就是说，   上帝透过圣灵，给予我们亮光，属灵的洞察力，让我们有能力去理解祂所说的这些话语。——塞德•詹姆斯牧师

我们已经看了依靠圣灵是多么重要，现在就让我们来看，我们准备解经，其中一部分的预备就是需要人尽力。

三、需要人尽力

我们会分两部分来看我们需要人尽力这个问题。第一，我们要看人尽力的重要性。第二，我们要纵览给我们人尽力指明方向的各种影响力。让我们首先来看人尽力的重要性。

重要性

经常一些善意的基督徒认为在解释《圣经》的时候，圣灵的工作与人为的努力是对立两面。当然，有时研读《圣经》时，圣灵所作的是超越人为的努力，或是没有人为的参与，甚至不要人的参与。但是这不表示在解释《圣经》时，就完全排除人为的努力。圣灵光照我们最通常的方式，就是透过我们认真的研读。为此，解释《圣经》固然不能只落入人为的努力，但为了正确明白经文，认真研读仍然是非常重要的。

不幸的是，在某些圈子内，一些善意跟从基督的人，在预备看《圣经》的时候，会把任何看起来是人尽力的事情做最小化的处理。他们是经常喜欢一种「属灵的」方法，期待让一段经文的信息直接从   上帝临到被动的读者身上。这些信徒正确认识到我们要依靠圣灵，这很重要。我们可以为此敬佩他们。但是他们回避人的尽力，这并不符合《圣经》。正如保罗在提摩太后书2章15节所说：

你当竭力在   上帝面前得蒙喜悦，作无愧的工人，按着正意分解真理的道。（提摩太后书2章15节）

保罗在这节经文中鼓励提摩太作一个按正意分解真理的道的人。但请注意，保罗使用了怎样的比喻来传递他的观点。提摩太要成为一名工人。使徒在这里用了希腊文ἐργάτης /ergátēs/这个词，这个词经常用来指在田地里劳动的人。提摩太要竭力，或如某个译本写的，他要「勤奋」。

保罗把解释《圣经》的人比作是勤奋、努力工作，在田地里劳动的人，就是在鼓励提摩太要下大力气研究《圣经》。但这句话到底说的是什么？我们依靠圣灵，这应该怎样与我们的人尽力互相作用？

如果理解《圣经》是圣灵的工作，而不是我们该作的，那么我们何必要解释《圣经》？答案很简单。   上帝不奖励懒惰的人，不认真准备讲道的牧师，   上帝不会膏抹他。要参与   上帝的工作，人必须勤快；因为   上帝不只是透过我们工作，也在我们里面工作。在解释《圣经》时，我们不单只是明白《圣经》到底在说什么，   上帝也借此来洁净我们的生命，让我们不只是理解这段经文到底在说什么，同时也能按着   上帝要我们思考的去思想，按着祂的方式去看待事情。——凯里•温赞特博士

依靠圣灵，这并不意味着我们解经就是应当被动。实际上，负责任的解经需要努力工作。我们甚至可以说，依靠圣灵包括了依靠他提供的工具和机会。毕竟圣灵设计《圣经》，就是通过人类的途径，包括读者方面的人为努力。。

实际上圣灵通常通过我们预备时的努力来光照我们。正如我们的身体通常通过吃饭这个过程吸收营养，同样，圣灵通常来说是通过我们读经和研经来动工，让我们更全面明白他的话语。

大多数读《圣经》的人都应该清楚，《圣经》的某些部分比其它部分要求人花更大的力气。在一头，一些经文如此清楚，要明白几乎不费吹灰之力。几个世纪以来，更正教信徒正确持守这一点，就是人要得救所需相信和顺服的事，在《圣经》里不是这个地方就是那个地方，是如此清晰，以致几乎人人都能明白。在另外一头，《圣经》很多部分是非常难解的，有一些甚至是不可能完全理解的。

但老实说，《圣经》大部分的经文是位于这两种极端的中间范围。《圣经》较为清楚的部分通常不太需要人花大力气去准备。但是，当我们面对更难解的经文，就要有足够的预备，这通常要求更高一层的人尽力。

除了承认在预备解释《圣经》时人尽力的重要性之外，我们需要认识   上帝通常带来对我们人的尽力发生作用的主要影响，这对我们也很有帮助。

影响

若是说有什么事情阻挠善意的《圣经》解释者，那就是他们认为在他们研读《圣经》的时候，不必在乎他们生活中的那些外在影响。我们常以为可以去除生活的经验，纯粹就是阅读《圣经》，而不会带着先入为主的看法。但是，在人类解释《圣经》的时候，有一个很重要、却容易被忽视的关键就是，不管我们多么努力要避免，我们阅读经文时，都会不可避免地受到许多方面的外在影响。我们若是能清楚明白这些影响的存在，就能够分辨它们到底是正面还是反面的，是帮助我们解析《圣经》，还是拦阻我们。

我们来看对我们预备解释《圣经》时的尽力发挥作用的三种主要影响。这些影响是互相关联的，但为了简单起见，我们要分开论述。首先，我们要提一提对《圣经》前期的解经。

解经

按着本系列的目的，我们要把解经定义为：

从《圣经》经文中得出含义

——这是特别通过查看比如历史背景，文学形式，语法和词汇的使用，神学背景等等来做到的。虽然对解经可以说的事情有很多，但现在我们只要指出，我们在过去已经做的解经工作，可以帮助我们来预备完成解释圣经的任务。

我们每次参与解经，都是为我们进一步解释《圣经》做准备。我们从与《圣经》一次接触培养出来的知识、技巧和态度，在下一次我们去查考《圣经》时任然影响着我们。例如，每次我们学习《圣经》的用词和语法，我们更负责任处理《圣经》这些方面的能力就有增强。我们尽力去认识《圣经》的文学类型，如叙述、律法、诗歌、预言、箴言和其它体裁时，我们就得到更好装备，可以以后对它们有更深入了解。我们学习《圣经》的古代历史时，我们就作好预备，以后看《圣经》时理解得更深入。我们在解经方面做的每一样努力，都有助于预备我们进一步学习。

影响我们释经时人尽力的第二种类型的影响，就是我们的群体互动。

互动

与他人互动，在我们尽力认识《圣经》的影响上，本是其中一样最有影响力的途径，但经常也是被低估的。我们都要参与直接的解经，但不管我们是否意识到，我们解释《圣经》时要不受与其他人互动的影响，这几乎是不可能的。相反，这是一件好事。

现今世界和过去的其他人，都从圣灵领受了极大的恩赐和领悟，能帮助我们去解释《圣经》。他们写了很有价值的参考著作，他们给我们敬虔的参考意见，他们教导我们《圣经》原文、文学、历史和各种各样其他的事，有助我们理解和应用   上帝的话语。就连我们手里抓住的《圣经》也是出自其他人的手。它们是通过学者、译者、编辑和出版商的工作来到我们手里的。

除此以外，我们大部分人都属于特定的基督徒群体，在当中我们有家的感受，这些包括我们的教会和宗派。这些群体有共同的传统，影响我们读经和理解《圣经》的方式。我们从牧师、教师和其他信徒领受的意见，也在许多方面对我们有帮助。

我们通过其他人的成功、失败和领悟，学到许多有价值的功课。我们从与我们一样，与我们不一样，从过去和现在，从我们亲身认识和我们素未谋面的人身上学到功课。不管我们承认与否，我们对《圣经》的所有解释都是，也应该是深受其他人影响。

对于我们尽力预备的第三种主要影响，就是我们个人的基督徒经历。

经历

完全可以这样说，作为基督徒，我们生活中遇见的每一件事，都是我们基督徒经历的一部分，这包括我们已经讲过的，像解经，与其他人互动这样的事。所以在我们这一课这个地方，我们要关注讲到我们基督徒的个人经历，或我们与   上帝同行时，我们通常会想到的那些事。基督徒人生的这些个人方面，是以不同的方式对我们解释《圣经》产生影响。

例如，我们基督徒的成长和成圣加增了我们解释《圣经》的能力；我们怎样生活，这深深影响我们把握《圣经》的能力。当跟从基督的人忠心的时候——尽力按讨   上帝喜悦的方式去思想、行事和感受的时候——他们通常会发现，他们预备的更好，可以从《圣经》学到更多的内容。但如果我们没有让我们的生活与   上帝的话语相符，研究《圣经》通常就会导致错误的解释和错误的应用。

我们过往的经历也会影响我们负责任地解释《圣经》的能力。所有的信徒都有塑造我们思维、感受和表现方式的经历。这些经历影响我们解释《圣经》的努力。例如，在富裕环境中成长的人，会发现很难理解路加福音中对穷人的关注。在强调荣誉的文化环境中成长的人，可能会更容易理解关于羞辱的经文。

除此以外，每一个人有各自的长短处，有不同的能力和盲点，从圣灵领受的不同恩赐，当然还有不同的罪。所有这些事情都以这样或那样的方式，影响我们解释和应用《圣经》的能力。

我们的罪会拦阻我们对真理的认知，包括对于《圣经》的认识。《圣经》说我们的不义和罪性使得我们压制真理，因此罪的确会扭曲我们认识真理的能力。当我们研读《圣经》时，圣灵所做的事情之一，就是使得我们的理解力，不受罪性的扭曲，这是该让我们非常感恩的作为。——埃瑞克•索尼斯博士罪拦阻我们对于《圣经》的解释，因为人们总是想要在《圣经》里找到他们想要的。例如，几个世纪之前，奴隶的拥有者们就试着要在《圣经》里，找到经文可以证明蓄奴是合理的。他们那样解释《圣经》，是为了他们的已得利益。所以，若他们能对奴隶讲道，他们引用的将会是以弗所书6章第5节，那里讲到为奴的要顺服他们的主人，他们根本不会去注意6章第9节，那里讲到，「作主人的待仆人也是一理」。我的意思是，如果他们真的严肃看待那节经文，作主人的真的服事他们的仆人，奴隶制度根本无法持久。那会损害经济上的利益。人们若是带着先入为主的想法来读《圣经》，试着要将他们的行为合理化，他们就是会以那样的态度来读《圣经》。当然有时，人们的态度则是另外一种：他们可能来自一个期待会被定罪或是带着罪咎意识的环境，因此就会以这样的心态阅读《圣经》。读《圣经》，若想要避免这种先入为主的心态，我们需要先努力聆听，看经文本身到底要对我们说什么。——柯瑞格•凯纳博士

四、结论

我们在预备释经这一课中，看了在解释《圣经》之前，我们要做预备的两个至关重要的方面。我们看了就有机默示和圣灵光照这两个教义而言，我们需要依靠圣灵。我们强调了需要人尽力，看了人尽力的重要性，查看了   上帝通常用来塑造我们努力解释《圣经》的一些影响力。p>

为解释《圣经》做预备，要求我们同时切实地依靠圣灵和大量的人尽力，这两方面的配合。我们解释《圣经》要带着刻意祷告的心态来顺服圣灵，因为祂默示了《圣经》，因为圣父差遣祂来到我们中间光照我们的心思意念明白《圣经》。与此同时   上帝已经命定，我们也要付出我们自己人为的代价和努力——阅读，学习，与别人交谈，并在这过程中把《圣经》应用在我们自己的人生里。解释《圣经》是一个复杂的项目，要我们一生之久的追求。我们必须有敬畏的心尽可能地全面地预备自己。我们越多地同时注意到圣灵的作为和我们的人尽力，我们就更好地预备自己解释   上帝的圣言。

He Gave Us Scripture: Preparation for INTRODUCTION

Whenever we begin a project, it's wise to make the right kinds of preparations. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus himself illustrated this idea when he described a man who wanted to build a tower, but failed to complete the project because he had not prepared. Well, something similar is true when it comes to interpreting the Scriptures. Making sense of the Bible is a complex project that requires all kinds of activities and extends throughout our entire lives. So, we have to make sure that we prepare to interpret the Bible in the right ways.

This is the second lesson in our series He Gave Us Scripture: Foundations of Interpretation, a series devoted to exploring how followers of Christ should interpret the Bible. And we've entitled this lesson "Preparation for Interpretation" because we'll be focusing on some things it's helpful to do before we read and interpret the Scriptures.

In this lesson, we'll look at two crucial elements of our personal preparation for interpretation. First, we'll consider our dependence on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And second, we'll address the need for our own human effort. Let's look first at our dependence on the Holy Spirit.

DEPENDENCE ON HOLY SPIRIT

When we mention the Holy Spirit, we all know that different Christians react in different ways. Perhaps you're from a branch of the church that stresses the gifts of the Spirit — his presence and empowerment in everyday life. Or maybe you're from a branch of the church that minimizes the Spirit's activity in the daily life of believers. Well, what we're about to say about the Holy Spirit's work in the interpretation of Scripture will both reassure and challenge each one of us. As we interpret the Bible, we must consciously give ourselves to the ministry of the Spirit, but the Bible itself teaches us to do this in particular ways. To ignore the Holy Spirit is the height of foolishness; but we must pay attention to him in the ways that the Bible instructs. What then does it mean to depend on the Holy Spirit as we interpret the Scriptures?

Most evangelicals theoretically acknowledge that the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in our interpretation of Scripture. But modern academic books and lectures on biblical hermeneutics often pay almost no attention to the Holy Spirit's role. Instead, we commonly treat biblical interpretation as if it were an impersonal event, a process in which we simply implement a list of principles or methods to understand a text. But from a biblical point of view hermeneutics, or the interpretation of Scripture, is very personal because it involves interaction between human interpreters and the person of the Holy Spirit.

Conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit in interpretation is crucial for at least two reasons. First, the Spirit was the source of the inspiration of Scripture. And second, the Holy Spirit grants illumination to human interpreters. Let's turn first to the matter of inspiration.

Inspiration

I remember once having the opportunity to meet a well-known author whose books had helped me at a critical time in my Christian life. I was so excited to sit down with him and to tell him how much his books meant to me. At one point in the conversation, I told him about a particularly beneficial insight that I derived from one of his books. But much to my surprise, he looked up at me and said, "You've got that all wrong! That's not what I wrote at all!" Well, to say the least, I was embarrassed. But I remember taking a deep breath and admitting to him, "Well, I guess the man who wrote the book knows what it means better than I do."

Well, in many ways, the same is true with the Bible. The Holy Spirit of God inspired every word of Scripture. And in this sense, he's the author of Scripture. So, it only stands to reason that we should seek insight into his book from him.

In a very basic sense, the doctrine of inspiration says that:

The Holy Spirit moved human beings to write God's revelation as Scripture and superintended their work in a way that made their writings infallible.

Listen to the way Peter expressed this idea in 2 Peter 1:20-21:

No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

In this passage, Peter said that all biblical prophecy originated with the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit moved human beings to write down God's revelation. This process ensured that what they wrote was absolutely true, and that the words of the human authors were also the words of God. And in 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul indicated that all of Scripture was similarly inspired.

The Bible is organic truth, interconnected from beginning to end, a wonderful book that is the Word of life, grounded in life, that provides for all the needs of life. It is truth because it has the Holy Spirit as the author, and it's impossible for the Holy Spirit to go against himself or contradict himself… It doesn't matter if you read Jeremiah or Paul or Obadiah or Jonah; they all use different words, but the spirit behind those words is the same, because one Spirit inspired the words that were chosen. [Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong, translation]

Christ and his disciples were committed to the idea that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture. And those who have attempted to follow Christ have almost always affirmed some sense in which the Scriptures were inspired. Even so, those who profess the Christian faith have tended to understand the nature of inspiration in different ways.

For our purposes, we'll focus on three views of inspiration that are prominent in the modern church. First, some people believe in what we'll call a "romantic" view of inspiration. According to this view, the Holy Spirit inspired biblical writers in the same way that secular poets or musicians might be moved to write their own works. In their view, Scripture isn't God's infallible truth, but only the personal reflections and opinions of the human authors.

Second, other Christians believe in what we might call "mechanical" inspiration. According to this outlook, biblical writers were relatively passive as they wrote Scripture. The Spirit of God essentially dictated the Bible and human writers recorded what he said.

Third, most evangelical Christians affirm that the Spirit's work of inspiration was "organic." According to this view, the Holy Spirit moved human authors to write and supervised and directed their words. As a result, the words of Scripture are the words of God. At the same time, the Holy Spirit used the personalities, experiences, outlooks, and intentions of human authors as he supervised their writing. So, the words of Scripture are also very much the words of its human authors. This third view best reflects the Scriptures' own testimony about the nature of inspiration.

Reading the Scriptures is a very fascinating process, because it was created over hundreds of years by multiple authors, and so you see those personalities flowing out in the way they write, in the way they relate to the people around them, and in the language they use. And so, their personalities are important to the Word of God because God uses them in a lot of different ways. For example, you have priests that write, you have a farmer that writes, a herdsman that writes, you have a king that writes, you have a medical doctor that writes, and you have a man who, in our culture, would have a Ph.D. from "Hebrew University," the apostle Paul, who has a phenomenal grasp of the Old Testament as well as Greek culture and Greek language and is able to take the Greek language and pull out of it it's appropriateness for the expression of theological thinking probably better than any language that's ever existed. [Dr. Howard Eyrich]

For instance, listen to the way Peter described the organic nature of inspiration in 2 Peter 3:15:

Our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him (2 Peter 3:15).

In this passage Peter revealed how Paul's letters should be received. On the one hand, he said that, "Paul wrote." So, Peter affirmed Paul's involvement in his epistles. But on the other hand, Peter didn't just attribute these epistles to Paul. Instead, he noted that Paul wrote, "with the wisdom that God gave him." Paul's letters represented God's wisdom because of the guidance of Holy Spirit.

This is true about the Word of God: every word in Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is also true about the Word of God: every one of those words was written by a real human being, and in an amazing way, God sovereignly superintended the gifts and experiences of each of those biblical writers so that their personality, their literary style comes through, and at the same time the Bible is the very Word of God. So when you're reading Jeremiah, for example, you get a sense of his grief and passion for the people of God; when you read the Gospel of Luke, you get a sense of his careful eye for medical details and his love for history and accurate history. I mean, the personalities of these biblical writers and their experiences shine through in Scripture, but that happens without losing any of God's own authority and inspiration and power in the Word of God. [Dr. Philip Ryken]

Well anyone who reads the Scriptures can see that the styles differ and that the writers are using their own gifts because of the different ways in which different writers express themselves, and the different kinds of choices these writers make to present the material. For example, in the Gospels we have Mark who doesn't do much with action scenes … or does much, rather, with action scenes, but keeps his discourses to a minimum, whereas the Gospel of John is full of discourses, which reflects a different interest. So these writers are writing out of their own style, their own background, their own expression, and that's very clear from the differences we see between various books in those areas. God is inspiring them in the sense of directing what they say and standing behind what they say, but he is letting them express it in their own way. [Dr. Darrell L. Bock]

We'll touch on two important aspects of organic inspiration that help us orient ourselves to the task of interpretation: first, the fact that the Holy Spirit was the divine source of Scripture; and second, the fact that he worked through human means to produce Scripture. Let's look first at the idea that the Spirit is the ultimate divine source of the Bible.

Divine Source

As the one who inspired all Scripture, the Holy Spirit has intimate knowledge of the Bible's meaning and of the way it communicates that meaning. So, preparing to interpret the Scriptures involves dealing personally with the Holy Spirit as their ultimate author. We have to approach the Scriptures humbly, in full submission to him.

It is, I think, essential to rely upon the Holy Spirit for a profound, in depth understanding of the Bible. It is clear, I think, that one does not have to rely upon the Holy Spirit to understand the message of the Bible as such. If that were the case, the Bible would have no evangelistic function. But to understand it in depth, there is good reason to think that it's absolutely critical to rely upon the Holy Spirit. Of course, the reason for that is that the church believes, and I certainly agree with its claim, that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture. And so in order to understand fully what the Holy Spirit intended to say through these writers, we need to be in touch, as it were, with that spiritual source. [Dr. David R. Bauer]

On a number of occasions, biblical authors openly and directly acknowledged the Holy Spirit's inspiration as they dealt with the Scriptures. Without denying the role of human writers, they recognized that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of Scripture.

For instance, in Acts 4:25, Peter and John led the church in an affirmation of Psalm 2, saying:

You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David (Acts 4:25).

In much the same way, Hebrews 3:7-8 speaks about Psalm 95:7-8 in this way:

So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

In these and many other passages, biblical writers identified the Holy Spirit as the inspirer, and therefore, the ultimate author of Scripture. And they relied on this understanding of inspiration as they prepared themselves to read, interpret, and apply the Scriptures.

One of the most important implications of the divine origin of Scripture is the Bible's unquestionable veracity. Unfortunately, from time to time, well-meaning people say that they believe in the Spirit's involvement in the inspiration of Scripture, but they don't affirm that the Holy Spirit protected the Scriptures from error. But listen to what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17:

The Father … will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17).

When Jesus called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth," he indicated that the Holy Spirit is utterly truthful. So, we can be sure that the Scriptures the Spirit inspired are also utterly truthful. They don't lie; they don't contradict themselves. And therefore, part of our preparation for interpretation should be to affirm the absolute trustworthiness of the Holy Spirit and of the Scriptures he inspired.

Paul tells Timothy that the Word of God was inspired — theopneustos — it was breathed out by God. And if it was breathed out by God, then we know that the source is perfect, the source is inerrant, and whatever comes out of him has to be equally perfect and inerrant. That, then, is the inspiration. If the Spirit inspired it, and if the Spirit now dwells in me, when I study the Word, I need to rest, to trust in the Spirit to give me illumination and understanding, because he inspired it in such a way that my study is based on the understanding of the one who inspired the Word in the first place. There can't be a better teacher than the author of a book, and the author of the book is the Spirit. And so, when the teacher who illumines our minds is the Spirit, there can't be anybody who can give me a better understanding of what was said, of what was inspired, than the teacher himself, who wrote it in the first place. [Dr. Miguel Nunez, translation]

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, expressed this conviction in his Letter 82, chapter 1, paragraph 3, where he wrote these words:

I have learned to yield this respect and honor only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error.

Augustine's words illustrate the prevailing view of the truthfulness of Scripture in the early church and reflect the view taught in the Bible itself.

Now, everyone familiar with the Bible knows that there are many portions of Scripture that challenge even the best interpreters. From time to time, the Scriptures appear to contradict science, our personal experiences, and even other passages of Scripture. How should we deal with these apparent problems? Well, interpreters have a variety of ways to handle these types of issues. And for the most part, their solutions differ not because of the character of Scripture, but because of the interpreters' attitudes toward God himself.

On the one hand, those who deny that the Holy Spirit authoritatively inspired the Bible interpret the Scriptures critically, elevating their own understanding over the Spirit's authority. On the other hand, those who acknowledge the Spirit's authoritative inspiration read the Bible submissively, expecting and assuming it to be true and harmonious, even when they can't demonstrate or prove its truthfulness.

When we come to the Bible we do not come to just another human book. We come to a book, which has been miraculously inspired by God. That means that we cannot read the Bible simply as we read another book. Now it has to be said, God has communicated himself in our language, in our styles, and so we do start at that point of simple literary interpretation of what's there. But if we stop there, then we forget that this is a sacred book which God not only inspired in the beginning, but is continuing to inspire to our hearts, so that in order for my human fallibility, my human sinfulness not to overcome the truth of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit has to be constantly at work in me as the reader and the interpreter to understand what it is God wants to say to me through this passage. [Dr. John Oswalt]

What's the role of the Holy Spirit in interpretation? A very significant question. For one thing, the Holy Spirit inspired the Scripture, so obviously we want to take into account, who is the principal author of Scripture and what we can know about him. It's the Holy Spirit who teaches us through the Word about who God is. The second thing is that the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for a proper understanding of the Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 2 it talks about this very thing. In verse 14 it says that:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14, ESV).

That's the person who has the Holy Spirit. So we need to ask God to send the Holy Spirit and to fill us with his Spirit in order that we may receive faithfully what he is teaching in his Word. [Dr. Vern Poythress]

Having looked at the fact that the Holy Spirit is the divine source of Scripture, the second aspect of the doctrine of organic inspiration we'll mention is that the Holy Spirit used human means to produce the Scriptures.

Human Means

Sometimes Christians act as if they would prefer that God had given us the Bible directly, like Mormons and Muslims claim to have received their holy books. Mormons believe that God delivered the Book of Mormon in complete form to Joseph Smith, and Islam makes a similar claim about the Koran descending from heaven. But this isn't how God gave us the Bible.

Instead, God had the Scriptures composed by means of human authors; he revealed himself through the gifts and abilities of different human beings. Without a doubt, the Holy Spirit could have eliminated any influence or presence of human writers in Scripture. He could have revealed every passage so that we could never tell that one portion was written by one man and another portion by another. But he didn't. In his infinite wisdom, he chose to involve and work through the ideas, motives and personalities of human authors. So, part of depending on the Holy Spirit in our interpretation of Scripture is honoring the way he organically inspired Scripture, and trusting the human authors he inspired. So, if we're going to interpret the Bible in the way he intends us to, we have to understand that the Scriptures were written by different people, and that they reflect the diversity of that human authorship.

For example, the gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John covered basically the same events of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. But their books aren't identical. Matthew is different from Mark. Mark is different from Luke. Luke is different from John. And this isn't a shortcoming of Scripture. It's a product of the way the Holy Spirit chose to inspire the Scriptures.

Because the Scriptures were organically inspired, we always have to acknowledge both their divine authorship and their human authorship. When we prepare ourselves to interpret the Bible, it's important to keep in mind that we're seeking what the Holy Spirit meant. But if we stop there, our preparation isn't complete. We also have to take into account how the Spirit works through human beings, through their personalities, their experiences, perspectives and emphases. Every word of Scripture is the word of God. But God's word comes to us through human beings that were inspired by the Spirit, and they wrote in different ways at different times. So, we must always prepare ourselves with the understanding that the Spirit of God spoke in a variety of ways through the Bible's various human authors.

Having seen how the inspiration of Scripture requires our dependence on the Holy Spirit, let's turn our attention to the way we also depend on his ongoing work of illumination.

Illumination

In the context of biblical hermeneutics, illumination may be defined as:

The Holy Spirit's work of conveying a proper understanding of Scripture to a human being.

We can distinguish two works. One is the work of inspiration where the Holy Spirit comes to the original human authors of Scripture and empowers them so that what they write is the word of God, is what God says and not simply what the human being says. Illumination is where the Holy Spirit stands with us. He indwells Christian believers and opens our minds to understand and to receive what he has inspired in the Bible. [Dr. Vern Poythress]

Through his illumination, the Holy Spirit grants us knowledge of his Word. And this knowledge isn't purely cognitive. It also impacts our imagination, intuition, emotion, will, motivation, desire, moral conscience — any part of us that contributes to our understanding of Scripture can be illumined by the Spirit.

Sometimes Christians assume that if we just think carefully, then we'll be able to understand what the Scriptures teach. But in reality, human beings are so deeply affected by sin that we can't understand the things of God on our own. We desperately need God himself — the Holy Spirit — to illumine us. Listen to how Paul talked about the Spirit's illumination in 1 Corinthians 2:11-13:

No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:11-13).

Here, Paul explained that without the work of the Spirit, we have no hope of grasping the thoughts of God as we should. This is why the Spirit's personal illumination is so important to our interpretation of the Scriptures.

The illumination of the Spirit is a subject that has seldom been addressed at length. But one of the most important treatments appears in the well-known work of John Owen, who lived from 1616 to 1683. In Owen's work, Spiritual Illumination Proved From Scripture, he summarized the Holy Spirit's illumination this way:

All divine truths necessary to be known, and to be believed, that we may live unto God in faith and obedience, or come unto, and abide in Christ; as also, be preserved from seducers, are contained in the Scripture, or proposed unto us in divine revelations. These of ourselves we cannot understand, unto the ends mentioned; for if we could, there would be no need that we should be taught them by the Holy Spirit. But this is so, he teacheth us all these things, enabling us to discern, comprehend, and acknowledge them.

Owen wisely pointed out that the Scriptures give us all we need to "live unto God in faith and obedience," to "come unto and abide in Christ," and to "be preserved from seducers." But as much as even unbelievers may be able to grasp from the Bible on their own, "we cannot understand" the Scripture "unto these ends" unless the Holy Spirit enables us "to discern, comprehend and acknowledge them."

When 2 Timothy 3:16 talks about all Scripture as being God-breathed, it alludes to the idea that the Bible is inspired, or perhaps more accurately "expired" — breathed out — from the heart of God, and therefore Scripture itself comes from the very being of God. When we speak about being inspired with something, we talk about being enthusiastic or apprehending something, and the word "illumination" sort of gets at what that concept's all about, that we need the Holy Spirit who inspired infallibly God's Word to give us apprehension and understanding so that our minds might be illumined by God's truth, that we may grasp God's truth clearly. [Dr. Simon Vibert]

Inspiration is what God did when he inspired the writer, so, we are no longer being inspired. But we are being illuminated, which means that God is, through the Holy Spirit, shedding light, giving us spiritual discernment and giving us the ability to help to understand what these words are saying. [Rev. Thad James, Jr.]

Now that we've seen how important our dependence on the Holy Spirit is, let's explore the need for human effort as part of our preparation to interpret Scripture.

NEED FOR HUMAN EFFORT

We'll consider our need for human effort in two parts. First, we'll look at the importance of human effort. And second, we'll survey some of the influences that inform our human effort. Let's turn first to the importance of human effort.

Importance

All too often, well-meaning Christians think of the work of God's Spirit in biblical interpretation as the opposite of human effort. It's true that sometimes the Spirit works beyond our efforts, without them, even against them as we study the Bible. But this doesn't eliminate the need for human effort as we interpret the Scriptures. The most ordinary way that the Spirit illumines us is through, or in conjunction with, our hard work. For this reason, while we mustn't reduce biblical interpretation to a human endeavor, there's a very important place for working very hard to understand the Scriptures properly.

Unfortunately, in some circles, well-meaning followers of Christ minimize anything that looks like human effort when they prepare to read the Bible. Instead, they often prefer a "spiritual" approach, where the message of a biblical text comes to passive readers directly from God. These believers rightly acknowledge the importance of our dependence on the Holy Spirit. And we can admire them for that. But their avoidance of human effort is unbiblical. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

In this verse, Paul encouraged Timothy to be a man who correctly handles the word of truth. But notice the metaphor Paul used to convey his perspective. Timothy was to be "a workman." Here the apostle used the Greek word ergates, a term that often referred to field laborers. And Timothy was to do his best, or as some translations put it, he was to "be diligent."

By comparing an interpreter of the Bible to a diligent, hard-working field laborer, Paul encouraged Timothy to exert strong effort in his study of Scripture. But what exactly does that mean? And how does our dependence on the Holy Spirit interact with our human effort?

If understanding the Bible is something that the Holy Spirit does and not something that we do, why do we bother with working at biblical interpretation? And the answer to that is very simple. God does not reward laziness. God does not anoint the minister who doesn't prepare to preach. To be involved in God's work requires diligence because God is not just working through us, he is also working on us… In the process of biblical interpretation, what is happening is not just a cognitive thing where we're coming to understand what the Bible is saying, there's also a sanctifying process that God is doing in us so that we become not just people who understand what this particular passage says, but we become people who think more the way God wants us to think, the way he designed us to think, to see things his way. [Dr. Carey Vinzant]

Dependence on the Holy Spirit doesn't imply that we should be passive when we interpret Scripture. In fact, responsible interpretation involves hard work. We might even say that dependence on the Spirit includes dependence on the tools and opportunities he's provided. After all, the Holy Spirit designed Scripture to communicate through human means, including human effort on the part of the reader.

In fact, the Holy Spirit ordinarily illumines us by means of the efforts we put into preparation. Just as our bodies normally receive nourishment through the process of eating food, the Spirit typically works through the process of our reading and study to give us a fuller understanding of his Word.

Now, it should be clear to most readers of Scripture that some portions of the Bible require more human effort than others. On one end of the scale, some passages are so clear that they require very little effort to understand. Throughout the centuries, Protestants have rightly held that what is necessary to be believed and obeyed for salvation is so clear in one place or another in Scripture that nearly everyone can understand it. On the other end of the scale, many portions of Scripture are very difficult, and some may even be impossible to understand fully.

But practically speaking, most passages of Scripture fall along a spectrum between these two extremes. The clearer portions of Scripture normally require relatively little human effort in preparation. But when we deal with more difficult passages in Scripture, adequate preparation usually requires increased levels of human effort.

In addition to recognizing the importance of human effort in preparing for interpreting Scripture, it also helps to become aware of some of the major influences that God normally brings to bear on our human effort.

Influences

If there's one thing that hinders well-meaning biblical interpreters today, it's that they think they can study the Scriptures in ways that don't reflect external influences on their lives. We think that somehow we can rid ourselves of our life experiences and simply go to the Scriptures without preconceived notions. But one of the most important things to remember about our human effort in biblical interpretation is that no matter how hard we try to do otherwise, we always approach the Scriptures affected by countless influences. And the more we're aware of these influences, the better we'll be able to discern whether they're positive or negative, whether they help us or they hinder us as we interpret the Bible.

We'll consider three main influences on the efforts we exert when we prepare to interpret Scripture. These influences are interrelated, but we'll treat them separately for the sake of simplicity. The first we'll mention is our prior exegesis of Scripture.

Exegesis

For the purposes of this series, we'll define exegesis as:

Drawing meaning out of biblical texts.

— especially by looking at things like the historical context, literary forms, use of grammar and vocabulary, theological setting, and so on. Although there are many things we might say about exegesis, for now, we just want to point out that the exegesis we've done in the past helps prepare us for the task of interpretation.

Every involvement we have with the exegesis of Scripture prepares us for further interpretation of the Bible. The knowledge, skills and attitudes we develop from one encounter with the Bible influence us the next time we go to Scripture. For instance, every time we study biblical vocabulary and grammar, we increase our ability to handle these aspects of Scripture more responsibly. When we work to understand the literary types of Scripture, such as narratives, laws, poetry, prophecies, proverbs and the like, we're better equipped to understand them at a later time. And as we learn about the ancient history of the Bible, we're prepared to come back to the Scriptures for further understanding. Every effort we put into the exegesis of Scripture helps prepare us for further study.

A second type of influence that affects our human efforts in hermeneutics is our interaction in community.

Interaction

Interaction with other people is one of the most influential, but frequently underestimated, influences on our efforts to understand the Scriptures. We all want to engage in direct exegesis of the Bible. But whether we realize it or not, it's nearly impossible to interpret the Bible without being influenced by our interactions with other people. And this is a good thing.

Other people, both from the present world and from the past, have received great gifts and insights from the Holy Spirit that can help us as we interpret Scripture. They've produced valuable reference works. They give us godly counsel. They teach us about biblical languages and literature and history and all sorts of other things that help us understand and apply God's Word. Even the very Bibles we hold in our hands have come to us from other people. They've come to us through the work of scholars, translators, editors and publishers.

Beyond this, most of us have specific Christian communities where we feel at home, including our churches and our denominations. These communities share common traditions that influence the way we read and understand Scripture. And the input we receive from pastors, teachers and other individual believers helps us in many ways too.

We learn many valuable things through the successes, failures and insights of others. We learn from those who are like us and those who are different, from those in the past and those in the present, from those we know personally and those that we've never met. Whether we recognize it or not, all of our interpretations of Scripture are and should be deeply influenced by other people.

A third major influence on our efforts in preparation is our personal Christian experience.

Experience

It's fair to say that anything we encounter in our lives as Christians is part of our Christian experience, including things we've already addressed like exegesis and interaction with others. So at this point in our lesson we want to focus on the kinds of things we normally think of when we talk about our personal Christian experience or our walk with God. These personal aspects of Christian living contribute to our interpretations of Scripture in a variety of ways.

For instance, our Christian growth and sanctification increase our ability to interpret the Bible; the ways we live deeply affect our ability to grasp the Scriptures. When followers of Christ are faithful — trying to think, act and feel in ways that please God — they usually find that they're better prepared for learning more from the Scriptures. But if we haven't brought our lives into conformity to the Word of God, studying the Bible often leads to misinterpretation and misapplication.

Our past experiences can also affect our ability to interpret responsibly. All believers have had experiences that shape the way we think, feel and behave. And these experiences influence our efforts to interpret Scripture. For example, someone who grew up in a wealthy environment may find it difficult to understand the concern for the poor expressed in Luke's gospel. Someone who was raised in a culture that stressed honor might be more likely to understand passages concerning shame.

Beyond this, each individual has different personal strengths and weaknesses, different abilities and blind spots, different gifts from the Holy Spirit, and, of course, different sins. In one way or another, all of these things influence our competence when it comes to interpreting and applying Scripture.

Our sins inhibit our ability to understand truth in general, including in the Bible. The Bible says that we suppress the truth in unrighteousness in our sinful nature. And so there's a distorting effect that our sin has in our ability to understand truth. And so when we come to the Bible, understanding it without that twisting effect of sin is one of the things the Holy Spirit enables us to do that we are very grateful for. [Dr. K. Erik Thoennes]

Sin can hinder our interpretation of Scripture because people tend to find in Scripture what they want to find. For example, a few centuries ago slaveholders came up with a way to interpret Scripture that justified slavery. It was in their own economic interests to do so, so they would — if they allowed the slaves to be preached to at all — they would preach from Ephesians 6:5 where slaves are supposed to obey their masters. They wouldn't pay any attention to 6:9, however, which says, "And masters, you do the same things to them." I mean, if you actually take that seriously — if masters actually have to serve their slaves — slavery probably wouldn't last very long. It kind of destroys the economic incentives. But when people have an agenda that they approach Scripture with and they're trying to justify the way they live, they're going to end up reading Scripture in that way. Now, sometimes people have the opposite problem. They may come from a setting where they're always expecting condemnation or they're always expecting guilt, and they read Scripture that way too. Instead of reading Scripture in light of our presuppositions, we need to, as best as possible, try to hear what the message of the text really is to us. [Dr. Craig S. Keener]

CONCLUSION

In this lesson on our preparation for interpretation, we've looked at two critical aspects of the preparations we should make before we interpret Scripture. We've considered our dependence on the Holy Spirit in terms of the doctrines of organic inspiration and the Spirit's illumination. And we've emphasized the need for human effort by looking at the importance of human effort and by surveying some of the influences that God normally brings to bear on our interpretive efforts.

Preparation for interpreting the Bible requires us both to depend on the Holy Spirit and to put forth a great deal of human effort. We have to approach Scripture in conscious, prayerful submission to the Holy Spirit because he inspired the Scriptures and because the Father sent him to us to illumine our minds and hearts to understand the Scriptures. But at the same time, God has ordained that we should put forth our own efforts as well, by reading, studying, interacting with others and by applying the Scriptures to our own lives every step along the way. Interpreting the Scriptures is a complex project that we must pursue throughout our entire lives, so we must be careful to prepare ourselves as thoroughly as possible. The more we pay attention both to God's Spirit and to our human efforts, the better prepared we'll be for interpreting the Bible.