Yesterday I posted a Review of Biblical Hermeneutics. In reading and researching the topic of hermeneutics (Biblical interpretation) I ran across a few interesting quotes.
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I hold that the words of Scripture were intended to have one definite sense, and adhere rigidly to it…To say the words do mean a thing merely because they can be tortured into meaning it is a most dishonorable and dangerous way of handling Scripture.
J.C. Ryle
God sometimes blesses a poor exegesis of a bad translation of a doubtful reading of an obscure verse of a minor prophet.
Alan Cole
Inasmuch as all Scripture is the product of a single divine mind, interpretation must stay within the bounds of the analogy of Scripture and eschew hypotheses that would correct one Biblical passage by another, whether in the name of progressive revelation or of the imperfect enlightenment of the inspired writer’s mind.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
I especially enjoyed Cole’s quote as I think all of us can think of times we have unintentionally misinterpreted something in the Bible, yet God has been good to us to bless us despite ourselves. J.C. Ryle’s quote stands as a warning that to use the Bible flippantly and outside of proper methods is both dishonoring and dangerous. The Chicago Statement reminds me that Scripture must (and will) interpret Scripture, not correct it.
The Bible is an awesome revelation and it behooves us to treat it with the utmost care and respect.