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THE CLASSIC PRINCIPLES FOR THE SOUND INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE

Some people have lost faith in God because they have not been able to reconcile some of the seemingly brutal aspects of the Bible with God being All-Good and All-Loving. Often this stumbling block occurs when someone fails to distinguish between the Bible’s narratives and the Bible’s instructions. There are some brutal, horrible things accurately described in the Bible. But this does not mean that God endorsed or endorses such things. Take for example, imprecatory prayers…

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
Psalm 137:9

An imprecatory prayer is an emotive prayer from someone who is asking God to take vengeance on someone. There are several of these prayers found in the prophets (particularly Jeremiah) and especially in the Psalms. On first glance they appear violent and terrible. But there is something else going on here.

These imprecatory prayers reveal that true condition of the human soul. The Bible is the divinely inspired – and therefore, the inerrant Word of God. It records these prayers of anger and anguish accurately without condoning them, or even implying that they would be answered. They highlight the difference between what God affirms and what God endorses. To put it another way, it shows that the Bible will accurately record prayers, events, and actions, which God had not endorsed or even condoned. This calls for a distinction to be made between how we view Biblical narrative and Biblical injunction.

A few years ago, a Labor Senator from New South Wales failed to do just this. She asserted in the Parliament that the Bible was among the most violent of all the religious holy books because of verses like-

¶ And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.”
Second Kings 8:12

What this Senator had failed to do is what many people who do not appreciate the Bible’s genres do. She had failed to realise that the Bible never endorses such violence, but it does narrate evil people performing it. I wonder how many people who feel they cannot believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired and infallible Word of God because of such violent verses in the Bible have also failed to make this vital distinction?

Andrew Corbett

And when it comes to teaching on some of the most difficult subjects, such as End Times, discover why thousands of pastors from around world have found the eBook, THE MOST EMBARRASSING BOOK IN THE BIBLE so helpful for them to understand what the Church’s role in this world should be amidst the shrill of so many Bible-Prophecy ministries which forecast doom and gloom. Check it out and you’ll see why. PREVIEW

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The Damage Of Misinterpretation

by Andrew Corbett | 11 July, 2017 | Bible Prophecy | 0 Comments

Recently, one of the world’s most listened to Bible teachers received a question from a listener about Christ’s failure to return “soon”. It’s actually a great question and is frequently responded to with answers from most popular Bible teachers that actually portrays the Bible as nonsensical! How this question is answered depends on the method we use to interpret any Scripture passage. Yet, using the principles of sound Bible interpretation is the very reason why such Bible prophecies about Christ’s “soon” return are a problem for the thoughtful Bible reader.

Growing In Confidence In God’s Word Because Of Bible Prophecy

by Andrew Corbett | 5 July, 2017 | Bible Prophecy | 0 Comments

One of the most heated recent theological debates centred around the notion of whether God not only knows the future, but whether He decrees it. On one side of the debate there are those who claim that the future is open even to God. They claim that the future is up for grabs. God, in their view, has expressed His desire for how He would like the future to unfold. In order for this to happen, because the future is open, God’s purpose needs people to move history toward this end. Those who have a closed view of the future strongly disagree with this assessment. But Bible Prophecy can help someone to grow in their confidence in the Bible as God’s Word.

Church Discipline

by Andrew Corbett | 4 June, 2017 | Pastoral | 0 Comments

Church discipline corrects, holds leaders accountable, and teaches people to think twice before acting foolishly. It is always redemptive. That is, it restores those it disciplines. Discipline brings cohesion to a group such as a church, but especially a family. It helps to prevent people from hurting others and themselves. It serves to maintain unity within a church by keeping people accountable to the highest standards of cooperation.

The Divine Divorce of Israel

by Andrew Corbett | 20 May, 2017 | Hermeneutics | 0 Comments

It is perhaps one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible today among Evangelicals. What is the place of Israel today in God’s plan? In Jeremiah 3:8, the prophet declares that God had sent Israel away with the a “bill of divorce”. This article explores what this means and the implications of its meaning.

The Binding of Satan

by Andrew Corbett | 5 May, 2017 | Book of Revelation | 0 Comments

I’m a ‘Pentecostal’ Preterist. To be more precise I’m a Pentecostal Partial Preterist. If you’re wondering what on earth does any of that mean? It means I wake up every morning to start my day living for Jesus, rather than againstSatan. I don’t have to bind Satan to get over difficulties or to make it through life. Let me explain further…

Are We Trying To Christianise Our Society?

by Andrew Corbett | 23 April, 2017 | Ethics | 0 Comments

The claim is sometimes made that as Christians around the world are getting more involved in politics that they are plotting to christianise their societies. Even many Christian leaders have criticised this Christian political movement by saying that it is not right to enforce Christian standards (such as marriage) onto a secular society. One leader even defended his view that marriage need not be limited to a man and a woman, based on the assumption that it is wrong for Christians to expect non-christians to act like Christians. He cited Canada as an example of how non-christian standards had not caused the “sky to fall in” on their society.

Why Left Behind Should Be Left Behind

by Andrew Corbett | 21 April, 2017 | Eschatology | 0 Comments

For LEFT BEHIND to be true it has to invent it’s own set of rules for Bible interpretation. What most LEFT BEHIND fans may be shocked to discover is that the pivotal sections of Matthew and Revelation upon which LEFT BEHIND is based was fulfilled by 70AD! And it had to be since that’s what Christ said!

“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
Matthew 24:34 (NKJV)

The highly aclaimed atheist, Bertrand Russell, said this verse alone was enough to discredit both the Bible and Jesus Christ!

The Background To The Book of Revelation

by Andrew Corbett | 19 April, 2017 | Book of Revelation | 0 Comments

Anyone who studies the Book of Revelation will soon come across the term “apocalyptic”. The language of the Book of Revelation is regarded as “apocalyptic”. Similarly, the student of Revelation will read that “apocalyptic” has to do with symbolic prophetic language regarding the end of the world. This definition though is somewhat unsubstantiated. “Apocalyptic” does not mean the end of the world, rather it means to unveil. It comes from the Greek word, apocalypsis. This is the original Greek word for the English word “Revelation”. Thus, while the nature of the term apocalyptic is certainly symbolic, certainly prophetic, and certainly about the ending of something, but it is not necessarily (if at all) about the end of the world.

How should we understand ‘every eye shall see Him’?

by Andrew Corbett | 18 March, 2017 | Book of Revelation | 0 Comments

It is absurd for Futurists to claim that “even those who pierced Him” refers to modern Israel. Futurists pride themselves for being “literalists” when it comes to interpretting the Book of Revelation. But which interpretation of Revelation 1:7 is more literal? I am proposing the most literal interpretation of this verse by saying that when the text says “even those who pierced Him” that is precisely what it means. “Every eye shall see” refers to the qualifying statement identifying this audience as the people responsible for Christ’s death. Again, when Futurists claim that this text prophesies the invention of satellite TV which will televise the return of Christ live around the world, they can barely warrant their appeal as literalists!

How Should A Christian Think About Climate Change?

by Andrew Corbett | 15 March, 2017 | Ethics | 0 Comments

It seems that the Christian response to the claim of rapid climate change is polarised between the extremes of outright denial on the one hand and apocalyptic alarm on the other. And these responses often have more to do with theological biases rather than real science…