Nov. 25, 2024

Scripture vs Theology

Scripture vs Theology

A discussion about bible study, bible interpretation and theology

Spreaker Apple Podcasts Spotify PocketCasts Amazon Music Overcast Audible Castro iHeartRadio Castbox Podchaser TuneIn Deezer Pandora RadioPublic Podcast Addict RSS Feed YouTube Fountain PlayerFM Goodpods Podverse Podyssey Breaker Podurama Audacy JioSaavn
Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast Audible podcast player icon Audible Audible Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Castbox podcast player icon Castbox Castbox Podchaser podcast player icon Podchaser Podchaser TuneIn podcast player icon TuneIn TuneIn Deezer podcast player icon Deezer Deezer Pandora podcast player icon Pandora Pandora RadioPublic podcast player icon RadioPublic RadioPublic Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podcast Addict Podcast Addict RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed YouTube podcast player icon YouTube YouTube Fountain podcast player icon Fountain Fountain PlayerFM podcast player icon PlayerFM PlayerFM Goodpods podcast player icon Goodpods Goodpods Podverse podcast player icon Podverse Podverse Podyssey podcast player icon Podyssey Podyssey Breaker podcast player icon Breaker Breaker Podurama podcast player icon Podurama Podurama Audacy podcast player icon Audacy Audacy JioSaavn podcast player icon JioSaavn JioSaavn

A discussion about bible study, bible interpretation and theology

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:06.080
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:12.960
the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Have you ever

3
00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.120
been having a discussion with someone about the Biblical text,

4
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.679
about something in the Bible, about how to interpret this verse,

5
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.920
or interpret this verse, or what does this mean? Maybe

6
00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:28.679
you're having a lengthy discussion about Isaiah chapter forty. Maybe

7
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.439
you're having a lengthy discussion about James chapter one, verses

8
00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:35.719
nineteen to twenty seven. Maybe you're having a discussion about

9
00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.600
Hebrews chapter six. Because these are texts that we have

10
00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:41.200
discussed here on this podcast. But have you ever been

11
00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:44.479
discussing it with someone? And maybe sooner or later, the

12
00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.600
discussion kind of turns more into a debate. They see

13
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.600
it this way, you see it this way, and both

14
00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.479
people are arguing, And have you ever decided, you know,

15
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.679
you just almost want to throw up your hands. Maybe

16
00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:57.880
you make this decision, maybe you just want to say it,

17
00:00:57.960 --> 00:00:59.960
maybe you just feel it. You just want to scream,

18
00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:06.200
hey man, look, your theology is showing. Your theology is

19
00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:09.560
showing I'm sorry, your theology is showing. That means we

20
00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.599
cannot have this discussion anymore. There's no point. Let's just

21
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.000
forget this let's just give up. I'm sorry, but your

22
00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:22.760
theology is showing. Now many people will be like, well,

23
00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.920
thank you very much. I'm glad my theology is showing,

24
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:33.079
because theology is important. Theology is the most important thing. Theology, theology, theology, theology.

25
00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.040
I want to be known for my theology.

26
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.799
Many people may see that almost like hey, that you're

27
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:45.439
saying something positive about them. I see that now. Is

28
00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.280
if someone says, I'm sorry, but your theology is showing,

29
00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:52.040
I see that as a negative thing. Now we're going

30
00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.719
to discuss that well right after, I guess I give

31
00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:00.599
you a proper introduction. Good morning everyone. It is Monday,

32
00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:05.120
November fifth, twenty twenty four. It is currently nine fifty

33
00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.439
nine am Central Time, and I am coming to you

34
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:15.879
live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abbylee, Texas.

35
00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.520
Now, I know it may sound a little strange.

36
00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.680
That the host of a podcast called Theology Central would

37
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:27.719
even insinuate, would even hint that if someone's.

38
00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:29.800
Theology is showing, that's a bad thing.

39
00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:34.280
But in this particular situation that I'm describing, it is

40
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:34.879
a bad thing.

41
00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:36.080
See, when people are.

42
00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:38.439
Talking about the Bible, when you're talking about how to

43
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.520
interpret scripture. The last thing I want to see is

44
00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:47.439
your theology. I don't want to see your theology. I

45
00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.719
want to see the text. We need to be discussing

46
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:56.280
the text, not your theology. And my concern is is that,

47
00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:01.759
over and over again, over and over again, what drives

48
00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:07.199
Bible interpretation is not the text. It's not context, it's

49
00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:11.840
not history, it's not culture, it's not language, it's not grammar.

50
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:17.879
What drives interpretation, over and over and over is people's theology.

51
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:24.240
And once their theology is showing, then the text becomes lost.

52
00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:30.960
The text gets hidden because your theology overshadows the text.

53
00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:34.000
That to me is a problem.

54
00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:38.280
Even though I do a podcast called Theology Central, well,

55
00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:42.719
I want theology to be central, but guess what theology

56
00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:47.280
should be developed from the text. Theology should not be

57
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:52.479
what determines how you read the text. And I hope

58
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.240
that this discussion will be somewhat beneficial. Now, if you've

59
00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.879
been listening at all, you know we've had some important

60
00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.800
conversations about Isaiah chapter forty. In fact, we're doing a

61
00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:06.919
study of Isaiah chapter forty all the way to Isaiah

62
00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.080
chapter fifty five. Forty to fifty five. We're dealing with

63
00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:13.439
that entire section. Why because I have grown sick and

64
00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:16.040
tired of hearing sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon

65
00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.120
that goes to Isaiah forty or Isaiah forty three, anywhere

66
00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.480
in Isaiah, really just forget just Isaiah forty to fifty five,

67
00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.160
anywhere in the entire book. They just open it up,

68
00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.160
and next thing you know, they insert us into the text,

69
00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:33.600
They insert the church into the text. Soon Israel is lost,

70
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.519
the historical context is lost, and it becomes about you.

71
00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.360
It becomes about me and how to live the Christian life.

72
00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.360
And then they take promises that clearly aren't meant for us,

73
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.160
and they say they're meant for us, and I get

74
00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:48.199
sick of that right over and over and over and over.

75
00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:49.920
I get sick of it so that I'm like, Okay,

76
00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:53.160
we're going to get to the text. Then we stumbled

77
00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:56.120
upon a sermon on James chapter one, nineteen to twenty seven.

78
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:57.959
Once again they were saying things.

79
00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.639
I'm like that, I don't I think that's what the

80
00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.439
text is saying. So we worked on that over and

81
00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:05.720
over and over. I hear sermon after sermon after sermon,

82
00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:12.079
and here's what happens. You probably can do this, someone

83
00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:14.920
could play a sermon. You have no idea the name

84
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:18.680
of the church, You have no idea what their theological

85
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:19.319
system is.

86
00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:20.920
You have no idea.

87
00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.920
You start listening, not always, but typically within maybe five

88
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.360
to fifteen minutes. Once they give you the text and

89
00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:33.120
then they start talking, you'd be like, oh, well, you

90
00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.439
know that church is reformed? Are you know that church's

91
00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:37.800
dispensation all? You know that church is all millennial. You

92
00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:39.839
know that church is pre millennial. You know that church

93
00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:42.519
is lordship salvation. You know that church is calvinistic. You

94
00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.360
know that church is not calvinistic. Almost within fifteen minutes

95
00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:51.439
you hear their theology. Now they're telling everyone today, we're

96
00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.279
gonna study the Gospel of John. Today we're going to

97
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.920
study the Book of Romans. And they sound so sincere,

98
00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:03.319
and they sound so oh spiritual. We're going to study

99
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:05.560
the word of God. We're going to preach the word

100
00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:09.480
of God. But in reality, all they do is just reinforce.

101
00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:13.399
They just take the text simply to reinforce the philological

102
00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:17.639
system everyone already holds to. Because it's their theology that

103
00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:22.800
you're studying, not the actual text. You can all you

104
00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.639
can listen to a sermon and almost immediately determine the theology.

105
00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.079
And once you determine the theology, like if I if

106
00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.199
I look first at the name of the church, Oh,

107
00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.720
it's Presbyterian, they're going to be an Isaiah. Well, I

108
00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:35.639
know what they're getting ready to do. It's going to

109
00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.680
be this allegorical spiritualize it. Okay, it's going to be

110
00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:40.319
the church. Okay, I know what they're going Oh, this

111
00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:42.399
is this church. Well, I know what they're going to do.

112
00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:44.480
Oh it's I know what they're going to do. The

113
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.120
minute you kind of know the church, you almost know

114
00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.079
how they're going to interpret the text because they always

115
00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:54.120
interpret it according to the theology of the church, the

116
00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:58.800
theology of the denomination, and that that's just no. Your

117
00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:03.439
theology should not be determine how you and theology should

118
00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.079
not be the thing that determines how you interpret the text.

119
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:10.120
Once you determine how you interpret the text, is the text,

120
00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:17.160
the language, the grammar, the history, the context. And my

121
00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:20.879
my perspective is if you truly stay true to the text,

122
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.439
if you truly stay true to the text, you're gonna

123
00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:30.800
find yourself in conflict with with every single philological system

124
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:36.040
out there. Every you're gonna find your if you truly

125
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.639
try to stay true to the text, you're gonna take

126
00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:41.879
off the reform people. You're gonna take off, the non

127
00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.600
reform people. You're gonna take off the Calvinists, the non Calvinist,

128
00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:48.199
your lordship, non lordship, you're gonna take off everyone. Because

129
00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.720
I don't think if you truly stay true to this

130
00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.759
to I don't think if you truly stay true to

131
00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.480
the text, you're ever going to find yourself in agreement

132
00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:01.920
fully with any system of theology. I think you're gonna

133
00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.879
constantly find yourself in conflict. I really believe that now

134
00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.879
there may have been time in my Christian life that

135
00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:13.480
it was like theology, theology, theology, theology. I mean, most

136
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.639
of my education is in theological studies, so obviously I

137
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.639
love theology.

138
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:21.439
But at some point you're like, well, wait a minute,

139
00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:22.120
Wait a minute.

140
00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:24.839
One of the things we constantly say is non Catholic

141
00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:31.120
says scripture alone, scripture alone. Oh, we talk a big game,

142
00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:33.120
we say all the right words.

143
00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.279
It's almost just a cliche.

144
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:40.039
The scripture is the final authority for belief and practice.

145
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.879
Oh we it's but it's all just a show. It's

146
00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.639
just a facade. It's it's not true in a practical sense.

147
00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:53.720
What is the authority is yours, your theology and you

148
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.000
as an individual, You, as an individual, you interpret the Bible.

149
00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.639
How do you interpret the Bible? Typically, buy a theological

150
00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:02.200
system that you have been taught. You now read that

151
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.879
into the text, you interpret it, and then you say

152
00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.039
this is the right way, and anyone who disagrees with

153
00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:10.200
me is wrong because you think your interpretation is right.

154
00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.120
You basically think your interpretation is infallible. And then you

155
00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:16.120
go judge everyone else and declare who's a heretic and

156
00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:20.639
who's not a heretic. Really, the individual, the philological system

157
00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:25.639
is the authority, not the Bible. And so when we

158
00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:28.639
were doing all of the work yesterday, if you were listening,

159
00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.399
I spent two plus hours trying to develop a new

160
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.120
interpretation of James one nineteen through twenty seven. And what

161
00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.240
you start realizing when you get into some of the

162
00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:43.519
difficult parts in the Book of James, Well, how come

163
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:46.720
there's this interpretation and this interpretation, and this interpretation and

164
00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:50.000
this interpretation, Because no matter what the text you're studying,

165
00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:54.320
there's always multiple interpretations. But have you ever noticed something, Well,

166
00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:58.679
this interpretation belongs to this system of theology, and this

167
00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:03.240
interpretation belongs to this system of theology, and this interpretation

168
00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:08.440
belongs to this system of theology. Different interpretations are almost

169
00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:13.519
always associated with a specific philological system. If you believe

170
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:17.679
in lordship salvation, if that's your theological structure, you're going

171
00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.000
to interpret James. You're going to interpret First John a

172
00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.960
very specific way. If you are not lordship, you're going

173
00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:28.960
to interpret James and First John and a completely different

174
00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:32.519
type of way. If your lordship, you're going to interpret

175
00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:34.519
the Sermon on the Mount one way. If you're not lordship,

176
00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.039
you're going to interpret a completely different way. Now why

177
00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.919
is it that for some weird reason? What And I

178
00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:44.480
know we could get into an argument, well which comes first,

179
00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:48.159
but I'm going to say it. I think what determines

180
00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.960
how text are interpreted is more the philological framework, the

181
00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.360
theiological system which someone holds. I mean, if you really

182
00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.399
think about it. In Christianity, if you really just come on,

183
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.080
just beyond this with I mean, be honest with yourself,

184
00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.000
be honest with me, be honest with everyone. Right when

185
00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.960
you become a Christian, you are given, you're taught a

186
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000
philological framework you're taught this is what we believe about baptism,

187
00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.480
this is what we believe about suff You are taught

188
00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:20.200
that very little, especially in discipleship. Are you rarely taught?

189
00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:20.559
You know what?

190
00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:23.000
Forget the theological system, forget that.

191
00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.200
What we're going to do is we're going to focus

192
00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:30.799
on reading and studying the Bible based off Bible study

193
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.120
methods that are more observational than they are interpretive. And

194
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.639
here are the observational tools and the observational skills. This

195
00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:43.559
is how to teach you how to do an observational outline,

196
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.360
how to do it even doing a chapter summary method,

197
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.039
how to read and do an observational outline, and that

198
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.840
over all the different methods is about observing the.

199
00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.360
Text, the texts, the text, the text.

200
00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.559
Most Christians either one don't even know most of the

201
00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:01.639
Bible study methods, and if they know them, they.

202
00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:05.279
Rarely do them. And this is what will happen.

203
00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:09.039
Almost inevitably, you'll have someone start arguing with you about

204
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:11.960
the text, right, and you'll say, okay, come out, come out,

205
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.559
come out. All right, So this is the text we're

206
00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.480
arguing about. Maybe it's Romans, maybe it's James. Okay, great,

207
00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:21.879
So we're in this chapter. At the very minimum, I

208
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.399
know you've done at least a chapter summary method on it, right,

209
00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:27.159
I mean, at the very minimum, I know you've done that, correct,

210
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.080
So show me your chapter summary method. Oh you've not

211
00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.120
done that. We at the very least, I know you've

212
00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.600
done at least this or this, like you can have.

213
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.440
You've done a word study, or you've done a book background,

214
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.879
you've done a you can start asking some of them,

215
00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:46.000
and almost almost in every case, they have done none

216
00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:49.399
of the Bible study method. Yet they're sitting there telling

217
00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:51.440
you you're wrong. You're wrong, you're wrong, and you know

218
00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:53.159
what you want to say, you know what you may

219
00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:55.799
desire to say, you know what you probably should say.

220
00:12:56.039 --> 00:13:00.000
Maybe you should stop talking because right now you're theology

221
00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.960
is showy. You are arguing your theology. You're not arguing

222
00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.399
the text. And then what people will do is, if

223
00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.120
they get mad, they'll go get a book from their

224
00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:14.120
philological system and a book or a commentary and they'll say,

225
00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.360
see the scripture right here, this scripture proves it. No,

226
00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.120
that scripture proves it because you're interpreting it and light

227
00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:25.120
of your philological system, how can you not see that?

228
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:30.320
But it's very difficult to get people to acknowledge that.

229
00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:36.240
So this is a problem. Basically, what happens if we're

230
00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:41.679
honest with ourselves, we have this scripture versus theology, theology

231
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:42.600
versus scripture.

232
00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:44.919
Now, the church is very good at.

233
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.720
Disguising this and making it sound like their theology is

234
00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:54.600
scripture and scripture is their theology. But if you really

235
00:13:54.639 --> 00:14:00.200
break it down, no again, And I think the giveaway is, well,

236
00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.120
when people become a Christian, what are they taught? First?

237
00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.799
I mean, just just walk around your church. I mean

238
00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:08.759
I always tell people to do this, Just walk around

239
00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.480
and ask them. Okay, tell me how you study the Bible?

240
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:15.519
Come on, what is your Bible study methods? Now you

241
00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.440
can ask them and at fact, if you really want to,

242
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:19.919
kind of do it. And I'm more like, you know,

243
00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:22.960
this is kind of setting them up. Hey, what do

244
00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:24.799
you believe about this? What do you believe about this?

245
00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:26.799
What do you believe about this? They'll give you what

246
00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:28.639
they'll tell you. They'll be more than happy to say,

247
00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:31.720
oh I believe this, I believe this, I believe this,

248
00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:32.320
I believe this.

249
00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.360
Great, you believe all these things?

250
00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.440
Okay, Now, do you have any notebooks that would demonstrate

251
00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:43.600
your study that led you to this conclusion. You won't

252
00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.879
have notebooks that led them to this conclusion. You will

253
00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:52.000
have their conclusion that now determines how they read the text.

254
00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:55.720
It's I'm telling you this is the way it works

255
00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:59.039
in christiendom. You can deny it, you can tell me

256
00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.320
I'm wrong. It is the truth. The people sitting in

257
00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:06.519
the pew rarely do any meaningful study. But they're the

258
00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.000
ones who will say, you're wrong, You're wrong, You're wrong,

259
00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.919
you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. I disagree, Well why

260
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.679
are you? They'll be on social media, arguing, arguing, arguing.

261
00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:16.000
Sometimes you want to just say.

262
00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:16.919
Stop talking.

263
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.200
Did you study the text?

264
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.759
And sometimes I'll oh, I study the text? What did that?

265
00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:25.559
What does that entail?

266
00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:26.519
That means?

267
00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.519
What did you do? Oh? You read MacArthur's book. Oh

268
00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:32.360
you read R. C. Sprull, or you read Martin Lloyd Jones.

269
00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:36.120
Oh great, you didn't study the text. You studied what

270
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:39.480
the people who's on your theological team had to say

271
00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:44.799
about the text. That's not studying the text. So you say, okay,

272
00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.919
what Bible study methods do you know? Go, how do

273
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.759
you do a thematic study? How do you do a

274
00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:52.159
topical study. How do you do a word study? How

275
00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.320
do you do a chapter analysis study? How do you

276
00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.320
do a chapter summary? How do you do a book background?

277
00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:02.759
How do you do a biographical The most likely they

278
00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.720
can't even tell you the steps. They have no clue.

279
00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:10.120
Yet they'll be the ones that'll be so dogmatic about

280
00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.159
what the text says and will tell you you're wrong.

281
00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:17.600
Where did they get that from? From their favorite preacher?

282
00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:18.720
They listen to.

283
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:29.519
Theology, I will say, not just often, but most of

284
00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:36.639
the time drives Bible interpretation. Theology I will say this,

285
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.600
theology doesn't just drive Bible interpretation. I will go so

286
00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:46.240
far to say theology determines Bible interpretation. Again, you can

287
00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.840
just start playing a sermon for me. I can just

288
00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.039
close my eyes listen. Go oh that's a Presbyterian church.

289
00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.960
Oh wait, dads, that's an independent fundamental Baptist church. Oh

290
00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.320
that's dispensational. Oh they're premillennial. Oh wait their lordship.

291
00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.879
Wait almost you can. It's almost.

292
00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:05.240
It's easy to do because you know what and if

293
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.319
you see the name of the church, or you look

294
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.279
and see what kind of church they are, and you

295
00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.680
look at the text, they're they're preaching, I can almost

296
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:14.960
just go ahead and write out the outline, this is

297
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:19.599
how they're going to interpret the text. And almost not always,

298
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.480
but in most cases it turns out to be pretty

299
00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:24.319
close to the case, which.

300
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.839
Is kind of that's kind of sad, but that's the

301
00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:29.519
way it works.

302
00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:36.759
Now, this tendency, I will say, you can call it

303
00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:42.240
Bible interpretation. You can say theology drives Bible interpretation. You

304
00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.960
can I think theology determines Bible interpretation. But I think

305
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.319
this tendency is especially evident in how different traditions handles

306
00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.480
texts like what we saw in James Chapter one, James

307
00:17:53.559 --> 00:18:00.359
chapter two, or any other seemingly problematic passage. They will

308
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.200
do is they'll, they'll, they'll, they'll, They're going to interpret

309
00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:09.200
that problematic passage according to their systematic theology. Now, how

310
00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:16.279
does theology determine interpretation? I in some ways I want

311
00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.759
to just say theology drives it, but I think I

312
00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:22.200
want to be almost more assertive and more dogmatic. Theology

313
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:27.680
determines interpretation. I think number one, it's because it gives

314
00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.240
you a pre existing framework which shapes your reading. You

315
00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.200
have a pre existing framework. Your theology is your pre

316
00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:41.519
existing framework which now is going to shape your reading. Typically,

317
00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:46.960
Christians come to the Bible with a philological system already

318
00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:52.000
in place, whether it's Calvinism, whether it's Arminianism, whether it's dispensationalism,

319
00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:53.640
whether it's covenant theology.

320
00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:55.680
Because when you become a Christian, you.

321
00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.720
Are given the system. It's like, welcome to Christianity. Here's

322
00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.519
your system.

323
00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:03.559
Now. It may not even if they don't give it

324
00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:04.160
a name.

325
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.000
Even if the church is not very philologically defined, there

326
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:16.799
is still a system. Texts are then interpreted to fit

327
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:23.480
that framework, rather than letting the text speak on its

328
00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:27.200
own terms. This is what happens. You become a Christian.

329
00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.480
There is a pre existing framework which is going to

330
00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:35.119
shape your reading. Christians come to the text with their

331
00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:43.599
philological system intact. The texts then are interpreted to fit

332
00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:50.359
that framework, rather than letting the text speak on its

333
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:58.279
own terms. This is the problem. So you can go,

334
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.319
don't bother, don't bother. I know how you're going to

335
00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:03.480
interpret the text. Don't bother, don't bother, because we don't

336
00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.319
really care about the text. You have a feel because

337
00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:09.960
and look at I understand. As pastors, you have no choice. Right,

338
00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.759
you get to pick your theological team, and you've got

339
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.960
to interpret the Bible according to that theological team from

340
00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:20.960
this point forward, or you'll get fired. You'll tick off.

341
00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:21.720
Someone in the church.

342
00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.000
And if someone in the church starts changing their theological system,

343
00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:29.279
they're gonna start disagreeing with you now about how you

344
00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.720
interpret the Bible. If they if they're on your theological team,

345
00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:34.440
they're gonna be like, yeah, good, good good.

346
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:35.279
The minute they.

347
00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.799
Start shifting, or you start shifting, there's conflict because everyone

348
00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.119
is coming at it from their philological framework, the text

349
00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:53.359
gets lost reform theology. Let's just give some examples. We'll

350
00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:59.039
emphasize sola fide faith alone. So james discussion of faith

351
00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.160
without works isad is often explained in ways that align

352
00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:05.160
with Paul theology, even though James appeared to be emphasizing

353
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.799
something practical. In other words, if you go to James

354
00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:10.079
and your theology is this, you're going to interpret it

355
00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.680
this way. If your theology, we could get all.

356
00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:16.960
Kinds of examples. Lordship's gonna see it.

357
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.839
We can just it. Just it goes on and on

358
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.640
and on and on and on. Presbyterians, you know, next

359
00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.359
thing you know, you're baptizing babies and you're like, They're like,

360
00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:29.319
you just don't know how to read the Bible, or

361
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.079
maybe your theology is reading it into the Bible where

362
00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:34.240
others will be like, where do you even find this?

363
00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:38.720
We go on, I mean, just lose salvation. Don't lose

364
00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:43.279
your salvation. Ohkay, Israel not Israel, Church, not the church,

365
00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:46.960
all this kind of stuff. This, this proved, this proves

366
00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.799
your salvation. This you know, you don't have to prove

367
00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:57.880
your salvation just it just never ends. So pre existing

368
00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:03.519
framework shapes reading. Or we could say this, Christians come

369
00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:07.680
to the text with a thiological system already in place.

370
00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:15.319
The text are then interpreted to fit that framework, and

371
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:21.279
they do this rather than letting the text speak for itself.

372
00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:27.480
We have to destroy the pre existing framework. Whenever we

373
00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:30.160
study the Bible. I say this all the time. I

374
00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:34.759
use this illustration. Some people think it's too violent sounding,

375
00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.000
but I use it to try to shock people into

376
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.480
doing this. We're getting ready to study this text, all right,

377
00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:43.759
Take your pre existing framework, take your system of theology.

378
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:45.720
Okay, I know it's fluffy.

379
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:48.119
I know you like to refer to your theological system

380
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:50.759
as fluffy, and you like to pet fluffy, and you

381
00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.599
love fluffy. Fluffy is your favorite theological system. Well, guess what.

382
00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:56.839
We're getting ready to study the Bible. So now that

383
00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:59.440
we've arrived at church, Okay, you got it. Okay, everyone

384
00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.039
pick up their fluffy because everyone calls it fluffy and

385
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.119
they're holding fluffy. But I love fluffy.

386
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.240
Fluffy's my favorite theological system.

387
00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.640
Well, you gotta take Fluffy out back, and you got

388
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:11.079
to put it down. You gotta put it down. There's

389
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:13.720
a gun waiting for you back there. You gotta shoot Fluffy.

390
00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:18.759
Fluffy has to die. No, No, that's horrible. Look, not

391
00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.279
a real dog, Fluffy. Your theological system has to die.

392
00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:25.640
Why because we're about to study the Bible. Keep your

393
00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:30.200
stinking framework outside of the church. Leave it in the

394
00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:34.200
parking lot here. We're gonna study the text. Now, guess

395
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:36.599
what that at times is going to be in conflict

396
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.359
with Fluffy. That at times is going to be in

397
00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:45.400
conflict with your favorite theological system. And even if it's

398
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.960
not in conflict with you want to see the text.

399
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.920
You don't want me just to lay your theological system

400
00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.200
upon the text. But you know what the reality is.

401
00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.480
Even though Christians say, oh, I want to study the Bible,

402
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.599
they don't want to study the Bible because if they did,

403
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:02.319
it would get offended and get ticked off because it

404
00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:07.839
probably doesn't go with our little philological system. The pre

405
00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:10.559
existing framework's got to go. It's got to be burned

406
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.240
to the ground. It's got to be shot, it's got

407
00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.880
to be killed. It's got to go away, it's got

408
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.480
to be buried. And then you study the Bible. Now,

409
00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:21.480
after you study it may fit perfectly with your theological system.

410
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.599
Then you can run outside and try to revive fluffy.

411
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:25.000
But the next time you.

412
00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:30.119
Study the text, Fluffy's got to go. Anytime the Bible

413
00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:38.920
is being studied, your philological system has to be set aside. Now,

414
00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:47.799
this can bring about a fear of contradiction. Interpreters often

415
00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:57.640
prioritize maintaining consistency across scripture, even at the expense of

416
00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:01.440
the natural reading of the text. So what happens over

417
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:03.640
and over and over is, wait, we got to be consistent.

418
00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:06.640
So we interpret this, so we interpret this, and so

419
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.000
you have to follow some kind of consistency. But true

420
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.079
Bible studies sometimes guess what the natural reading of the

421
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:17.160
text may go. Oh, man, I don't know if that

422
00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.400
works or does that work? Does that not work, and

423
00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.079
you're going to be willing to deal with and face

424
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:33.799
that uncomfortableness, that apparent contradiction. You have to be willing

425
00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:36.039
to do this. You've got to be willing to do this.

426
00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:44.640
Embrace the apparent contradiction, Embrace the uncertainty. Don't fear it,

427
00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:53.720
Embrace it, love it, enjoy it. So the pre existing

428
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.839
framework has to be burned to the ground. This fear

429
00:25:55.880 --> 00:26:01.440
of contradiction has to be replaced with accepting possible contradiction,

430
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:06.039
accepting unanswered questions. Accepting it may not make any sense.

431
00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:15.319
A third issue is in confessional commitments. Those who are

432
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:20.680
bound by a denominational or a confessional statement may feel

433
00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:25.079
obligated to interpret scripture in a way that aligns with

434
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:30.920
that tradition. And that's kind of what happens. Well, this

435
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:32.960
is our confession, when now you have to interpret the

436
00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.839
Bible in accordance with that confession.

437
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.359
I love confessions of faith. I love the creeds.

438
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.160
What I don't love is when the confession or the

439
00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:47.519
creed becomes the way I interpret the Bible. Whenever I

440
00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:50.279
study the Bible. I don't care what the confession says.

441
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:52.759
I don't care what the Creed says, I don't care

442
00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:56.119
when I'm studying the Bible. Now, after I'm done studying

443
00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:59.440
the Bible, I may compare my interpretation to this Confession

444
00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:03.000
or to this Creed and see if there's agreement or disagreement.

445
00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:06.319
The Creeds and the Confessions are awesome and should be

446
00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:09.640
studied and should be known. They don't determine how you

447
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:18.920
interpret the Bible. You can't. You just cannot allow that

448
00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:24.079
to happen. So we have the pre existing conditions or

449
00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:28.680
pre existing pre existing conditions medical terms, pre existing framework.

450
00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.960
It is a pre existing condition, right, it's your theology,

451
00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:35.759
and it's going to corrupt and impact your interpretation of Bible.

452
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:37.519
I guess I could build a new illustration there, but

453
00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:41.400
a pre existing framework. We got to get rid of

454
00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:44.000
the fear of contradiction and embrace uncertainty.

455
00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:45.480
Embrace contradiction.

456
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:48.880
You got to your commitment should be to the Text

457
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:52.240
before it is to any confession or any Creed.

458
00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:54.119
And I love the Confessions and Creed.

459
00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:56.279
Some people think that when you say things like that,

460
00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:58.240
that you're at war with the Confessions or Creeds. No,

461
00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:01.279
I tell everyone to read it and study it. The catechisms,

462
00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:05.880
the create all of it. But your loyalty is to

463
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.480
the text. And what did we see how many reform

464
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:12.559
churches preaching on Isaiah forty They kept referencing what the

465
00:28:12.599 --> 00:28:17.880
Heidelbird Catechism because the Heidelbird Catechism references Isaiah forty when.

466
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:18.759
It talks about comfort.

467
00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:23.519
Well, I don't care that the Heidelberg Catechism references Isaiah

468
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:27.240
forty and applies that comfort to us. The Heidelbird Catechism

469
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:30.519
isn't the word of God. The word of God, so

470
00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:33.559
I need to understand Isaiah forty, verse one and how

471
00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:36.160
Isaiah understood it, and what it meant, and how what

472
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.240
it meant at the time.

473
00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:38.240
Based off its context.

474
00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.599
It's text, not how the heidel Bird Catechism uses it,

475
00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:43.960
or in some cases misuses it. I don't care if

476
00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:46.319
it's Luther. I don't care. If it's Calvin, I don't care.

477
00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.200
I don't care if it's Augustine. I don't care who

478
00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:56.000
it is. I want to read the church fathers, I

479
00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:59.680
want to know them, but they don't determine how I

480
00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:04.720
the text. I don't care if I end up going out.

481
00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:08.400
I'm in conflict with MacArthur R. C. Sproull, Martin. You

482
00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:11.079
name the famous path. I don't care if I'm in

483
00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:15.039
disagreement with them, I don't care. They don't determine truth.

484
00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:21.279
And so many times people just go and you can

485
00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.359
tell when you get into an argument with someone about

486
00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.119
the text. Next thing you know, they're sending you this

487
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:28.200
stuff and you're like, dude, you just you just plaged

488
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:31.319
your eyes half of MacArthur's commentary. You're just you're just

489
00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:35.400
rewriting it. Do you have any original thought on your own?

490
00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.759
Did you do any actual study on your own? Can

491
00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.720
you actually engage the text? Or all you can do

492
00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:46.440
is just parrot the things you've heard. You're more committed

493
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:54.119
to your favorite preacher, you're more committed to your theological system. Now,

494
00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:57.480
this sometimes leads to what some may refer to as

495
00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:04.240
pastoral concerns. Logical interpretations are often shared by the practical

496
00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:08.400
implications they produce. Now, this is a different problem. We'll

497
00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:10.599
see if we interpret the text this way, it could

498
00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:13.400
lead to this issue or this issue or this issue.

499
00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.279
So sometimes the pastor will go, well, if I do this, well,

500
00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:20.839
this could create concern, or this could create the You've

501
00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:23.799
got to start being worried about pastoral concerns, and you

502
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:24.759
got to deal with the text.

503
00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:27.440
Who cares if it makes everyone in the pew man?

504
00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:29.799
Who cares? If it makes everyone in the pew uncomfortable?

505
00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.160
Who cares if it makes everyone in the pew walk

506
00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:35.279
out of the church. Who cares? You either care about

507
00:30:35.319 --> 00:30:37.440
the text or you're worried about Oh wait, this could

508
00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.079
impact this, and this could impact it. Stop worrying with

509
00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:51.960
the pastoral concerns. So pastors may downplay or over emphasize

510
00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:59.960
something based on their pastoral priorities. They have pastoral priorities

511
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:01.519
are like, well, I gotta do this and I don't

512
00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:04.079
want this, because they're trying to balance making sure everyone

513
00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:06.799
stays in the church happy and with there nobody will

514
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:09.960
get mad and take their ball and go home. Well,

515
00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:12.839
the minute you start doing that, you gotta please little Johnny.

516
00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:16.039
Your little Johnny's gonna get upset. Well, then guess what,

517
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.200
Then everyone in the church can just acknowledge it's all

518
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:23.480
a big game. It's basically politics. Pastors have to walk

519
00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:27.200
this fine line or are they gonna take everyone just forget? Then?

520
00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:29.319
You know what, can we just throw the Bible in

521
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:31.640
the trash can and just say we're just here to

522
00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:34.519
have a little bit of spirituality because nobody really cares

523
00:31:34.519 --> 00:31:35.240
about the text.

524
00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:37.359
If you have to kind of ooh, well, I.

525
00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:38.880
Got to do this with the text. I gotta do

526
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:40.680
this with the text because I got to make sure

527
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:45.119
I'm maintaining doing this for the church. Then the church

528
00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:49.480
becomes the priority, not the text. Your theology becomes the priority,

529
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:51.240
not the text.

530
00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:58.039
So we have this framework that's got to be destroyed.

531
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:01.079
We have this fear that we got to get over with,

532
00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:05.160
and we got to embrace contradiction, embrace complexity, embrace not

533
00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:09.960
having answers. We gotta stop being so committed to a

534
00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:12.720
confession or a creed and be more committed to the text.

535
00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:15.839
And this pastoral concern. Oh, I can't do this. I

536
00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:17.480
can't say this, I can't do this. I can't do

537
00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:21.200
this because you gotta. I Now, look, it's easy for

538
00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.359
me to say I'm kind of basically, you know, in

539
00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:27.319
a sense, done with that whole world. I'm basically done

540
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:28.200
with that whole world.

541
00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:29.279
I understand.

542
00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:30.799
If you're right there in the middle of being a

543
00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:35.000
pastor and your livelihoods dependent upon it, you're gonna go, well,

544
00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:37.440
you know, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this

545
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:39.920
I'm gonna do this because I gotta keep everyone happy.

546
00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:46.640
I gotta maintain That's just that's just that's just garbage, man,

547
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:56.200
that's just h That's just that's I can't stand that. Now.

548
00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:59.240
Why does all of this happen? Why does all of

549
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.200
this happen? Right? Those are some of the issues. Why

550
00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:03.599
does all of this happen? Well, because I know this

551
00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:09.559
is going to be shocking to everyone. Scripture is complex.

552
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:13.160
The Bible.

553
00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:15.000
I know this is gonna now.

554
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:18.200
Look, as someone who's spent most of my entire adult

555
00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:20.799
life pursuing philological education.

556
00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:22.640
This is what you're going to have to realize.

557
00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:27.359
The Bible is not a systematic philological not a systematic

558
00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:34.759
theology textbook. The Bible is not a systematic theology textbook.

559
00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:35.960
It is not.

560
00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:43.119
It's a collection of writing addressing various context addressing various audiences,

561
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:54.240
having different purposes. This diversity creates tensions. Faith works, law, Gospel,

562
00:33:54.640 --> 00:34:00.799
Old Testament, New Testament, Israel, Church promises this, that covenants

563
00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:05.960
all of these different things. Theology seeks to resolve this

564
00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:09.400
and make it systematized and make it simple, and so

565
00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.960
you learn the system. The system attempts to take this

566
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:18.199
complexity and simplify it. But by simplifying the complexity, what

567
00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:21.840
you tend to do is then the theology overshadows the text.

568
00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:24.719
And so then you just simply read the simplicity of

569
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:28.320
the theology into the complexity of the scripture. And what

570
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:36.480
gets lost is the scripture. Scripture is complex. You've got

571
00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:39.000
we've got to embrace its complexity. We got to embrace Well,

572
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:40.760
wait a minute, Wait a minute. Okay, wait, so we

573
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:43.199
in Isaiah? Okay, wait, so this is about people in

574
00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:46.159
Babylonian captivity. So I know I love this idea of comfort,

575
00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:48.079
but is that comfort really for me? And wait?

576
00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:50.159
Is Israel the same as the Church? And wait?

577
00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:52.480
Wait, the new covenant that's made with the House of

578
00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:54.519
Israel and the House of Judah, why don't we continually

579
00:34:54.599 --> 00:34:56.599
apply this to us Over there? In Ezekiel it talks

580
00:34:56.599 --> 00:34:58.599
about giving people a new heart. Well, wait a minute,

581
00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:00.639
that's referring to Ezekiel, and once they get the new heart,

582
00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:02.559
they go into the land. What don't I have to

583
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:05.039
separate that from us? Wait? Wait a minute, So the

584
00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:06.679
sermon on the Mount seems.

585
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:07.559
Okay, how do we interpret that?

586
00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:10.519
Wait? Okay, wait, Well, the reality is we all continue

587
00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:12.880
to send and wait. The reality is we pray to

588
00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:15.480
a god who supposedly in charge. We got to deal

589
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:18.360
with the complexities and the problems and the and the

590
00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:25.880
questions that are raised from and all systematic theology will

591
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.119
try to give you a simple way to resolve it.

592
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:35.079
But that simplicity destroys the complexity of the text. And

593
00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:37.320
that's why pastors will say a lot of people think

594
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:39.679
this is so complex, a lot of people think this

595
00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:40.280
is difficult.

596
00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:41.880
They'll do this with the Book of Revelation.

597
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.400
I don't know why people think it's really quite So

598
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:46.760
it's really quite simple because you're about to just give

599
00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:52.159
me page after page of some philological interpretation of the book,

600
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:54.039
and you're just going to you're not gonna worry about

601
00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:54.559
the complexity.

602
00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:55.760
You're gonna be like, this is what.

603
00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:57.960
The text says, this is what the text means. Because

604
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:01.719
you're quoting from this common carry this commentary, this commentary,

605
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:04.760
you're just reading the commentary you studied into the text.

606
00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:12.840
You're not dealing with the complexity of the text. So

607
00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:17.679
scripture is complex. So this leads people do they look

608
00:36:17.719 --> 00:36:22.480
to a systematic theology to resolve that complexity, which then

609
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:26.199
causes the problem I think another reason this happens is

610
00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:34.559
human beings. They like simplicity, they like consistency, They like

611
00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:38.239
something to be coherent. They have this need. Humans have

612
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:43.119
these needs that I think sometimes actually are contrary to

613
00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:48.000
the actual study of the text. Humans will naturally seek

614
00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:53.079
some form of consistency. So when a passage appears challenging

615
00:36:54.039 --> 00:37:00.559
a philological system, that's what they will go to. Say,

616
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:03.480
the text is too challenging, but a philological system, a

617
00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:06.360
commentary will give you a simple interpretation. That's what they

618
00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:12.880
will turn to. So in many cases, people will turn

619
00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:19.719
to kind of a philological system that harmonizes or simplifies it, even.

620
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:20.639
If that means.

621
00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:29.039
Basically hurting or overshadowing or almost hijacking the actual meaning

622
00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:33.599
of the text. People want they want an answer. They

623
00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:37.199
want it simple. They don't want complex, they don't want questions,

624
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:40.079
they don't want unresolved issues. They want it to all

625
00:37:40.119 --> 00:37:42.039
make sense, and they want it in three points and

626
00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:48.239
they want to be out by noon. I think a

627
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:53.800
problem is that human beings have certain needs, wants, and desires,

628
00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:57.480
and that trump's actually studying the text. They go to

629
00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:00.199
the text to get some of their needs met, and

630
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.159
if their needs is for answers and for simplicity, and

631
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.159
for not all this complexity. They'll find they'll take whatever

632
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:09.840
they need to make the text say whatever they need

633
00:38:09.880 --> 00:38:13.119
to say so they feel better. Everybody just wants to

634
00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:16.159
be They just want to feel better. Well, I'm sorry

635
00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:18.480
when you study the text and you don't always feel better.

636
00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:22.199
You don't always have your nice little wrapped up answer.

637
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:25.320
You know, no, Sometimes you're like, I don't know what

638
00:38:25.400 --> 00:38:27.440
in the world just happened. I have no idea, I

639
00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:30.679
have no idea. They want the sermons to be simple

640
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.119
three points. Typically they want a very simple outline. They

641
00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:37.559
don't want the pastor to get into all the complexity.

642
00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:41.599
It's too convoluted, it's too difficult. I just give me

643
00:38:41.639 --> 00:38:46.480
a nice little sermon. Well, you gotta stop worrying about

644
00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:54.880
people stink in needs and get to the text. So

645
00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:57.920
scripture is complex, we say what happens? People have these needs.

646
00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:01.440
The needs trump the text. A lot of people live

647
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:07.079
in a philological echo chamber. Many interpreters operate within philological bubbles,

648
00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:10.760
relying on commentaries, traditions, schools of thought that reinforce their

649
00:39:10.760 --> 00:39:15.000
existing views. This limits engagement with alternative interpretations and you

650
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:18.239
know what this does. It destroys engagement with the actual text.

651
00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:23.280
You don't actually engage the text. You read the text

652
00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:27.599
in light of your favorite philological system because you live

653
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:29.840
in that echo chamber. You live in that bubble. So

654
00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:34.719
you just read everything of that into the Bible. You've

655
00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:37.800
got to burn down the philological echo chamber.

656
00:39:38.119 --> 00:39:39.440
You got to get to the text.

657
00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:53.199
Well, guess what happens. A lot of people have a

658
00:39:53.239 --> 00:39:58.480
fear of uncertainty. Allowing the text to challenge a theological

659
00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:04.800
system will feel destabilizing. People will feel destabilized, they'll feel confused.

660
00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:09.440
So it's easier to simply interpret the text in a

661
00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:14.639
way that reaffirms the system that everyone agrees with. To

662
00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:18.559
grapple with unresolved tensions is just going to make people

663
00:40:18.599 --> 00:40:19.599
feel unstable.

664
00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:21.800
It's going to create fear of uncertainty.

665
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:23.920
They're not going to know what to believe, they don't

666
00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:25.760
know what to do, and they're going to get mad.

667
00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:28.639
They'll get they'll get defensive, they'll get ticked off, and

668
00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:30.920
you get Look, you can go back and listen to

669
00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:33.159
a lot of my sermons, especially when the church was bigger.

670
00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:39.159
I mean, I'm constantly challenging presuppositions, constantly challenging. You know,

671
00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:44.239
they're fluffy, and then you've heard even during sermons sometimes

672
00:40:44.360 --> 00:40:48.039
arguments are pushbacks that would occur in the past because

673
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:53.440
people don't like that instead of just embracing it, like, man,

674
00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:54.880
this is so awesome to be in the church where

675
00:40:54.920 --> 00:40:57.679
we're questioning and challenging. All of a sudden, it's the

676
00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:01.000
defensiveness and argument to argument their argument.

677
00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:02.519
They are giving an argument.

678
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:06.400
They're becoming argumentative if I can speak correctly today. And

679
00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:09.159
you're just like, well, well, wait a minute, we're just

680
00:41:09.199 --> 00:41:13.039
now studying the text. Did I miss something you spent

681
00:41:13.119 --> 00:41:15.199
you know, you were at home all week studying the text.

682
00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:17.159
You haven't even looked at the text all week.

683
00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:18.320
But now you're showing up.

684
00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:20.920
You're ready to argue, even though you don't have any

685
00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:23.400
clue what you're talking about. Or you're back there looking

686
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:25.920
up in your you know MacArthur study Bible looking to

687
00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:29.000
see what he said in his commentary. Do you want

688
00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:31.519
to study the text or not? Well, many don't want

689
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.119
to study the text, so they go find a church

690
00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:38.159
where they get they're nice, little, it's certain, it's comfortable,

691
00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:41.599
it's nice, it feels because they don't really want to

692
00:41:41.639 --> 00:41:49.320
be in a place where they study the text.

693
00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:52.639
Now, I could just take James chapter two.

694
00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:55.760
I could show you how Reform theology would interpret it,

695
00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:59.880
how the Holiness Tradition, Wesleyans or Methodists would interpret it,

696
00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:02.840
and I could show you how Catholic Church would interpret it.

697
00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:06.679
Every system of theology has a completely different interpretation of

698
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:07.719
James Chapter two.

699
00:42:08.719 --> 00:42:09.519
Not interesting?

700
00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:13.880
Well, guess what wherever team you are on, you're going

701
00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:15.920
to interpret it based off the team. You don't know

702
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:18.679
if you're even actually studying the text anymore. You're just

703
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:25.039
looking to see what your team says. And that's why

704
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:28.280
what happens. Pastor, I'm looking for a good commentary. Can

705
00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:30.800
you recommend me a good commentary? What is he going

706
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:32.920
to do? He's going to give you a commentary that

707
00:42:33.079 --> 00:42:38.239
reaffirms the philological system that you are already a part of.

708
00:42:38.599 --> 00:42:40.519
And you're never going to get to the text because

709
00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:42.000
everything you read is going to tell you this is

710
00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:44.000
what the text means, and you don't know because you've

711
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:50.400
never gotten within fifteen hundred miles of the actual text.

712
00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:56.920
So is there anything that can be done about this problem? Well,

713
00:42:57.679 --> 00:42:59.960
I know it sounds cliche. I know it sounds like

714
00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:04.880
a bumper sticker answer, but maybe we could start with

715
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:08.480
the text and not with our theology.

716
00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:12.599
How about you began interpreting by letting.

717
00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:17.679
The text speak within its historical and literary context and

718
00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:21.920
resist the urge to impose your theological framework immediately. How

719
00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:24.960
About do actual study of the text, do a Bible

720
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.039
study method, Actually read it over and over and over.

721
00:43:28.280 --> 00:43:32.840
Do an observational outline, not an interpretive outline. How about

722
00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:35.960
don't look at any commentaries. How about just live with

723
00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:41.360
the text. How about acknowledge what your theological system is.

724
00:43:41.400 --> 00:43:43.559
I'm like, okay, we're getting ready to study this. Okay,

725
00:43:44.199 --> 00:43:47.239
you name the book. If it's Romans, if it's First John,

726
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:50.599
you know the theological framework that has that has so

727
00:43:50.840 --> 00:43:54.119
impacted how you've interpreted First John or James or Romans

728
00:43:54.400 --> 00:43:57.280
your entire Christian life. You've been taught a certain way

729
00:43:57.280 --> 00:43:59.960
to it. How About you go, I'm going to acknowledge,

730
00:44:00.199 --> 00:44:05.760
here's my philological system, here's my philological framework, and you

731
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:09.760
in your mind mentally take that theological system behind the

732
00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:12.559
building and put it down. And then you're like, I'm

733
00:44:12.559 --> 00:44:14.920
going to come back to the text, and you don't care.

734
00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:16.679
You don't care if the text.

735
00:44:17.079 --> 00:44:21.199
If your interpretation of the text contradict your theology, you

736
00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:24.400
don't care. If your interpretation of the text contradicts your church,

737
00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:27.760
you don't care because you're not bound.

738
00:44:27.559 --> 00:44:28.239
By any of that.

739
00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:31.360
At least in the non Catholic system, you're supposed to

740
00:44:31.400 --> 00:44:38.440
be bound by this. I don't think we really believe that,

741
00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:43.559
but we at least claim that. Right. How about we

742
00:44:43.960 --> 00:44:49.840
begin interpreting by letting the text speak for itself within

743
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:55.039
its historical literary context and resist the urge to impose

744
00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:59.800
philological framework on the text. Am I saying that theological

745
00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:00.840
and work as bad?

746
00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:01.039
No.

747
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:03.920
After you come up with your interpretation, you can then

748
00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:07.400
go compare it to Fluffy and you can be like,

749
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:10.480
oh well, I got a problem here.

750
00:45:11.079 --> 00:45:12.400
Disc seems to contradict this.

751
00:45:12.519 --> 00:45:13.719
What do I do? What do I do? What do

752
00:45:13.760 --> 00:45:14.960
I do? What do I do? What do I do?

753
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:16.519
What do I do? What do I do? What do

754
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:18.079
I do? What do I do? What do I do?

755
00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:29.760
So start with the text, get back to the tech.

756
00:45:29.800 --> 00:45:32.719
That's what we have to do. Number two, how about

757
00:45:32.760 --> 00:45:39.920
we recognize and acknowledge our biases. We all come to

758
00:45:39.960 --> 00:45:41.599
the text with the biases. We all come to a

759
00:45:41.639 --> 00:45:50.760
text with presuppositions. Every interpreter brings a bias to the text.

760
00:45:51.840 --> 00:45:56.360
Recognizing these biases can help mitigate.

761
00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:00.840
Their influence. If you recognize to start with the text,

762
00:46:00.880 --> 00:46:03.840
not your theology. But you've got to acknowledge that theology.

763
00:46:03.880 --> 00:46:06.639
You've got to acknowledge that biases that you're bringing to

764
00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:09.440
the text, You're approaching the text with it. You've got

765
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:14.400
to acknowledge it. If you will acknowledge that, then it

766
00:46:14.440 --> 00:46:18.840
will at least help possibly let you see, Oh, my

767
00:46:18.920 --> 00:46:25.760
biases is showing, my theology is showing. So start with

768
00:46:25.800 --> 00:46:30.159
the text, recognize your biases, and recognize your thiological system.

769
00:46:30.719 --> 00:46:35.639
Here's a third one. How about allow for tensions. Not

770
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:40.000
every tension in scripture needs to be harmonized. Acknowledging the

771
00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:44.280
tension can lead to our rich ethological reflection. You don't

772
00:46:44.519 --> 00:46:46.679
not everything he's going to have a nice little answer.

773
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:49.880
Not everything's going to be harmonized. Not everything's going to work,

774
00:46:50.079 --> 00:46:52.440
Not everything's going to fit together. Sometimes you're going to

775
00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:56.079
be left baffled, confused, frustrated, and you're just going to

776
00:46:56.159 --> 00:47:11.000
have to embrace that. How about prioritize Exejesus over semantics

777
00:47:14.079 --> 00:47:17.280
or systematics. Maybe I should say it that way, not semantics.

778
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:24.360
That wouldn't even make sense, right, prioritize exegesis over systematic systematics.

779
00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:28.119
I think systematics. That's how I should say it. I'm

780
00:47:28.119 --> 00:47:31.400
coming up with the idea of curve you know, while

781
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:35.159
I'm speaking Exo Jesus over. Let's do it this way.

782
00:47:35.599 --> 00:47:43.840
Prioritize exegesis over systematic theology. There, let's do it that way.

783
00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:46.800
I guess you could call it systematics, but let's just

784
00:47:46.800 --> 00:47:49.719
call it systematic theology. Then it's clearer, right, It makes

785
00:47:49.800 --> 00:47:53.840
more sense that way, exegesis over systematic theology. No. I

786
00:47:53.880 --> 00:47:58.360
love systematic theology. I love it, love it, love it.

787
00:47:58.920 --> 00:48:03.639
Most of my degrees in theological studies, so I've read

788
00:48:03.679 --> 00:48:07.559
systematic theologies. I love them. Now, there was probably a

789
00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:09.800
time in my Christian life that they were probably determining

790
00:48:09.840 --> 00:48:13.960
how I interpret the text more than the text itself.

791
00:48:16.400 --> 00:48:21.920
Systematic theology is important. I'm not against it, but it

792
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:31.639
should arise from exegesis rather than systematic theology dictating how

793
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:35.400
you do exegesis, how you interpret the scriptures.

794
00:48:38.079 --> 00:48:38.920
Does that make sense?

795
00:48:39.119 --> 00:48:42.639
Systematic theology is great, but it should arise from your

796
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:46.920
study of the text, your exegesis exegeting the text, taking

797
00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.360
it apart, interpreting it, studying it, observing it.

798
00:48:50.519 --> 00:48:52.639
That should give rise to your theology.

799
00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:57.400
So you've got to have and it says study exegesis

800
00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:01.760
over systematic theology. Bible study should be more important than

801
00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:09.079
systematic theology, and especially in a non Catholic system, your

802
00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:13.440
theology should arise from your study. Your theology should not

803
00:49:13.519 --> 00:49:23.840
dictate how you interpret in your study. You should avoid

804
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:29.480
bending the text to fit your pre existing existing philological system. Now,

805
00:49:29.519 --> 00:49:31.079
the thing is, it's very hard to see when you're

806
00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:33.199
doing that. You just read it and go, well, that's

807
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:36.360
what it says. Like a Presbyterian can go to a

808
00:49:36.400 --> 00:49:39.119
text say that's infant baptism, and I could be looking

809
00:49:39.159 --> 00:49:41.559
at it going what in the world are you talking about? Now,

810
00:49:42.119 --> 00:49:44.800
neither one of us thinks we're bending the text. Someone

811
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:48.239
is bending the text because either infant baptism is there

812
00:49:48.679 --> 00:49:52.880
or it's not there. Both cannot be right. So someone

813
00:49:52.960 --> 00:50:04.840
is bending the text, who whom. So we have to

814
00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:07.599
start with the text, not with our theology. We have

815
00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:11.840
to recognize and acknowledge what are the philological biases.

816
00:50:11.320 --> 00:50:12.199
That we're bringing to it.

817
00:50:12.320 --> 00:50:13.960
We have to allow for tensions, and then we have

818
00:50:14.039 --> 00:50:25.880
to prioritize exegesis study over systematic theology. And then I

819
00:50:25.920 --> 00:50:31.480
think we have to engage with diverse perspectives. Reading interpretations

820
00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:41.000
from other traditions broadens understanding and it challenges your assumptions.

821
00:50:44.639 --> 00:50:49.199
You've got to hear different perspectives. That's why do we

822
00:50:49.280 --> 00:50:52.440
do the sermon reviews, because the key is you get

823
00:50:52.440 --> 00:50:54.880
to hear their perspective. You get to hear my perspective

824
00:50:54.920 --> 00:50:58.440
as a listener. You listen to one broadcast, you get

825
00:50:58.519 --> 00:51:05.119
two perspectives. Now, those perspectives may be confusing. It may

826
00:51:05.159 --> 00:51:08.039
be maddening that there's so much disagreement, and it can

827
00:51:08.079 --> 00:51:09.920
be maddening. Let me make it very clear, it can

828
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:12.400
be maddening. I mean sometimes you hear my frustration.

829
00:51:12.679 --> 00:51:14.039
Why is it every.

830
00:51:13.800 --> 00:51:15.960
Stink in time I listen to a sermon, it's like,

831
00:51:16.119 --> 00:51:17.679
I don't agree with this, I don't agree with it.

832
00:51:18.679 --> 00:51:21.360
Oh why did I just review this sermon? But then

833
00:51:21.400 --> 00:51:24.159
I reviewed another sermon. That sermon said. That sermon is wrong.

834
00:51:24.239 --> 00:51:26.119
That sermon said that sermon is wrong, and I think

835
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:28.119
both of them are wrong for crying out loud? Can

836
00:51:28.159 --> 00:51:31.519
there ever be agreement? But you know what, the more

837
00:51:31.559 --> 00:51:40.440
perspectives you hear, it may actually help you determine and

838
00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:46.679
see where theology might be driving these interpretations. Sometimes, the

839
00:51:46.679 --> 00:51:50.639
more different perspectives you hear and read, you'll start going, well,

840
00:51:50.679 --> 00:51:54.039
wait a minute, what is going on here? Why do

841
00:51:54.159 --> 00:51:56.559
they interpret it this way? And why do they interpret

842
00:51:56.559 --> 00:51:59.000
it this way? You know what you'll discover. Sometimes what

843
00:51:59.119 --> 00:52:02.960
you'll discover is that theology is driving the interpretations, not

844
00:52:03.119 --> 00:52:17.880
the text. So those are some things that can be

845
00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:20.239
done about it. Here's some things I think we can remember.

846
00:52:20.280 --> 00:52:23.199
I think there are some things we could remember. Theology

847
00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:26.719
should be a guide. It is not the master. The

848
00:52:26.800 --> 00:52:30.960
text is the master. Theology is a guide, but the

849
00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:32.599
text has to be the master.

850
00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:38.360
Theology may help us understand scripture, but it does not

851
00:52:38.639 --> 00:52:43.320
control its meaning. Your theology does not control its meaning.

852
00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:45.599
It may assist, it may help.

853
00:52:45.800 --> 00:52:47.920
It may give you something to take the meaning of

854
00:52:47.960 --> 00:52:50.480
text and bounce it off of and check it with,

855
00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:57.360
but it does not determine the meaning. Good theology is

856
00:52:57.480 --> 00:53:03.639
built on scripture, not the other way. Theology is built

857
00:53:03.679 --> 00:53:06.519
on your interpretation of the scripture. Your interpretation of the

858
00:53:06.519 --> 00:53:15.599
scripture is not built on your theology. I think that's

859
00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:18.159
something we have to remember. Theology is the guide, it's

860
00:53:18.159 --> 00:53:21.760
not the master. The scripture is the master. I think

861
00:53:21.800 --> 00:53:25.679
another thing we have to consider is faithfulness to context.

862
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:29.360
When you have something like James two, James one, the

863
00:53:29.400 --> 00:53:35.920
text has to be allowed to speak in its context.

864
00:53:36.960 --> 00:53:39.880
You've got to allow Isaiah forty has to be allowed

865
00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:43.440
to speak in its context. Hebrew six has to be

866
00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:46.079
allowed to speak in its context. You know what the

867
00:53:46.119 --> 00:53:49.639
context is for all of that, James, Isaiah forty or

868
00:53:49.639 --> 00:53:53.320
Hebrew six. It's not your church, it's not your life.

869
00:53:53.400 --> 00:53:58.639
It's not now, it's then, it's them, it's not here.

870
00:53:58.920 --> 00:54:05.800
Now you and I know that you may not like that.

871
00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:08.400
And that may ruin your nice little sermon, because you've

872
00:54:08.440 --> 00:54:10.760
got to make it all about us, and you've got

873
00:54:10.800 --> 00:54:22.440
to give us three little points of application. Theology is

874
00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:25.280
a guide, not the master. Scripture is the master. Be

875
00:54:25.400 --> 00:54:28.599
faithful to the context and don't take the context and

876
00:54:29.039 --> 00:54:30.760
just do.

877
00:54:30.760 --> 00:54:31.880
Whatever you want with it.

878
00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:38.599
And I think that's just another thing we can say.

879
00:54:38.599 --> 00:54:41.719
We just have to acknowledge the complexity of it. All

880
00:54:42.800 --> 00:54:45.960
two thousand years of church history, nobody can agree literally

881
00:54:45.960 --> 00:54:51.440
on anything, So what can you do? Nobody likes to

882
00:54:51.480 --> 00:54:55.559
embrace that complexity. It makes people nervous. So what do

883
00:54:55.599 --> 00:54:58.400
you do. You find a church that teaches a certain way,

884
00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:00.840
you acknowledge that's the way is taught, and then you

885
00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:02.960
interpret the Bible that way, and then you just act

886
00:55:03.039 --> 00:55:04.719
like everyone else who doesn't see it that way. They

887
00:55:04.719 --> 00:55:06.719
don't know how to read the Bible. They're blind, what

888
00:55:06.840 --> 00:55:09.840
is wrong with them? They're stupid, they're heretics, they're.

889
00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:11.760
Idiots, or or or.

890
00:55:13.599 --> 00:55:15.000
I know this is going to come as a shock.

891
00:55:18.840 --> 00:55:22.159
They're interpreting it according to their theology. And so now

892
00:55:22.159 --> 00:55:25.280
it's your system versus their system. And guess what gets

893
00:55:25.280 --> 00:55:35.760
lost when people are debating their systems the texts, and

894
00:55:35.800 --> 00:55:37.960
it's hard to get to the text because as soon

895
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:41.000
as you start arguing with someone, they just pairrot their system.

896
00:55:45.159 --> 00:55:47.639
Now I started saying this in my church, and I

897
00:55:47.639 --> 00:55:50.159
think it offended some people and may have contributed to

898
00:55:50.320 --> 00:55:53.039
a number of people left. Don't come with me arguing

899
00:55:53.480 --> 00:55:57.320
with me about anything unless you have first done to study.

900
00:55:57.320 --> 00:56:00.159
So many times in whatever we're getting ready to study,

901
00:56:00.360 --> 00:56:02.280
I would be like, Okay, this is going to be controversial,

902
00:56:02.280 --> 00:56:04.639
but here's what you have to do before you come

903
00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:05.320
argue with me.

904
00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:07.760
I need you to come and show that you've.

905
00:56:07.599 --> 00:56:11.159
Looked up every use of this word. You have done this,

906
00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:14.519
You've done a chapter summary, you've done this, you've done

907
00:56:14.559 --> 00:56:18.000
an observational outline. If you have done these things, then

908
00:56:18.039 --> 00:56:20.199
you can come to me. But if you haven't, there's

909
00:56:20.199 --> 00:56:22.679
no point in arguing because you're arguing on the basis

910
00:56:22.760 --> 00:56:25.480
of not doing study. So that means you're probably arguing

911
00:56:25.519 --> 00:56:28.760
from the basis of your presupposition or your theological system

912
00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:30.920
that you're bringing to me. Well, then I'm just going

913
00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:33.440
to be me trying to use the text to argue

914
00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:35.880
against your theological system, and we're never going to get

915
00:56:35.920 --> 00:56:38.119
anywhere because you're not going to be able to see

916
00:56:38.119 --> 00:56:40.880
the text because you're so blinded by your theological system.

917
00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:43.400
And guess what, nobody ever wanted to do the work.

918
00:56:45.320 --> 00:56:48.719
I know, shocking, isn't it. They still wanted to argue,

919
00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:50.719
They still wanted to tell me that I'm wrong. But

920
00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:52.880
I didn't want to come back and say, well, you know,

921
00:56:52.920 --> 00:56:56.079
here's my notebook. I did everything. I did all the work.

922
00:56:57.199 --> 00:57:00.559
Nobody wants to do the work. And if they did argue,

923
00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:03.000
almost inevitably, I could be like, oh, that's interesting you

924
00:57:03.039 --> 00:57:05.920
googled that, huh, because I can google it and look,

925
00:57:05.960 --> 00:57:11.599
I can look at that I've found the same paragraph. Wow, shocking.

926
00:57:13.360 --> 00:57:15.119
So you just want death by Google?

927
00:57:15.199 --> 00:57:17.599
You just want death by who can look up the

928
00:57:17.639 --> 00:57:20.599
best quotes from the best books. Is that how we're

929
00:57:20.599 --> 00:57:23.880
gonna do our theological disagreement? Wow? So let me guess

930
00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:26.320
You're gonna go find books that agree with your lordship

931
00:57:26.440 --> 00:57:28.920
or your a millennialism, and I'm gonna go find books

932
00:57:28.960 --> 00:57:29.800
that don't agree with it.

933
00:57:30.360 --> 00:57:33.760
Which books are better? But nobody's actually studying the.

934
00:57:33.679 --> 00:57:44.119
Text scripture versus theology. The reality is theology has won

935
00:57:44.159 --> 00:57:49.400
and scripture has lost. Now, am I saying throwout theology?

936
00:57:49.440 --> 00:57:52.360
Absolutely not? Am I saying throw out confessions of faith

937
00:57:52.440 --> 00:57:56.360
or creeds? Absolutely not? We need systematic theology, we need

938
00:57:56.360 --> 00:58:00.400
the confessions, we need the creeds because after we've spent

939
00:58:00.480 --> 00:58:03.639
our time working, working, working, working on the text, then

940
00:58:03.679 --> 00:58:07.960
we can look over and go, hmm, wow, this is problematic.

941
00:58:08.719 --> 00:58:10.800
These people all say that I'm wrong. Okay, Now I

942
00:58:10.880 --> 00:58:12.199
got to go back and try to figure out what

943
00:58:12.199 --> 00:58:12.679
I did wrong?

944
00:58:12.719 --> 00:58:13.440
Why am I wrong?

945
00:58:14.400 --> 00:58:18.239
What happened? Am I wrong textually? Or am I just wrong?

946
00:58:18.280 --> 00:58:23.760
Because I now am in at odds with this theological system.

947
00:58:23.840 --> 00:58:26.639
And let me tell you, if you become more committed

948
00:58:26.679 --> 00:58:29.159
to the text than you are a system, you're going

949
00:58:29.199 --> 00:58:33.440
to find yourself really unwelcomed in any church. The church

950
00:58:33.519 --> 00:58:38.440
doesn't want that. You're going to be an outsider. The

951
00:58:38.480 --> 00:58:41.360
institutionalized church is not going to be the place for you,

952
00:58:41.599 --> 00:58:43.480
because the church is not a place where people are

953
00:58:43.559 --> 00:58:46.800
hungry for the text. They come to the text simply

954
00:58:46.880 --> 00:58:50.119
to reinforce the theology they've already been taught. That's all

955
00:58:50.159 --> 00:58:53.800
Bible study is is simply to reinforce the theology of

956
00:58:53.840 --> 00:58:58.519
that particular institution, that particular denomination. Bible study and preaching

957
00:58:58.719 --> 00:59:02.639
is simply to reinforce what you already the system that

958
00:59:02.719 --> 00:59:05.880
everyone's already accepted. And if everyone will just play along,

959
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:09.000
there's harmony, there's unity, and everything is great.

960
00:59:09.239 --> 00:59:11.039
But if you're like, well wait a minute here, I

961
00:59:11.159 --> 00:59:12.559
got an issue.

962
00:59:13.519 --> 00:59:21.400
Be gone now. He said, well, should a church have

963
00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:24.239
a theological system? It should? It should.

964
00:59:24.280 --> 00:59:25.360
I got no problem with that.

965
00:59:25.920 --> 00:59:28.920
Should have a confession of faith. I'm full support of that.

966
00:59:29.599 --> 00:59:32.320
But everyone in the church should be like, however, our

967
00:59:32.360 --> 00:59:34.880
commitment is to the scripture, So whenever we get ready

968
00:59:34.880 --> 00:59:38.159
to open our Bibles and we are going to study

969
00:59:38.199 --> 00:59:41.760
whichever Romans Hebrews. We're not going to worry about what

970
00:59:41.800 --> 00:59:44.679
our system of theology says, what our confession says. We

971
00:59:44.719 --> 00:59:46.559
don't care about any of that. We're going to study

972
00:59:46.599 --> 00:59:52.559
the text. Now. Is that perfect? I'm not saying it's perfect.

973
00:59:52.559 --> 00:59:55.079
There's still going to be problems even with what I'm suggesting.

974
00:59:55.119 --> 00:59:58.599
Why Because we're sinners, so we're going to become selfish

975
00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:01.000
and arrogant, and we're going to have all of the

976
01:00:01.039 --> 01:00:07.760
same kind of issues. But that's why I try to

977
01:00:07.800 --> 01:00:10.039
come up with a new interpretation of James, because I'm

978
01:00:10.039 --> 01:00:11.800
not bound by any of that. So I can go

979
01:00:11.840 --> 01:00:14.480
to church and say, James Chapter one, nineteen to twenty seven,

980
01:00:14.559 --> 01:00:16.320
we're gonna spend two plus hours trying to come up

981
01:00:16.320 --> 01:00:19.199
with a new interpretation. Well, we already have an interpretation.

982
01:00:19.320 --> 01:00:21.519
I don't care what any I don't care what any

983
01:00:21.639 --> 01:00:24.559
creed says, Confession of Faith says, any commentary says. I

984
01:00:24.559 --> 01:00:27.039
don't care what our theological team says. I don't care.

985
01:00:27.360 --> 01:00:30.760
I'm not bound by any of that. And if I'm

986
01:00:30.760 --> 01:00:32.400
going to be bound by that, then there's no point

987
01:00:32.480 --> 01:00:35.360
studying the Bible. You say, well, what's the sermon on?

988
01:00:35.480 --> 01:00:38.679
Well pick a text. Okay, Well here's what just is

989
01:00:38.679 --> 01:00:41.480
where to act like a Catholic priest. Well, here's what

990
01:00:41.519 --> 01:00:46.239
the church says, here's what our theological team says, it

991
01:00:46.440 --> 01:00:53.000
serves as basically a magister of authority.

992
01:00:53.079 --> 01:00:54.679
Well then I just well just go back to a

993
01:00:54.679 --> 01:00:56.280
Catholic church and.

994
01:00:56.360 --> 01:00:59.679
Just listen to fifteen minute homilies that basically tell me

995
01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:03.239
what the church says it's supposed to mean. Well, great, wonderful.

996
01:01:03.360 --> 01:01:07.679
No actual engagement with the text. We condemn Catholics for that.

997
01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:09.679
All we do is play a better game where we

998
01:01:09.719 --> 01:01:12.920
pretend we're engaging the text when reality we're just looking

999
01:01:12.920 --> 01:01:16.280
at the text through the lens of our theological belief system.

1000
01:01:18.519 --> 01:01:21.400
And I'm just as guilty of this as anybody else.

1001
01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:40.599
Scripture versus theology, theology versus scripture. It's a problem. You

1002
01:01:40.679 --> 01:01:42.639
may not want to admit it, but it's a problem.

1003
01:01:43.079 --> 01:01:47.960
All right, Thanks for listening, everyone, have a great day.

1004
01:01:48.039 --> 01:01:51.360
I hope that went well. I hope so. Man. At

1005
01:01:51.360 --> 01:01:55.480
the beginning, my voice was having some technical difficulty, so

1006
01:01:55.599 --> 01:01:58.960
that did not make it pleasant. But I think we

1007
01:01:59.039 --> 01:02:01.559
did pretty good. There. Now here's what we're going to do.

1008
01:02:02.039 --> 01:02:04.159
It's sixty two minutes. As soon as I end this.

1009
01:02:04.519 --> 01:02:07.039
As soon as I'm done, I'm going to hit the

1010
01:02:07.079 --> 01:02:10.079
stop button and then I just fill out some basic

1011
01:02:10.119 --> 01:02:13.159
metadata and then this is uploaded. It's a spreaker, which

1012
01:02:13.199 --> 01:02:15.920
then sends it out to all of the podcasting apps.

1013
01:02:16.719 --> 01:02:19.679
I had to do some editing of our RSS feed today.

1014
01:02:20.199 --> 01:02:22.119
I won't get into all the reasons why, but I

1015
01:02:22.159 --> 01:02:25.159
had to because this thing that keeps track of all

1016
01:02:25.199 --> 01:02:28.519
of your statistics, it's going away. So now spreakers like,

1017
01:02:28.519 --> 01:02:30.599
you've got to get this out of your RSS feed

1018
01:02:30.679 --> 01:02:32.760
or your RSS feed is going to be broke. But

1019
01:02:33.199 --> 01:02:37.159
when you edit your RSS feed, don't make one mistake,

1020
01:02:37.320 --> 01:02:40.639
because if you do, your entire RSS feed is broken

1021
01:02:40.840 --> 01:02:42.679
and none of your content's going to make it to

1022
01:02:42.679 --> 01:02:45.000
any of the podcasting apps. Well, I had to do

1023
01:02:45.039 --> 01:02:48.960
the editing this morning. I have no idea. I just

1024
01:02:49.119 --> 01:02:51.599
I just grabbed a large section of it and delete

1025
01:02:52.039 --> 01:02:54.800
and just like okay, save, I'm good, am I did

1026
01:02:54.800 --> 01:02:57.519
I do it right? Have no idea. So as soon

1027
01:02:57.559 --> 01:03:00.400
as I upload this, if it does not show up

1028
01:03:00.400 --> 01:03:02.760
on all of the podcasting apps within about ten to

1029
01:03:02.760 --> 01:03:06.920
fifteen minutes. Then I have completely broken my RSS feed

1030
01:03:07.159 --> 01:03:09.159
and then I'm going to just then I don't know,

1031
01:03:09.639 --> 01:03:14.199
I'm going to then quit, give up, and just I

1032
01:03:14.199 --> 01:03:17.679
don't know, do something drastic. Now, for those using the

1033
01:03:17.760 --> 01:03:22.320
church one app Sermonadio, completely different. I upload it directly

1034
01:03:22.400 --> 01:03:26.159
to that platform, so that'll that'll be good to go,

1035
01:03:26.320 --> 01:03:29.199
and it has its own RSS feed, so that RSS

1036
01:03:29.199 --> 01:03:32.199
feed will still work. But let's hope that the uh,

1037
01:03:32.320 --> 01:03:36.480
the other theology central RSS feed the main one. Let's

1038
01:03:36.519 --> 01:03:38.559
hope it works. So we're going to find out here

1039
01:03:38.719 --> 01:03:41.840
in just a few minutes, So thank you for listening.

1040
01:03:42.760 --> 01:03:43.800
Just remember.

1041
01:03:44.960 --> 01:03:49.559
And this war between scripture and theology, if we're going

1042
01:03:49.639 --> 01:03:52.239
to be non Catholic, then we got to find a

1043
01:03:52.239 --> 01:03:57.280
way to let the scriptures win. And if the scriptures win,

1044
01:03:58.719 --> 01:04:00.920
you're going to find yourself in common inflict with pretty

1045
01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:09.679
much other Christians and the Church. Yeah, that's not good.

1046
01:04:11.039 --> 01:04:11.599
God bless