A key to the New Testament; or, Letters to teachers concerning the interpretation of the New Testament

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II

IT is quite likely that you may be asking why there need be any special science or special study for the interpretation of the Bible any more than for the interpretation of any other book. When we read other books we take the obvious meaning of the words and the statements, and we need no other key to the meaning. Is the Bible, which we are taught to think of as in some way a book God has given us, so hard and mysterious that we must have specially prepared men to make us understand it?

It is hard to answer that question with a " yes " or a " no." If I were obliged to answer it with one or the other, I should say " no," for that would come nearer the truth than the other. But it would not be the correct answer. If there were any other book like the Bible, it would need as much skill to interpret it as the Bible 18 does. If any other book had been clothed with so much mystery, and covered up with so much well-meaning but empty superstition, it w T ould require as much study to dig away the debris and expose its beauty as it does to bring out the beauty of the Bible.

Let me mention some of the things which have created the need for the science of Interpretation, or, to use the other word, the science of Hermeneutics. (I am not sure that it can properly be called a science.)

1. The pre-Christian religions used to have some men or women w r ho were called " oracles, " or " sibyls/' or " prophets.'' These persons were supposed to speak for the gods. The Greeks had a place at Delphi where the vapors of a spring were said to put the sibyl into a sort of trance, and then she uttered the words of the god in an enigmatic way, which required some one to explain. Some time afterward the later Jewish writers and some of the early Christian teachers mixed up this heathen idea with their ideas of prophecy in the Old and New Testaments. Philo among the Jews, and Origen among the Christians, were prominent in this sort of interpreta-

2o A Key to the New Testament tion. (If you can consult the Encyclopedia Britannica or any large Bible dictionary, look under the articles Philo, Origen, Sibyl, Delphic oracle, and Apocalyptic literature.) Origen, for example, says, " The Scriptures were written by the Spirit of God, and have a meaning not only such as is apparent at first sight, but also another which most people do not see. For these words are the forms of certain mysteries and the images of divine things." This great man among the ancients set the example of teaching that a hidden meaning is in the Scripture. That idea has filtered down through all the centuries until now, affecting more or less many interpretations and many interpreters. Among these are the Swedenborgians. They say that the literal sense of Scripture is the " lowest and outward form which divine truth puts on." " The Scriptures are not merely for men, but for angels." " The inhabitants of heaven perceive in them a higher meaning than their brethren of the earth do." " The Scriptures are symbolically written. " " All the narratives typify spiritual experience." x To them there is a " Science of Correspond-

1 "Science of Correspondence," Madeley.

ence " which tells us what each narrative signifies. But they also say that lest men should be ignorant of the spiritual meaning Swedenborg was given repeated and manifold revelations from heaven, in which he was made to know the " interior " meaning. His books are the key to the Scriptures. For if the Scripture is thus a great riddle-book it must have an interpreter. These books of Swedenborg constitute for his followers the authorized interpreter of the Bible.

2. Some men's writings are saturated with the idea that the world will grow better and better until it is fit for Christ's return. Others are equally saturated with the idea that Christ must come first or it will never be fit for his return. Some writers are frequently alluding to the condition of the wicked as " eternal torment/' others speak of it as wholly " reformatory,'' and still others as " destruction utter." These are but examples of what is found in the religious literature. It needs a trained mind to separate the correct from the incorrect interpretations.

3. The Bible is not a book, but a collection of books. It has sixty-six different books, written during fifteen centuries. Portions of it have seen the rise and fall not only of nations, but of civilizations. It actually goes back into almost prehistoric times. The writers include kings on their thrones, priests in the temple, prophets in their office, and apostles. They wrote both in times of national prosperity and in their captivity; messages suited to faithful people, and to those who were recreant to all their obligations to God; when they needed rebuke and when they must have encouragement. Its sweep of topics reaches from creation to the perfection of the New Jerusalem. It has the deepest religious philosophy and the simplest of commandments. On account of this, if for no other reason, more care is necessary to interpret it correctly than the ordinary book calls for.

4. But there is more than language to be interpreted. The history needs interpretation, and events also need it. If a man were seeking to learn from the history of the United States the true idea about the currency or of the tariff he would need to know more than the language of the laws or of the newspapers. He would need to interpret the meaning of events in their relation to his subject. He would need to find out what are the subtle influences of " cheap money " or of " high tariff." So those who seek to interpret Scripture must seek to discover the influences which shaped the history, and point out the lessons of righteousness which are contained in it.

For example, take the captivity of Israel. Has a man interpreted that when he has learned all the details of their life in Babylon and fixed the dates and the names of the reigning kings? By no means. There remains for him to find what the captivity did for them religiously. It was not a mere incident in their history; it was a mighty factor in the formation of the national character and the national religion. Then, if it was so mighty a factor in their national religion, was it accidental or predetermined? If it was predetermined, has the purpose of God in that been fulfilled, or is there still some further purpose in the history of the Jews not yet manifest?

Or take the prophecies about the Messiah. Was Christ foretold, and was his death foretold in Isa. 53? If it was preappointed, why was it so? Was the death necessary? If it was, why so?

Or these imprecatory Psalms 109, or 137: 8, 9. Are these right words of good men put in for our example ? Do they show how we should feel toward any one who is against us?

Coming into the New Testament, consider for example the martyrdom of Stephen. Is this anything more than the record of a frenzied mob, who killed him as a mob might kill a Chinaman in San Francisco? If not, what is the difference? and why was this story put in this book?

The community of property spoken of in Acts, was that the pattern for all churches ? If it was, is it the pattern for States as well as churches?

Look at the story of the crucifixion. Was it an unfortunate outburst of anger or a part in the predestined work of Jesus? And if he " must needs die," then why? What did it accomplish? And has that purpose been accomplished ?

This book of Revelation, what is the meaning of this procession of symbolic visions which troop across the stage of the seer's mind, acting out history for him in this mysterious way? The players of Shakespeare never acted out history more intelligently than these apocalyptic actors acted something. What was the something? Was it the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple? or was it the far-off history of this whole dispensation?

More important still is the fact that the Scriptures deal with religious experiences. Its records and its biographies are preserved not as records or as biographies only, but as single pieces from which the mosaic of a godly life is to be made. This is a subtle subject. Its value does not lie on the surface. One must get down to the under strata. It is easy to read that David said, " The Lord is my shepherd/' But what made him think so? What will come of his thought? How can we have the same confidence?

Look at Rom. 7 and see if the man who mourns over his sinful heart is Paul the Christian, or Saul the Pharisee. If we say the first, then is a Christian so powerless? If we say the second, then is a Pharisee so anxious to do right and cannot do it?

I am sure you will see that with such things before us in the Scriptures there is need for preparation on the part of those who would undertake to make them plain to others. If you have ever thought that it was a small or an easy part of the minister's work to interpret the books, you will not think so longer.

It is because of such things that men have thought there is need for study of Interpretation. Professor Agassiz once said that the " Creator had revealed just enough of the wonders of creation to awaken curiosity and lure us graciously on to further discoveries. " Something like this seems to be true about the Book. It has truth lying on the surface, just enough to lure us on to further discovery of its riches.

Reviewing our thought, we see that there is a need for special study to fit men to interpret Scripture. This need grows out of the inherited idea that Scripture has a double meaning, coupled with the fact that our literature is full of the results of that double interpretation; the variety and scope of the Bible writings; the need for interpretation of history; and the need for interpretation of men's experience. All these unite to say that we need this kind of preparatory study.

Ill

The Importance of Correct Interpretation

LL our religious life is determined by certain deep-down ideas of God.

The force of gravity in its influence on the course of a bullet is not more certain than the influence of our ideas of God on the course of our life. We shoot the bullet into the air at a high elevation, and for a time it looks as if it would laugh at the force of gravity. But the force of powder gets weary, the force of gravity does not. In the end the victory of gravity is complete. Men say that they are not troubled about religious ideas, and they are independent of theology; but it is not true. It is in our nature to think of some over-ruling kingdom. The Christian man, of course, thinks God is supreme. But who is this God ? What is his character ? What is pleasing in his sight ? Every man has a latent answer to these questions. The Jew of Jesus' time acted unkindly toward the Samaritan and the Gentile, because he thought God was indifferent to them. For centuries he had been trained to that idea. The psalms he sung at his worship and the prophets which were read in his synagogues all rang with that idea. (See the following as illustrations : Ps. 87; Ps. 2; Ps. 46:4-6; Ps. no; Ps. 137; Isa. 14:1, 2; 45: 14.)

The same is true now. The more ignorant Jew or Roman Catholic does not feel that he is as much bound to be honest with a Protestant Christian as he is to his fellow- Tew or his fellow-Catholic. And the reason is he does not think God is pleased with them. As men become better educated they discard that error, and regard the moral obligation as the same toward everybody, because they think God is the same toward all. (See Matt. 5:43-48.)

This idea that we take on the feeling and character that we ascribe to God is under the passage in 2 Cor. 3:18. We behold in the gospel the glorious character of God. and by that beholding are changed into the same image. So in 1 John 3 : 2. We are not so Christlike as we ought to be because we do not correctly see him. But when his character is more fully known so that we

Correct Interpretation 29 shall see it more clearly, then we shall be like him, " for we shall see him as he is."

For this reason no part of our study or our teaching of the book is more vitally important than that which sets forth the true idea of God as it lies deep in the Scripture. Our idea of God, when it has been conformed to the Scripture idea, will be a constant fountain of influence to correct erroneous ideas everywhere else and an inspiration to all sorts of noble endeavor.

Our ideals of life are most important. We are coming to understand that every one is controlled in a subtle way by his ideals. The boy imitates his father, or his teacher, or some larger boy, or possibly some loafer he has seen. All educators are now careful about this matter of ideals. It is equally important with grown folk. But in the case of grown folk the better ideals must crowd out the poorer, while with children the place is empty and waiting for an occupant. If therefore we can get from the Xew Testament the winning and satisfying view of Jesus which it contains, and present it in an attractive way, it will furnish for ourselves and our congregation a complete ideal of life. Men will not always follow it as they ought, but they will never lose sight of it. It is with morals as it is with music or painting. The girl who has a musical gift thinks she is quite a mistress of her piano. But her wise parents take her to hear a real master, and at once she moves her ideal up. She can never forget what she heard. She may not equal it, but it will always discourage her self-conceit and lead her on to improvement.

So, when by patient, prayerful study the interpreter has discovered for himself and presented to his congregation the beautiful life of Jesus, he starts a fountain whose waters will never cease to flow. Xo man who has seen the beauty of Jesus' life can forget it. Even when he goes far astray that memory will haunt him and rob his sinful life of a part of its pleasure, and always beckon to him to return. If you have lived in a community where good men have made that ideal of Jesus familiar, you know what constant uplifting influence it has on all the morals of the village. (See in this connection Phil. 2 : 5-8 ; Eph. 4 : 20- 24 ; Eph. 5:2; 1 John 2:6; 2 Peter 3:1,2; Rom. 13 : 14; Col. 3 : 10.)

Correct Interpretation 31

It increases the joy of life. The joy of Christian service is dependent on the view of our privileges rather than our duties. One may be a faithful Christian and yet not be a happy one. He may, in his feelings, be a bondservant and not a son. Life may be a drudge rather than a delight. Fears may overshadow his heart and anxieties weigh him down. Unless there is some specific endeavor to prevent it, we are almost sure to have a somber view of life. We are face to face with so many of our own shortcomings which give us sorrow ; we see so much evil about us ; though we do our best, there remains so much that we cannot do that by contrast it appears as if we had done nothing — all these things tend to give a sad tone to life. But if, without losing sight of duty, we can find in the book great truths which will take us up as it were into places where we see life from higher standpoints, minor troubles will be lost sight of in the larger outlook. The angel in the book of Revelation seems to have known this, for after John had looked on the battles of good with evil as they were dramatized Defore him in several chapters the angel said (chap. 21:9)

" Come hither, and I will show you the wife of the Lamb." Then he took him up into a " high mountain apart " and showed him in that symbolic vision of the New Jerusalem the glorious destiny of our humanity.

So there are times when Christians need to be taken into the high mountain of truth away from the struggles of life, and be shown the things which are above and beyond weakness or sin. Blessed is the man who can do the angel's part among us.

And there are such mountains. For example, there is a view of God's attitude toward us far better than the forgiving attitude. The governor of a State may pardon a criminal and not love him. The prison doors may open and he may go out free, and then be allowed to freeze to death on the prison steps. He is pardoned, not loved or cared for. The man who can show how God is better than that, who can make plain the difference between a pardoning God and a gracious God will open a blessed view to men.

He who can find in 2 Cor. 4 a truth which will transform the threatening evils of life into ministering angels will awaken among his pupils songs in the night.

Correct Interpretation 33

The man who can catch in the smoke of our battle only a fleeting view of conquering reenforcements will put courage into the soldiers of Christ (Matt. 6: 10).

There is a view of things which made Paul say " I will glory in infirmities." He who finds that view will be a comfort to his fellows (2 Cor. 11:9).

In Eph. 1 : 18 Paul prays that men may know " what is the hope of his calling and the glory of his inheritance." Those in whom this prayer is answered will have found a hidden treasure indeed.

These are but samples of hidden truths which lie scattered through the New Testament inviting our discovery. He who finds them will not only be saved himself, but will, like a good shepherd, " go in and out and find pasture " for his flock.

It largely insures correct methods of Christian work. We all naturally seek to conform our method to our aim. If we have, for example, an idea of the kingdom of God as a great Rome-centered, worldwide organization to which is committed the duty of administering baptism and sacraments, through which the grace of salvation is to come, we shall do as the Jesuit

G missionaries among the Canadian Indians used to do — risk our lives to baptize children. If we think the kingdom is a looselyorganized lot of congregations of believers, we shall put our strength on the single church with little attempt to organize. If we think that the great business of the kingdom is to promote earthly, material comfort and financial equality, we shall make our endeavors in the line of social work and study, and the sixth of Acts will be a prominent chapter with us. If we think that the kingdom is not material mainly, but is a state of society in which men accept God as their Lord, and love as their ruling principle, we shall preach and teach thus. If we think that men are made Christian by education, we shall educate; if we think it must be by conversion, we shall be evangelistic. So also, if we think that future generations will see great increase in wickedness, when evil will grow in power until it crowds Christian life into the background ; when deception will be more abundant ; until the patience of God is exhausted— if, I say, this is our conclusion from the Scripture, we shall not lay broad and deep foundations for Christian

Correct Interpretation 35 civilization, but will build temporarily and try to " hold the fort " until Jesus comes to do something worth doing. If we think that preaching the gospel, which has thus far subdued nations to a measure of faith in Christ, is the appointed means of conquering the world for Christ, and that as leaven imparts its own characteristics to what meal it comes in contact with, so the world life will gradually come into accord with Christian teaching, then we shall seek to educate man and to touch the world in as many ways as we can, expecting to see the fruit of our labors. (See in connection with this, Matt. 28:18; Acts 6; Acts 14:23; 1 Cor. 14:40; 1 Tim. 1:3, 4; 2:1-3; 3:1-13; Rom. 9-3I-33; Matt. 13:24-29.)

I think I have written enough to show how important this matter of interpretation is. I want to add a word about the evil of careless or erroneous interpretation. If the Bible is of enough value to justify us in taking it into the pulpit or the class and teaching from it, it is entitled to honest treatment. A minister who opens the Bible in the pulpit, or a teacher who assumes to teach it, makes an implied promise to present in his teaching what the passages teach.

To take a passage and then warp its teaching into what the writer never meant to say or to teach is to insult the writer, and to deceive those who do a man the honor to suppose that he is teaching what his passage contains. If a political speaker should so use his authorities as to misrepresent what they say, he would be called arrantly dishonest. If he said he did not mean to be, men would reply that his business is to find out before he uses such authorities. It is not less dishonest because the writers of the New Testament are dead and cannot resent the insult. This kind of use for Scripture has first a demoralizing effect on the man who does it. He knows he is not honest in his use of the book. He brands himself as willing to do a dishonorable thing. And secondly, he either makes his intelligent hearers despise his interpretation, or despise a book which is so incapable of good interpretation. More infidels are made by incorrect interpretations at the hands of believers than are made by the arguments of unbelievers. It is legitimate to address men without texts. But it is dishonest and dishonorable to take a text and not try to present its teachings.

IV What is this Book which We Are to Interpret ?

WE call the Bible the " Inspired Book," and " The Word of God," or the " Sacred Volume." These names for the book raise the question, How does the inspiration of the book affect the interpretation of it? We find various answers to that question. Some say, " Why, certainly it affects our interpretation. Its inspiration makes it a unique book in every way. Of course it is to be interpreted in a unique manner." Others say, " Yes, it is unique in its contents, but not in its language or literary form. It is a revelation of things beyond our invention or discovery, but the fact that it attempts to be a revelation implies that it will be in a language like other books or it would be not a revelation, but a riddle."

Now how are you and I, who are only common sort of folk, going to settle this question when the uncommonly wise ones do not agree about it? Some may be disposed to say, " Well, it is too much for us, we will not bother about it." Others may say, " We will take the man we like best and follow him." Well, there is a way different from these. Some of us will tackle the problem ourselves. We will look at the facts as we find them and form our own judgment, and as fast as we get a judgment we will go according to it, and will hope to get more and more things settled as we go along. Let me now point out some of the facts which w 7 e all see for ourselves.

First. Whether the book is inspired or not, it is a perfectly human book in its form. It may tell wondrous things about the New Jerusalem and about John's visions, but the language is not, on the face of it, different from the language of all men when they talk about the same sort of things. Grant if you will that it brings God's thoughts, yet it is man's grammar. It may be God's wisdom, but it reasons with Paul's logic. And though its thoughts transcend our thoughts, its words do not get beyond our dictionary. The grammar and logic and rhetoric are all the same as the grammar and the logic and the rhetoric of

What is this Book We Interpret ? 39

Homer's " Iliad " or Bacon's philosophy. Any man who knows the common laws of language can know the language of the Bible. The singular nouns have singular verbs, the objective cases follow the same prepositions; and the same figures of speech and the same kind of arguments run all through it. I want to emphasize this because many will feel at the start some vague reverence toward " sacred rhetoric." This is not at all necessary. A metaphor is the same in the Bible as it is in Shakespeare. There is no more sacredness about a metaphor of the Bible than there is about the arithmetic of the Bible.

And conversely, if you do not understand your own English literary language you cannot understand the language of the English Bible. My own observation is that many ministers are not w r ell versed in their own language, and so fail to understand the Bible language. Study your own mother tongue outside of the Bible and it will help your understanding of the Bible. Rev. John Watson, the gifted author of " The Bonny Briar Bush," said if he had his life to live over he would give more attention to the English language.

Secondly. This book is not only human, but it has about all the varieties of human writings. See the first five books of the collection. These are called the books of the law. They are Genesis, a short sketch of the beginnings of things; Exodus, a narrative of the going out from Egypt to Mount Sinai; Leviticus, a collection of rules for the Levites to observe in the services of the Jewish worship, almost all taken up with ceremonies, a book of ritual; Numbers, a story of wanderings in the wilderness until the Israelites came to the Jordan ready to cross into Canaan; Deuteronomy, a second statement of the law and the ritual with modifications.

After these we find them more secular in some respects, and in some more biographical. They are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. In all the world's history men and women have been the central forces. So in this history these books have a semibiographical character, and yet it is a sketch of the history through which Israel passed. You see when you read these books that they are narratives of events. They are not " sacred " narratives, but just

What is this Book We Interpret ? 41 plain narratives of some good men and more bad ones. They tell both sides of the story. They are " unvarnished tales," but they are not like newspaper tales. They are not muckrakers. Nor are they slanderers of mankind. They are not pessimistic wails over man's wickedness. But they are such writings as always give us a dislike of the wicked and a strong impulse toward the good. They are profitable for " instruction in righteousness." And that is a part of their purpose.

Then here we find five books that are poetic books — Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song. Now do not get frightened because you find them " poetic," as if that made them fanciful or unworthy of confidence. Their poetic form does not militate against their religious character. God could prompt a man to write a poem if he chose, couldn't he? He could inspire a dramatic play if he chose. Would it discredit him if one of these books were found to be a dramatic composition? It need not. Is not the Twenty-third Psalm a poetic composition? Certainly. No one doubts it. In the New Testament it is said that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. And in the visions of heaven they sang songs. So we will let these five poetic books have their name and not be troubled about it. Only when we come to interpret any of them we will interpret them by the rules which belong to that class of writings.