Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars
Click to get our FREE MOBILE APP and stay connected
| PentecostalTheology.com
FEEDBACK: PENTECOSTAL
The Use of the Bible
French
L.
Arrington
prophets
101
HERMENEUTICS
by
Pentecostals
women in the
Scriptures. Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
At the heart of classical Pentecostalism is the conviction that the whole Bible is the
inspired
Word of God. This conviction affirms that the Bible is a reliable revelation of God, and that it states the exact truths the
Holy Spirit
intends to
convey.
The
writing
of
Scripture by the
and
apostles
does not detract from the divine
origin
and authority
of
Scripture.
God
joined
his Word with the words of men and
The
starting point
and
very
foundation for
faith and
praxis
has been the biblical text. The real issue in
has become
hermeneutics,
and function of
Scripture
and the roles of the
Holy Spirit,
the Christian
community, grammatical-historical the
interpretive process.
Timothy Cargal
has offered
that
is,
the distinctive nature
research,
and
personal experience
in
an assessment
of hermeneutics as
presently practiced by
classical Pentecostals. In his excellent article,
“Beyond
the Fundamentalist-Modernist Hermeneutics in the Postmodern Fee-Stronstad-Menzies
Luke-Acts
Pentecostal biblical
scholarship reality
is that Pentecostal
criticism while
maintaining
Pentecostal
to the traditional
Pentecostal
Controversy:
Pentecostals and Age,”‘ Cargal argues
that the
the
theological
intent of
of the
evangelicalization
of
of
Evangelicals
has led
preachers
remain faithful of the nature and function
debate about
is a clear demonstration
in North America. Evidence of this
scholars “have tended to
align
themselves with
Evangelicals
in their move toward
adopting
the methods of
higher
a commitment to the
reliability
of biblical narrative. ,,2 The
adoption
of the
methodology
scholars to
emphasize
the historical context of the biblical texts and to reduce their
meaning
to the intent of the authors. On the other
hand, Cargal
observes that Pentecostal
interpretation
of
Scripture
with
“emphases
on the
immediacy
of the text and
multiple
B.
Cargal, “Beyond
the Fundamentalist-Modernist
Controversy: Pentecostals ‘ Timothy and Hermeneutics in a Postmodern Age,” PNEUMA: The Journal
of the 2 Society for Pentecostal Theology 15 (Fall 1993): 163-187.
Cargal, “Beyond the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy,” 163.
1
102
dimensions of
meaning.”3
Indeed the traditional methods of Pentecostal interpretation
that
emphasize multiple meanings
and
applications
of a text have more
continuity
with
postmodern
modes of
interpretation than the critical-historical
methodology
of much of
contemporary Pentecostal
scholarship.
The article
by Cargal brings
into
perspective many
of the tensions and issues that are crucial to the
present
discussion and
practice
of Pentecostal hermeneutics. To
Cargal’s credit,
he does not
give
us the impression
that the issues
integral
to the discussion have been resolved or that the work with the hermeneutical
principles
that Pentecostals use in the
interpretative process
can now rest from further assessment. Let us consider some of the
questions
and concerns that are central in the development
of a constructive Pentecostal hermeneutics.
Critical-Historical-Literary
Method
The
Bible,
we are sometimes
told,
should be studied like
any
other book. This demand insists that
Scripture
must not be
exempted
from any appropriate
forms of critical
inquiry.
Such a
methodology requires the
interpreter
to consider the historical
peculiarities
that
prompted
the composition
and
literary
form and to determine
specifically
the authorial
intent,
and the
philological
and
syntactical
nuances of the text. The nature of
Scripture compels
the
interpreter
to retain
something
of a historical orientation. What God did in Christ was done in
history. Factual, verifiable,
historical information makes a contribution to the hermeneutical
process,
but a
strictly rationalistic,
fundamentalistic hermeneutic
operates
in a
closed, logical system,
similar to mathematics.
Any interpretation
that is “emotive” and deemed
contrary to the tools of historical and
literary
criticism is
suspect by
the interpreter
whose
understanding
of the
authority
and
meaning
of the biblical text is determined
solely by the
canons of reason.
However,
it cannot be denied that the use of critical-historical and literary
criticism
provides
a base from which to create a common context for
understanding.
A wide factual base enhances our understanding
of what the biblical text means.
Speaking
to this
Cargal says:
… while rationalism cannot tell us everything about the Bible and its
meaning,
it can tell us a number of important things-especially about the
historical and cultural distance that does in fact
separate
us from the
biblical texts.’ 4
‘ Cargal, “Beyond the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy,” 164. the Fundamentalist-Modernist
4 Cargal, “Beyond Controversy,” 186-187.
2
processes
of
interpretation
103
and if
they were,
there is no
All such facts are not
available;
guarantee
that
they
would be handled
correctly by
the
interpreter. Any historical reconstructions of antecedents of the
body
of
literature, known as the
Bible,
are shot
through
and
through
with uncertainties. Hence,
the
attempt
to account for the
meaning
of the biblical
message merely
on the basis of rationalistic hermeneutics tends to
support
the view that the Bible is
only
a collection of documents from the ancient world to be studied and
interpreted
as any other book.
The
question
that this
approach
raises is: How do we
interpret any other book? A
legal
document is not
interpreted
in the same manner as a book of fiction. These documents exist for different
purposes,
and we address different
questions
to them in
assessing
their
meanings.
The
of the two
literary
works are
different,
but the Bible is God’s communication to men and women
through
human language, making
it unique. It is at the same time the Word of God and the words of men and women in
history.
This dual nature is the Bible’s
Among
Pentecostals the fact that the Bible is the divine Word
places
it in an absolute
position
in the life of the church.
Although
the truth of the Bible does not
depend
on our answering
historical and
literary questions,
such
study
can
enlarge
and
most
important
characteristic.
make more
precise
our
understanding
of
Scripture
as the Word of God
The
danger
is that it places
and how it has been
given
to humankind.’
the Bible in the
laboratory
of the
expert
and takes it out of the hands of the
ordinary person
who can
lay
no claim to
methodological
theological expertise.
Grammatical understanding
have
significance understanding
and analysis
of the text and historical for sound
exegesis,
but
spiritual
does not
always
wait on the
acquisition
of these tools. It is God who
opens eyes
of faith and illuminates his Word to the human
heart.
The Pneumatic
The critical-historical understanding.
method
Dimension
may
establish one level of
it both in the book to which
and
lexicographical
original meaning.
But the
interpreter the
contemporary
This level can be ascertained
by the establishment of the original
text of a
passage, contextualizing
it
belongs
and in its wider cultural
context,
and
providing philological
information needed for the elucidation of its
has not
completed
his task until
meaning
of a text has been determined. To
put
it another
way,
the
interpreter
must not
only
answer the
question:
What did it mean?, but also the
question:
What does it mean?
Wm. B. Eerdmans 5 Cf George
Eldon Ladd, The New Testament and Criticism (Grand Rapids, MI:
Publishing Company, 1967), 217.
3
104
and in
language
use
(Hebrew,
and
Greek).
It contains
a
,
The Bible was written over a
period
of a millennium
by multiple authors,
who were
very
different in
character,
in cultural
background,
Aramaic,
diversity
of
literary genre (historical narrative, parable, poetry,
wisdom literature, gospel, epistle, etc. ).
The existence of such a diverse
body
of literature with a unique,
distinctive,
and coherent
meaning
is due to the providential activity
of God and the
inspiration
and
guidance
of the
Holy Spirit.
A fundamental
been a hermeneutical
and the biblical text has
and cultural distance
alive and
speaks
to our
present personal
and social transformation.
principle
of Pentecostal hermeneutics is:
Scripture given by
the
Holy Spirit
must be mediated
interpretively by
the
Holy Spirit.
The illumination of the
interpreter by
the
Holy Spirit
is a vital part
in
elucidating
the
contemporary meaning
of a biblical text. So in the
interpretative process
the
Holy Spirit
has a broader role than
simply taking
the
things
of the incarnate Christ and
declaring
them to us
(John 16:14).
The distance between the
interpreter
problem, and, too,
the distance is even
greater
for a contemporary interpreter in a scientific culture. This distance needs to be
respected,
but the
Holy Spirit
overcomes the distance
by serving
as the common context and
bridging
the
temporal
between the
original
author and the modem
interpreter.
Put
differently, the
Spirit
establishes a continuum between the written word of the
past and the same word in the
present, thereby illuminating
what the ancient author’s words mean to us
living
in the twentieth
century
and how
they speak
to us
today.’ Through
the
Holy Spirit
the Word of God becomes
situation with new
possibilities
‘
for
Unlike those who use the critical-historical
with
mere
cognitive knowledge,
speak
to real
problems reaches
beyond
the
objective
deeper spiritual interpretation
approach
and are satisfied Pentecostals
strive,
under the
meaning
of
Scripture
and
illumination of the
Holy Spirit,
to allow the
message
of the text to
of
persons
in their
daily
lives. This method
literal
understands that a text has
spiritual meaning
as well as the literal. The
is given not
by mere human reason but by the
Holy Spirit
and can
only
be seen
through
the fruit of Pentecostal hermeneutics is that the Word of God becomes
living
and immediate for
contemporary
Therefore,
and for their faith. For the Pentecostal role in the
interpretation
the
specifics
of this role
explained. inscripturating process
is a
mystery
and
understanding
the
eyes
of faith.
men and women the
Holy Spirit plays
a definite
of
Scripture,
but
rarely
are As the
Spirit’s
role in the so is the
Spirit’s
role in the
6 Cf. Cargal, “Beyond the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy,” 180-181.
4
the
interpreter the full
understanding
105
interpretative process.
But the
following suggestions may
indicate how
relies on the illumination
by
the
Holy Spirit
to come to
of the
meaning
of the text:
(1)
submission of the mind to God so that the critical and
analytical
abilities are exercised under the
guidance
of the
Holy Spirit; (2)
a
genuine openness
to the witness of the
Spirit
as the text is examined;
(3)
the
personal experience of faith as
part
of the entire
interpretative process; and, (4) response
to
the
transforming
call of God’s Word.
The
Holy Spirit
has a fundamental role in the
reading
and
interpreting of biblical texts. No one but the
Holy Spirit provides
the
bridge
that enables the ancient author and modem
interpreter
to meet and to
span the historical and cultural
gulf
between them. The heart of the biblical text remains
ambiguous
until it is illuminated
by
the
Holy Spirit.
The pneumatic
dimension is so crucial to sound hermeneutics: “No
eye
has seen,
no ear has
heard,
no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him-but God has revealed them to us
by his Spirit”
(
Corinthians
2: 9-1 Oa).
The
Experiential
through
acceptance,
God. Biblical
hermeneutics that enhances
understanding
Dimension
a
theory
and method of
of the biblical text.
Biblical studies
but for Pentecostals
real
believers and that
A believer comes to God and understands the Word of God
only
the
Holy Spirit.
One’s faith is not
merely
an intellectual
but it is a lived
response
in
relationship
to the
Spirit
of
interpretation requires
a
re-experiencing
Indeed the biblical
interpreter
needs to
speak
from faith to faith.’ It is in the context of faith that the Bible was
inspired; therefore,
it is within the context of faith that the Bible must be
interpreted.
should
yield
fruitful results for the lives of
contemporary people
and their
faith,
that
is, results
that are
experienced.
We cannot
deny
that
anyone
with sufficient rational faculties and skills can
glean
truths from
Scripture,
and
insight
into the truths of
Scripture
come as a result of faith.
They
assume that the
spiritual
and
extraordinary experiences
of the biblical characters are
possible
for
contemporary
the
Scripture
can
only
be interpreted correctly through the
eyes
of faith.
The Pentecostal hermeneutic that allows
into focus the issue of
subjectivity
is that if the biblical text is
approached from the stance of human
experience,
on the basis of
logic
and
reason,
the
interpretation brings objectivity.
The
assumption
subjective;
but if
approached
experience
to inform
versus
then the
interpretation
is more
77 ‘ Cf.
James Muilenburg, “Preface to Hermeneutics,” Journal
of Biblical Literature
(March 1958): 18-26.
5
106
interpretation
is more
objective. human mind
and, therefore, restriction of the hermeneutical take a broader
sweep
participatory
Logic
and reason occur within the
to some
degree.
The
and to encounter a
suspension
of
are
subjective
process
to reason and
logic
is to
try
to
of human
experience
stranger’s. point
of view.’
Speaking
of the deliberate
involvement in biblical
studies,
A. C. Thiselton
observes, “Scholars seek to silence their own
subjectivity, striving
for the kind of
which is not
only
an
illusion, but which also requires
`a sacrifice of the
very question
the Bible seeks to answer’.”9
have been accused of
putting
objective neutrality
Pentecostals
experience
ahead of the
Scriptures.
alone is a
temptation
of as
opposites.
From this
perspective
the
process experience.’°
of
interpretation
their own ideas and But the
response
of the human
process
can be viewed as
informs
that what
they
find in
mind alone misses the involvement with the biblical text and therefore the fullness that
Scripture presents.
Whereas the stance of
experience
to
pick
and choose
only
that which is
agreeable with former
experience. Objectivity
and
subjectivity
have been
thought
Both need to be seen as two sides of the same
coin, and both need to be seen as
falling
in the
sphere
of the
experience
of faith that has been
ignited by
the Word of God and the
Holy Spirit.
the hermeneutical
dialogical
rather that
linear,
so
that,
at
every point, experience
informs
and the fruit of
interpretation
So Pentecostals admit that their
praxis
informs what
they find in Scripture, and
they go
on to
acknowledge
Scripture
informs their Pentecostal
praxis.”
The
interpreter
does not
lay
aside
personal
beliefs about God nor the
of God on his or her life when
interpreting
However,
to
guard against personal experience displacing Scripture
as the norm or
against
excesses in
interpretation,
influence
vital in the Pentecostal
community
Scripture.
model for
interpretation and reason
(Acts 15).
bound
together by
bonds of
love, interdependence, The Jerusalem Council
exemplifies community
that includes
Scripture,
‘ Anthony Interpretation,
10 Cf
active
participation
is of faith where the members are
and
accountability.
and
provides
a biblical
experience,
tradition
Against Scripture,”
Word and
C. Thomas, “Luther’s Canon-Christ
World 8 8 Cf. Terry
(Spring 1988): 141-149. C.
Thiselton,
“The New
Hermeneutic,”
in New Testament
ed. I. Howard Marshall
(Grand Rapids,
MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), French L.
316.
Arrington, “Hermeneutics, Historical Perspectives on Pentecostal and Charismatic” in Dictionary
of Pentecostal
and Charismatic Afovements, eds.
M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
384.
Publishing House, 1988),
“Rick D. Moore,
“Approaching
God’s s Word
Biblically:
A Pentecostal
8 (November 1987): 4-5, 11.
Stanley
Perspective,” Seminarv Viewpoint
6
107
The
message
of
Scripture
must reach
past
the shields of reason and into the
depth
of human
life, creating self-despair
and trust in Christ alone.’2
Accordingly,
Pentecostals see the full
purpose
of biblical interpretation
as not
only
to uncover truth but to
apply
that truth to one’s own life and to the
community
of faith, and to communicate that truth to others so that their hearts are moved toward God. The
ability to communicate the truths of
Scripture originates
from our
prior commitment to hear them in their
power through
the
Holy Spirit;
that is,
to
study, read, inwardly digest
and allow them to wash and ‘ transform us.
“Thomas,
“Luther’s
Canon,” 144.
7
