Interpreting Scripture:The Ethical Teachings of

Scripture

Literalist vs Contextualist

Remember Grade 9?

There are 2 ways of interpreting biblical text:–Literally–Contextually

Literalists

To read scripture literally means to take it word for word.

Believe it is written in a pure sense, not to be interpreted

No hidden meaningsNo reading between the linesLiteralists will interpret the scriptures

in this manner

The Strength of Language

However, literal interpretations do not always reveal the true meaning of words and phrases

In interpreting scripture a person cannot fail to recognize that different time periods have slang uses for different words.

ContextualistsAim to interpret or

understand the deeper message

Who is the author and what life experiences does he/she bring to the text

Understanding the history, culture and society of the time in which the text was written

Interpreting Scripture: The Author

Every biblical writer painted a portrait of our relationship with God based on their own life experiences.

Personal interests or concerns and point of view can affect how we see and understand things

Create a story based on what you see in this picture.

Caravaggio’s “Supper at Emmaus”

Notice how Jesus is beardless....this have led some of you to mistake his identity. Caravaggio does this on purpose in order to bring you into the story – the two disciples did not recognize Jesus at first and perhaps neither did you!

The table lays out a still-life meal. Like the world these apostles knew, the basket of food teeters perilously over the edge.

Caravaggio came from an extremely poor family and spent his life living among the poor. His paintings come out of this and he brings Christ into our world living and preaching among the poor.

Interpreting Scripture

Many scholars agree that taking the gospels literally is not the best approach

Jesus lived in a world very different from ours, yet his words still have a big impact on our time

Take for example:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

Interpreting Christ’s Moral Teachings

Catholics interpret Jesus’ teachings on ethics and morality in 2 main ways:

– In their original context (Exegesis)–How they impact us today (Hermeneutics)

EXEGESIS An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!

This was the law of the land during Old testament times. There was no official judicial system that kept the law, so the people had this mutual understanding: if someone stole your cow, you had the right to steal their cow…no more, no less. It was a way of limiting revenge.

When someone slaps you on the right cheek turn and offer the other cheek also.

Jesus forbid revenge entirely. In His day people would attempt to punitively reprimand an offender by slapping them on the right cheek with the back of their hand. (This method is used on people you have no respect for…i.e. slaves.) If you wanted to teach a lesson to somebody that you had respect for, then you would slap them on the left cheek with the palm of your hand. (This method was reserved for people that you respected and had the same stature as you.)

Exegesis Studies biblical text in it’s original context

Considers:– Language used (sometimes there are no words

in one language that can correctly be used to describe another)

– Historical context (customs, practices)– Religious Traditions (major festivals)– Literary Genres (poem, legend, myth)– Other religions of the time

To fully understand what the authors intended, we need to understand something about their worlds, their motivations.

Imagine gr. 12 students 100 years from now were to do a research paper on the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the WTC. To do so, they would have to know something about – the political situation in the world as it was in 2001. – the different religious groups and movements. – the different biases of the different sources from which they

were getting information (ie. Conspiracy theorists).

Newspapers from the US, Israel, Saud Arabia would all cover the same event from very different perspectives.

The task of exegesis is to determine why it is important to understand each source of information within its original context.

Hermeneutics Hermeneutics is essentially the task of interpretation.

When we interpret something, we do so in relation to something else.

Ex. Say those same high-school students in the next century were doing a research paper on the evolution of airport security procedures since the dawn of air travel. They would miss the mark is they failed to recognize the importance of the Sept 11 terrorist attack as a key factor leading to changes in airport security.

September 11 and the ongoing threat of terrorism become a hermeneutical lens through which we understand things like airport security.

The objective is to gain an understanding of the text, but relate it to the impact it has on the world today

Using the state of the current Canadian criminal justice system as

your platform perform some hermeneutics on:

‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”Jesus is essentially trying to tell us that we should love everyone,

even offenders, not to the point that we allow them to walk all over us (as the traditional understanding of this quote goes) but to let them know that we, the persecuted, have an inherent dignity that must be respected…therefore do not punitively reprimand me….teach me to be a better person. Thus, by turning the other cheek the persecuted was in effect demanding equality. This is the purpose behind rehabilitation. Instead of punishing a murderer by ending his life in the same way he ended an innocent victim’s life (capital punishment), we should offer them therapy and education in an attempt to rehabilitate them.

Be-careful! Sometimes Hermeneutics can be

inappropriately done to fulfill a hidden agenda!

Many church leaders have been seduced into a conspiracy of teaching that you should bear with abuse or your being used by those with power over you. It has taught that you should 'go the extra mile' and endure a marriage that is killing your spirit. It has taught that you should tolerate abuse and 'turn the other cheek'. As a result, many sinful behaviors have been ignored if not sanctioned in the service of avoiding conflict and exposing abuse. Such an interpretation may have suited the white male-dominated world of the past.

Example: The 10 Commandments

The 10 commandments state what God expects of the people bound by the covenant.

The 10 commandments only make sense in the context of the covenant.

They are not just rules and commandments on their own.

They state the type of relationship to which Israel is privileged.

An adopted people.....At times this covenant is described using the

language of adoption: Psalm 2 states:“You are my son.” Israel is the Lord’s adopted

son. That is why the first commandment directs Israel to who it is with whom they have entered into a covenant: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt.” It is none other than your liberator God, the one that brought you “out of the land of slavery.”

A Covenant with God and Others

Notice how the first three commandments deal with our relationship with God. They contain the words which explain how to honour and love God.

The last seven commandments describes this relationship with God in our relation to the other. Our relation to others is part of our worship of God.

The covenant with God is at the same time a covenant with our neighbour.

Exegesis and Covenant

To understand how covenants work, we need to look at their origins.

Covenants were treaties between a sovereign nation and a vassal nation (a person/group of people) who have entered into a mutual obligation. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges

Covenants Exhibited 5 traits

1. THE PREAMBLE

In the bible treaties begin with the name, the titles and attributes of the king of the sovereign nation along with his genealogy.

Exodus 3:13-15  13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and

say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

   “This is my name forever,    the name you shall call me    from generation to generation.”

YHWH

Moses was given a new name for God. In Hebrew the name reads “ehyeh’ asher’ ehjeh. Translated it can be read as

“I am who I am,”“I am who I is,”“I am who I shall be”“I shall be who I am”

Some have taken God’s refusal to give a name in the very giving of a name. God seems to refuse to entrust Self into the hands of people and yet at the same time does. Others have understood this name as a promise: I will show you who I am in my being with you, or I will be with you tomorrow as I have been up to now.

2. THE HISTORICAL PROLOGUE The Great King then gives a historical

overview that describes the previous relations between the two contractors. It recounts the many benefits the sovereign has bestowed upon the vassal.

Ex. The sovereign might point out how he has come to the vassal’s aid when he was threatened by enemy attack.

Exodus 19:3-4

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

3. THE SUBMISSION The submission states what the Great King expects

from the vassal. This submission of often includes a fundamental declaration on the future relations of the partners. It consists in a request of loyalty. This aspect of the submission is expressed frequently by the formula: “With my friend, be a friend! With my enemy, be an enemy!”

Often at this point the submission details certain conditions that must be met, for ex. Taxes to be paid, prisoners to be released.

Exodus 19:5 & Exodus 23:22

5 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant…….,’

22 “If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.”

4. THE WITNESSESIn biblical times the

witnesses are the gods of the two partners, but also the deified elements of nature: the mountains, the rivers, the sea, the heavens and the earth.

Exodus:19:99 The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to

come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.

5. THE BLESSINGS AND CURSESThe treaty tells what will happen if the

vassal remains faithful or is unfaithful to the demands of the treaty.

Exodus 19:5-6

“….then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Hermeneutics

Which is better?

Scripture can not be understood without a good balance of both Exegesis and Hermeneutics!

What the “big men” say! “The primary object of faith is not the

proposition, but the reality (it designates).”

– Thomas Aquinas, “Nature and Grace” “The Bible is thus the story of God’s struggle

with human beings to make himself understandable to them over the course of time; but it is also the story of their struggle to seize hold of God over the course of time.”-Cardinal Ratzinger – Now Pope Benedict XVI

The Church’s StanceAll scripture can be interpreted in 4 ways

– Literal– Allegorical: How it points to Christ– Moral: How it points to us living a good life– Anagogical: How it points us to heavenly reality– In a biblical context, allegorical interpretation is an

approach assuming that the authors of a text (e.g., the Bible) intended something other than what is literally expressed.

– That division of the typical sense which includes blessings to be hoped for, and which refers particularly to the future life. The rest which the Israelites found in Chanaan is anagogically typical of eternal rest in heaven