I know an Old Testament professor who is an exegete, but not a theologian. Let me put this better. I know an Old Testament professor who is so good at exegesis, he does not bother with theology.

Being a Hebrew exegete, this professor deals only with the Old Testament. When talking about particular issues in the Old Testament, he will almost never speak about the broader theological implications of the particular passage. He is so concerned with what the author was saying then, to his audience, that the now seems to have alluded his concern. Unfortunately, exegesis without theology is like a computer without an operating system. It cannot be used. Continue Reading »

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I do believe in inerrancy. But maybe not how you define it. No, I am not trying to redefine anything, but the fact is that when it comes to this issue there is a spectrum of belief in those who confess the doctrine. I am sure, no absolutely sure, that there would be those out there would would see my view of inerrancy as a liberal compromise.

I remember when I first began to read the Gospels I was rather confused about the repetition of the story of Christ. I was further confused that there seemed to be many places where the same event was told in different ways, using different words, and sometimes with different people involved. Whether it was Christ’s encounter with the demoniacs (Luke 18:27ff; Matthew 8:28ff) or the words written above the cross (Mark 15:26; Mark 19:19), there were differences. Continue Reading »

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I remember one professor at Dallas Seminary telling me that Evangelicals had learned more from liberal scholars about biblical interpretation over the past century than they had from the most conservative scholars. I also remember Charles Ryrie’s famous (infamous?) assertion, “There is nothing more sought after by an evangelical professor than to be called a scholar by a liberal.”

When I entered seminary, I was confused by the respect for liberal scholarship, especially in the New Testament and Old Testament departments. Liberal! In my dictionary, a liberal scholar was one who did not believe the Scriptures, misinterpreted the text, and, therefore, denied the Christian faith. It’s that simple. This was enough for me to shelf their “expositions” of the Scripture right next to the space reserved for the Flat Earth Society. How can they understand the Scriptures? Continue Reading »

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I was teaching today on hermeneutics. More specifically, I was teaching on the importance of what is known as “authorial intent” or “historical grammatical” hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is a fancy word that has to do with one’s method of interpreting the Bible. An authorial intent hermeneutic simply means that we must seek to understand what the text meant from the standpoint of the original author and audience before we can apply it to our lives. This involves an understanding of many things including the argument of the writing, the situation of the audience, the rules that govern the particular genera (type of writing), the culture in which the book was written, issues of grammar and syntax, and personality and mood of the author. Sometimes this is self-evident, and sometimes it takes a lot of leg work.

While I was explaining this, many people were becoming very uncomfortable and squirming in their seat. One lady would have none of what I said, but continually pleaded that she does not need this. God simply speaks to her when she opens the Bible bypassing all these difficulties and roadblocks that I was suggesting. She insinuated that if what I said were true that she would have to quit reading the Scriptures. Ouch! As an Evangelical Christian teacher, this is the last thing that I want someone to do. Continue Reading »

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