So far in this set of posts regarding Bible interpretation, I’ve replied to four different objections to a traditional reading: the naturalistic, the literalistic, the pluralistic and the “justice” objection. This is part two of the justice objection, and can be summarized as follows: Whenever a traditional interpretation of the Bible doesn’t account for racial, sexual and gender justice, it must be …

In my prior three posts I responded to 1) the naturalistic objection to Bible interpretation, 2) the literalistic objection and 3) the pluralistic objection. This post is about the “justice” objection, which has various forms but perhaps can be summarized as follows: It would be unjust of God to reveal himself primarily in only one religious tradition such as Christianity …

In the prior two posts, I responded to the naturalistic and literalistic objections to Bible interpretation. The “pluralist” objection is third, and goes something like this: The Bible is just one revelation among many of the Divine. Any interpretation of the Bible that excludes other religious traditions or somehow invalidates them cannot be accepted. Two Replies:  1. Excluding exclusivism: the pluralist …

In my prior post I replied to the naturalistic objection to Bible interpretation. In this post I’d like to respond to the literalistic objection, which goes something like this: The Bible is the inerrant Word of God and must be read literally, “as is.” You don’t “interpret” Scripture, you just read it and apply it to your life. I agree …

College students of varying backgrounds often raise objections to traditional interpretations of the Bible. Here are three types of objections I hear regularly: Naturalistic Literalistic Pluralistic Naturalistic objections are critical of anything that is miraculous or otherwise “fanciful” in the Bible. Thus the supernatural elements found in the Gospels, Exodus and numerous other places in Scripture are automatically rejected — …

To study the Bible inductively is an adventure in humility. It’s a choice to place oneself under the authority of a God-inspired author of more than two millennia ago. For this reason and others, my ideal incoming freshman would have been trained by her home church in OIA: Observation: Scrutinizing the text for its basic facts and grammatical construction. Interpretation: …

The Bible at a Glance Probably you cannot read the above chart in this compact blog space. But it’s an important element in the toolkit of my ideal incoming freshman. To illustrate, consider the following story, which is based on a thousand real life examples: Kendra grew up in the church. She arrives at college lacking any kind of big …