Hermaneutical Interpretation or Generalization
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K
Truth be said in ancient times the people didn’t know that time frame of twilight and dawn, they didn’t have mechanical clocks, that part of the day when there’s no sun or stars to tell time when the first light of the day is seen but the sun has not risen. the Jewish people started a new day at the first glimmer of the sun rising not at first light. And in the evening the first three stars started the night.
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Here are some of the inherent problems with the historical approach to scripture. How we understand this book determines how we understand our roles in the universe. For centuries it has been determined that the Bible should be handled as a historical phenomenon. Since the Bible has been handled in such a secular manor, we have come to rely upon secular historical sources to offer their contributions to the text. Through exegesis, we have tried to give history and culture the final word on the meaning of scripture and to define its place within human history. The science of exegesis takes into consideration all of the historical and cultural evidence we can martial and attempts to explain the text based upon this lexicon of evidence. This is actually just another form of intertextuality. If we take this approach to scripture, it would follow that we could never understand anything about the text that could not be supported and collaborated by what evidence we are able to piece together. Our understanding of the text would then be limited to our ability to collect and correctly interpret this evidence. In the exercise of exegesis, our understanding of the text is determined by how well we understand ancient times and cultures. If this is true, the farther removed we are from the time and culture in which it was written the less we would be able to understand it. Our ability to understand the text correctly then would diminish with the passing of time, not increase.
With exegesis, truth is determined by the historical context rather than the language of the text. I have witnessed many over the years who have tried to make sense of the text by the use of exegesis and for many, it has been nothing but a constant source of frustration. Some have even concluded on this basis that truth is unknowable. Since revealed truth is not determined by history, this should not be a surprising legacy for those who rely on an exegetical approach to scripture. The language of the text was not conditioned by the cultures of the time. It was received from the mind of the Holy Spirit who stands outside of human history and culture. If history is allowed to be the canon for determining truth, then we root spiritual truth in the temporal rather than in the eternal. This makes the historian the sole proprietor of what can be considered as truth.
It is a mistake to think that we can ever get into the mind of the individuals who put scripture into written form. Even if we were able by some means to manage such a feat, this will not tell us what was in the mind of the author. Contrary to what Gordon Fee claims, the Bible is not both human and divine. The Bible is exclusively a divine document and was written independently of human intellectual contribution. Man can no more lay claim to any contribution to the biblical text than my computer can to the creation of this post. Man was simply the tool through which the Holy Spirit recorded scripture in written form. Since the Bible is solely of divine origin, we cannot discern truth by trying to delve into what was possibly in the mind of the apostle Paul when he wrote the book of Romans. The apostle Paul is not responsible for the contents of that or any other letter of scripture pinned by his hand.
Scripture was not intended to speak to the common sense of human reasoning. The Bible cannot be understood by bringing human intelligence to bear upon the text. The language of the text must be allowed to influence and transform the thinking of the reader. It is not reasonable from the context of human experience to believe that dead people live again, or that virgins can conceive a child without human intervention, or that three million people can survive in the desert of Sinai for forty years where there were no material resources for sufficient food or water. Scripture is not written to appeal to our sense of reason. Instead, it challenges us to defy reason on almost every page and to learn to see things from the vantage point of God. Scripture does not call men to reason but to faith.
With exegesis, truth is determined by the historical context rather than the language of the text. I have witnessed many over the years who have tried to make sense of the text by the use of exegesis and for many, it has been nothing but a constant source of frustration. Some have even concluded on this basis that truth is unknowable. Since revealed truth is not determined by history, this should not be a surprising legacy for those who rely on an exegetical approach to scripture. The language of the text was not conditioned by the cultures of the time. It was received from the mind of the Holy Spirit who stands outside of human history and culture. If history is allowed to be the canon for determining truth, then we root spiritual truth in the temporal rather than in the eternal. This makes the historian the sole proprietor of what can be considered as truth.
It is a mistake to think that we can ever get into the mind of the individuals who put scripture into written form. Even if we were able by some means to manage such a feat, this will not tell us what was in the mind of the author. Contrary to what Gordon Fee claims, the Bible is not both human and divine. The Bible is exclusively a divine document and was written independently of human intellectual contribution. Man can no more lay claim to any contribution to the biblical text than my computer can to the creation of this post. Man was simply the tool through which the Holy Spirit recorded scripture in written form. Since the Bible is solely of divine origin, we cannot discern truth by trying to delve into what was possibly in the mind of the apostle Paul when he wrote the book of Romans. The apostle Paul is not responsible for the contents of that or any other letter of scripture pinned by his hand.
Scripture was not intended to speak to the common sense of human reasoning. The Bible cannot be understood by bringing human intelligence to bear upon the text. The language of the text must be allowed to influence and transform the thinking of the reader. It is not reasonable from the context of human experience to believe that dead people live again, or that virgins can conceive a child without human intervention, or that three million people can survive in the desert of Sinai for forty years where there were no material resources for sufficient food or water. Scripture is not written to appeal to our sense of reason. Instead, it challenges us to defy reason on almost every page and to learn to see things from the vantage point of God. Scripture does not call men to reason but to faith.
K
K
Like this verse
gen 1:14
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and to mark the seasons and days and years.
would it be safe to say it’s a generalization, because in those times back then when it was cloudy day and night using lights in sky is all but impossible.
gen 1:14
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and to mark the seasons and days and years.
would it be safe to say it’s a generalization, because in those times back then when it was cloudy day and night using lights in sky is all but impossible.
The Lord said that the evening and the morning constituted one complete day. The Hebrews recognized the passing of days by the same standard of measurement. When the sun went down, that was the end of one day and the beginning of another. This was not contingent upon man's perception of it or his being able to witness the sunset or the stars. Even if man was unable to see the sunset or the stars because of whatever obstruction, the sun still went down at the proper time and the stars still appeared at night.
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K
Well they didn’t use the same measurements as we do today, the sun changes time as it goes down each and everyday either it’s adding three minutes a day or subtracting three minutes a day. the moon is the only thing around us that is constant in its rising and setting 12 hours. Like today the sun can go down at 5:30 in the evening during winter or 8:30 in summer
K
Yes that is true but what is also true is standing on earth in Alaska you wouldn’t be able to use the sun as a reference it can be light for 6 months, another example is the moon rises and sets 12 hours eveyday but when there is a new moon it is still rising and setting at 12 hours but you can not see it doing that.