Interpretation Archives - NowTHINK!AboutIt

11 Reasons The Churches Of Revelation Don’t Represent Church Ages

January 25, 2025 by EnnisP 2 Comments

The Seven Churches Reveal Seven Problems
That Can Happen To Any Church
At Any Time

The book of Revelation fascinates everyone. From start to finish, the mysteries pile up. It mentions many things we haven’t seen or experienced personally, and because those novelties are represented in terms we can’t readily explain (four living creatures with six wings each and full of eyes), one of two things happens: we avoid the text completely or become so obsessed no rational outcome is reached.

That may be why the book opens with some words to encourage us to hold the line.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3)

We’re told up front that this is prophecy, meaning it points to future events, things that haven’t happened yet. The perspective is very much forward looking, but it’s also important to note that it has a starting place. Jesus addressed Himself to people of that day, not ours.

What Jesus said does apply to anyone at any future time but He addressed Himself specifically to individuals who were living at the time the Book was written. Jesus delivered his message to real churches in real time.

Seven churches were targeted in the first three chapters and Jesus had a individual message for each of those churches. Those churches were located in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and all of them were started by the first generation of Christians. From their experience, today’s churches can learn a lot.

But what do these messages mean? How should we interpret this material?

One school of thought suggests that these churches, aside from being local and individual, also characterize periods of time or ages from the first century till now. The people who teach this say we are in the Laodicean period today which, obviously, is the last period characterized in this list.

Not only does that idea argue against the church age theory, there are also many other reasons to reject this idea. [Read more…] about 11 Reasons The Churches Of Revelation Don’t Represent Church Ages

The Main Point Of The Seven Churches Of Asia Minor

September 11, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

The Answer To Robotic Literalism
Is Rational Literalism

The Book of Revelation is important to this discussion because it is the book where you find the seven churches of Asia Minor addressed by the glorified Christ. He had something to say to each of these churches and His message to each is recorded in the first three chapters.

Revelation, by the way, is either an interpreters delight or nightmare depending on how the book is approached. It is filled with graphic text describing things we do not and cannot naturally understand.

It doesn’t provide an appendix, index or endnotes to help with unfamiliar words or phrases. The language of the book defies colloquial and academic language in our day and that is true even in the time it was written which was almost two thousand years ago.

The writer was not contributing to an ongoing discussion on popular issues. The message of this book was not something anyone saw coming.

Some of the unusual events and descriptions in Revelation are found in earlier books but with no more explanation than John’s discourse. John simply puts them together chronologically in one place.

But even with previous mentions of some of these ideas, he’s telling us what we do not readily understand and describing things we’ve never experienced or seen before.

And that is where the seven churches of Asia Minor are mentioned. [Read more…] about The Main Point Of The Seven Churches Of Asia Minor

Review: Unclobber – Rethinking Our Misuse Of The Bible On Homosexuality

May 2, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Deliberation Or Pugilism
Which Is The Better Way
To Find An Answer

Finally!!

A much needed book focused on what the Bible actually says and how a more informed reading should lead us away from the anti-woke doctrines of prominent Catholic politicians.

No, the book doesn’t focus on Catholics or Catholicism. In fact, I don’t remember the words Catholic or Catholicism mentioned at all in the book.

That bit is an add-on by me but an accurate one since Catholics have dominated the discussion regarding acceptable sexual/moral norms for centuries. It’s also true that several vociferous Catholics presently holding significant positions of power are pushing their doctrines on an unwilling public. A public that largely rejects these ideas.

Consider the fact that Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, both governors of two large influential states, both Catholics and both representing the more intolerable version of the Catholic Church. And both aggressively pushing a Republican Party first and anti-woke agenda more unbendingly, irrationally and demandingly than good sense, or the law, allows.

Their leadership is inquisition-like, only with a little less blood shed, as far as we can tell.

DeSantis’ strident form is easily understood once you learn how committed his family is to Catholicism. With an aunt who’s a nun and an uncle who’s a priest, how can he demonstrate an equal level of commitment other than by damning anything and anyone who oversteps the Church’s boundaries, all from high political office. Abbott can’t claim such pedigree so we can only attribute his asininity to a stubborn nature.

You may know this but the Supreme Court is also loaded with Catholics.

But I digress. Back to the book.

There were several reasons I enjoyed this book and hardily recommend it to others. [Read more…] about Review: Unclobber – Rethinking Our Misuse Of The Bible On Homosexuality

What Are The Implications Of Inspiration

February 25, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Interpretation Is The Process
That Renders The Actions
Of An Inspired Text
Into Meaning

Those who believe the Bible will often justify their belief by pointing out the fact that the text of the Bible is inspired. The argument is you can’t or shouldn’t easily dismiss an inspired text, and I would agree entirely.

Because it’s an inspired text, we should take every passage of scripture seriously but we also must be cautious. Accepting it as inspired and applying it literally, at face value, are two very different things.

For the purposes of this post, Inspiration is understood to mean the text is God breathed or arranged. In other words, the text reads the way God intended. It says what He wanted it to say.

And we have statements in the Bible that reinforce that idea.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction is righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16 & 17)

Another passage lending force to the idea is 2 Peter 1:21.

The prophecy (Old Testament scriptures) came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost

The Timothy passage refers more to the outcome of inspiration, the benefits that can be derived from studying it carefully, while the Peter passage focuses on the process, how it actually came to be.

But what does that really mean? How far do we take the idea of inspiration? I don’t question inspiration but I do question how people use the idea when attempting to apply the Bible to life.

If you want to get the right perspective on inspiration, there are several implications to consider. [Read more…] about What Are The Implications Of Inspiration

16 Reasons Leviticus 18 Doesn’t Deny Same-Sex Marriage

February 14, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

What the Bible says is not what the Bible teaches.

Old Testament Sacrifices
Taught Us To Expect A Sacrifice
Not Make One

Introduction: Leviticus 18 is a rather daunting passage of Scripture. It actually imposes the death penalty on same-sex relations between males. It is significant that it doesn’t mention women but we’ll talk about that later. For now, my intent is to use interpretive principles to determine why this command was given and see if there isn’t a softer, more generous way to understand this directive.

The Bible is a book that must be interpreted and everyone agrees but they don’t all agree on what that actually means or how it is done. As soon as you use interpretive principles to step on the toes of some prized belief, you’ve got a fight on your hands.

What It Means To Interpret The Bible

Bible believers often say they take the Bible literally. I’ve said that often and I still say it today but “literal” needs qualification.

Even if you take the Bible literally, you still must interpret the text before you can apply it.

Interpretation is at the heart of the discussion and it, more than anything else, shapes our understanding of literal. It literally changes what we mean by literal.

Simply put, interpretation is a process. To admit to the process means we aren’t taking the Bible at face value. We don’t take biblical statements and simply overlay them on human society expecting everyone to comply.

The very few who take that approach do so only selectively. They apply some passages literally and others not. The selection process between which are treated literally and which are not is done with little explanation as to how the line is drawn between the ones we obey exactly and the ones we don’t.

Why is one accepted without an interpretive exercise and another not? That question is never even explored.

The people who take a so called literal approach to the entire Bible are also thought to be weird and are viewed as outside the mainstream. As an example, neither Jews nor Muslims will eat pork. The rest of the world is enjoying a piece of bacon and wondering what’s the problem. And that’s only one issue. There are many more.

Generally, no one takes a word for word approach to the entire Bible. No one!! Some, as I’ve mentioned, claim to do so and will often try to but when they come to the Old Testament requirement for men to grow and braid their sideburns, obedience takes a turn, unless you happen to be a Hasidic Jew.

Among Christians, not even the hard core, heavy handed, fist pounding believers will go that far.

Taking the interpretive approach, we ask questions, all of us, about each idea before applying it to life. Or that’s what we should do. Asking questions is an important part of the process.

The point is no one really offers unqualified, exacting obedience to the Bible.

What The Bible Says Is Not What The Bible Teaches

More to the point, what that really means is what the Bible says is not what the Bible is actually teaching. The Bible may mean exactly what it says, but there is a huge difference between what the Bible is saying and what it is actually teaching.

Interpretation is the work we do after reading what the Bible says so we can come to an understanding of what the Bible teaches.

Most people understand this on a subconscious level but it needs to be highlighted as central to the discussion.

Taking that thought a little further, what the Bible says, the letter of the text, and what it teaches, the spirit of the text, are sometimes so different the ideas are counterintuitive which means we have to do some work to figure it out.

The connection between the meaning of the words and the teaching of the text is not always immediately clear and the only thing we can do to bring clarity is to engage the interpretive process.

That’s what it means to interpret the Bible.