Jim Leffel spoke at the July 2008 XSI in one of the break-out sessions. He entitled his presentation, “Let the Bible Speak for Itself.” This title caught my eye immediately, as I had been focusing on church history and reacquainting myself with different doctrines and the various implications of those doctrines. Jim did not disappoint my anticipation. In fact, he totally “kicked up the dust.”
Leffel started the session posing these questions. “Do we have the conviction that the scripture rightly interpreted can change lives today? If so, is this truth relevant for today?”
He further expounded with an assessment of today’s culture, “that the optimism of America has presently lost its vision partially due to the disparity among us, whether racial or cultural.” He clarified “that we are never far removed from people who are different from us due to the blending of both cultures and ideas.”
The challenge before modern (post-modern) Christians is this: How do we speak to our culture? What does this change in “optimism” mean for those who chose to be a “New Kind of Christian?”
Three imbalances exist:
- Doctrine as a template for interpretation:
Most people view Christianity through the lens or filter of a dogma or creed resulting in almost no serious interaction with the textual Bible.
The Reformation introduced literary tools, meaning that due to the writing of massive systems of theology, we now engage the text of the Bible through the lens of a particular doctrine.
The result is that instead of holding fast to the concept of “sola scriptura” (by scripture alone), we take our ideas to scripture. One such example is the Calvinist system of doctrine that holds to “TULIP” (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints).
- Historical-social location of the text:
In the last century, vast amounts of literature have been recovered. This recovery has made a huge contribution to our understanding of the gospel. As a result, there has been a huge reconstruction of the historical Jesus. Jesus now become just like us. We learn things by looking at our culture.
The key to this theory is the location of the reader. A person can never get beyond the confine of his location. Therefore, the text can only teach that which begins and ends with the reader. What is relevant is how the text strikes, excites or impacts a particular reader.
So, does the Bible tell the reader how it is to be read?
Jim postulates, “Yes, we can.”
This is important if we are to maintain fidelity to the scripture. To understand the complexity of this posed question in light of postmodern views, Jim discussed narratives in light of the culturally favored meta-narrative.
Narratives are what?
Stories. Or what is better described as a construct of oral or written words, also includes visual images, that describe a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. A story or narrative recounts something to its audience.
A meta-narrative is an abstract idea that is supposed to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. Well, that is at least what the Wikipedia says. The prefix meta means “beyond” and is here used to mean “about”, and a narrative is a story. Therefore, a meta-narrative is a story about a story, encompassing and explaining other ‘little stories’ within totalizing schemes.
A problem with the mainstream evangelical church is that not enough attention is given to the stories found within the gospels. Much time and exposition is spent on the epistles which are grounded by the gospels and in an understanding of the Old Testament. Much of the impact of the gospel can be diminished by not thoroughly teaching the narratives found within the gospel.
The Emergent church has done a good job recognizing this lapse and uses the stories to reach its masses. Many of the narratives taught within the post-modern church are “free-falling” and not grounded in context like the New Testament epistles are.
Narratives have reciprocal relationships. There are common terms, themes, ideas, and thoughts throughout the entirety of scripture. There is a woven thread of continuity throughout scripture. Therefore, the Old Testament and the New Testament are a vast commentary on itself.
So, the question posed is this:
Can we discover a consistent framework for interpreting the Bible by studying the texts of scripture that comment or apply to other texts of scripture?
Scripture must be consulted to determine this.
Elements of a narrative:
This means that the text was not written to mean what the reader wants it to mean, whether a particular dogma or creed is being imposed, or whether a a personal preference is being imposed. The author actually had intent that could be understood.
There are different biblical narratives. The gospels and Old Testament are filled with them.
Old Testament narrative has a particular technique. For instance, there is the “God who speaks.” He spoke to Abraham and promised to bless the nations though Abe. There is also, “the God who acts.” Throughout the Old Testament narratives, sequential acts and events tell of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness.
Jim presented a passage and used the following elements to interpret the Exodus motif.
- Theological location of the text:
Exodus 2:24
God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
- Explicit purpose of the text:
Exodus 3:8
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
- Theme of redemption – God nutures those he loves.
Meaning or the theology of the text:
The Song of Moses – Exodus 15
- Theme of political bondage
The Passover – Exodus 12
- Theme of spiritual bondage
So is this the end of the story? No
This theme repeats in Joshua and again in the prophets:
Jim expounded:
In the exodus motif, the pattern of salvation emphasizes a paradigm in whose image all future restorations of the nation are to be manifested and agreement between the first and succeeding redemptions is the issue for each generation for Israel. They looked to the first exodus as the archetypical expression of their own future hope. Michael Fishbane, Text and Texture
A prophecy about Egypt – Isaiah 19
Such a transfer of designation used poignantly of Israel in the exodus weighed heavily on Jewish translators. Unable to tolerate such theological paradox, the Septuagint and Targum traditions renationalized the texts and substituted Israel for Egypt and Assyria. Michael Fishbane, Text and Texture
Exodus in the Gospels:
Matthew 2 – 7
- Jesus, the true Son of God, represents the nation and its purpose – pleroo.
Exodus in the epistles:
Ephesians 1:3 – 14
1 Peter 2:4-10
- The on going purpose for God’s people
Application of Exodus:
- The way of biblical faith:
- This means to remember the past in light of the future. It is the idea of living between two certainties. Ask, “What has God done?” and “What will God do?”
- Allegory, inspiring story, or one continuous program?
How, or in what sense, were they written for us?
- What did Moses mean, “What feeds my hunger is what God says.”
Exodus 16:18
And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.
Deuteronomy 3:8
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
- Where is Jesus in this text?
Deuteronomy 32:37
He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,
Psalms 78
Exodus 13 – 14
Exodus 23:20
“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Conclusions:
- An intentional and repeated framework exists for narrative interpretation.
- Narratives are deeply theological, informing didactic parts of the Bible.
- We are all constrained by scripture for how we read scripture.
- Thus, texts do indeed comment upon other scriptural texts!
Therefore, in contending with the postmodern meta-narratives, we must be able to accurately interpret biblical narratives in light of the scriptural text and not from our creeds or dogmas or even personal preference. There is a framework, an author’s intent, and thematic continuity which must be followed if we are to understand and communicate the complete counsel of God.
Well, that about covers what I was able to quickly glean from Leffel’s amazingly, to coin a Kalie-ism, “hermeneutically rigorous” session. I must confess that I did have trouble completely attending to every word as I was “brain tired” and under rested. I think I even dozed off for a moment.
I can’t wait to get his session either by mp3 or CD. I just know I missed some important facts. If anyone took more comprehensive notes, please comment. I’d love to hear what you learned.
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