Featured Blog – Luke Morrison
“Biblical interpretation is a discipline that all Christians perform, even if they do not realize it. Every time a person reads a work, whether this work is a newspaper, novel, or ingredient list, interpretation occurs. Interpretation is needed because words convey meaning when connected with other words. That means words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs, and paragraphs form chapters, which become books. Every author wrote those words, sentences, paragraphs, and books for a reason. Since each author wrote with a meaning attached to each word, sentence, and paragraph, it behooves readers to seek to understand what the author wrote.
Interpretation involves reading those words and discovering the author’s meaning without forcing a belief onto the text because no one wants their writings or sayings taken out of context. Therefore, interpretation becomes critical in everyday life. If interpretation becomes critical in everyday life, it seems that it would be just as critical, if not more critical, in the life of the Christian who strives to read and understand Scripture. The truth of this statement leads to the question this paper seeks to answer: What is the role and function of the original author’s intended meaning in communicating the Scripture’s message to a contemporary audience?
This paper will answer this question by establishing what Scripture is, how Scripture came about, and how human language fits into how God speaks. Next, the paper examines how an interpreter best finds the author’s intended meaning by reviewing interpretive methods, learning that all have presuppositions, that each genre of Scripture is different, and then looking at why Scripture is the best way to interpret Scripture. The paper will then end with a brief examination of the impact of the intended meaning on the contemporary audience. By researching this topic this way, this paper will defend the thesis that Scripture loses its authority and power on the reader to draw, change, and lead them to a new life of faith and authentic Christlike action when the original author’s intended meaning is not discovered or rejected for a new and better meaning.”
