Sola scriptura is not suitable as a hermeneutical key. If it is true that this term was coined in the sixteenth century by the Reformers as a weapon in their battle against Roman Catholics and Anabaptists, then “the weapon of the sola scriptura is incomplete and insufficient as a starting-point for the interpretation of the scriptures.” Thus my predecessor Jakob van Bruggen in 1994 at a conference on the vitality of Reformed theology.1
Almost two decades later, the systematic theologian Maarten Wisse wrote something similar in a Christian newspaper: “Sola scriptura is a polemical tool that in the sixteenth century was deployed against all kinds of human inventions, in order to preserve the exclusive right of the divine Word. The recognition of one’s own position in the interpretation of scripture could hardly have a place in this concept.” Wisse finds this disastrous, because in that case the Bible is used mainly to prove one’s own rightness. He is hoping for a new openness in dealing with the Bible.2
How do you deal with the Bible? You do so not on the basis of ecclesiastical authority or inner light, but rather as an independent interlocutor, within the believing community. And there must also be explicit accountability for your own conscious or subconscious presuppositions when reading and interpreting the Bible.
Thus, sola scriptura is not suitable as an independent hermeneutical key. The purpose of the following essay is to warn against “absolutizing” this doctrine, by thinking that every question can be solved with only the Bible. Sooner or later, this will result in a fundamentalist use of the Bible, which does not take into account the historical context of a particular passage, but treats it as a timeless truth, or which considers scripture as a whole to be a collection of proof-texts.
This essay consists of three sections, corresponding with three aspects that will be discussed. Firstly, I will address the question why a careful hermeneutical approach is important; secondly, I will explore the impact of the search for meaning and significance; and thirdly, I will argue that Christians have to live with the Bible open.
1 A Hermeneutical Approach
What is the function of hermeneutics, regarding the explanation of texts? Generally speaking, there are two extremes:3
According to the classical approach (followed in the Reformed tradition), hermeneutics is reflection on the exegesis. This view can be referred to as minimizing, because it is limited to formulating reading rules for a text. In addition, that text has only one valid meaning, referred to by the author, a meaning that we as contemporary readers try as far as possible to discover. “Hermeneutics is not a magic wand, but reading glasses,” said Van Bruggen with a particularly vivid image.4
According to the postmodern philosophical approach (developed in the twentieth century, and perhaps best known from the Reader-response criticism), hermeneutics is the whole process in which a text from the past gets meaning for the contemporary reader. This reader him/herself gives meaning to a text—regardless of what the author may have intended—and constructs his/her own truth, in much the same way as the ambiguity of a modern painting or an art house movie permits different meanings for the viewers. This philosophical view can be referred to as maximizing, because various meanings can co-exist and the quest for the intention of the author is not crucial.
There is, however, a middle way, one which also transcends these two extremes. In both cases a critical reflection on the process of understanding is needed, explicitly in philosophical hermeneutics and implicitly in classical hermeneutics. The minimizing approach takes too little account of the role of the reader and his/her conscious or unconscious presuppositions. Simple reading glasses are not enough. At the same time hermeneutics should not be separated from exegesis, as with the maximizing approach, because then the text plays no role anymore. A magic wand is no reading aid. That is why I prefer the approach that has been put forward by Anthony Thiselton:
“Hermeneutics explores the conditions and criteria that operate to try to ensure responsible, valid, fruitful, or appropriate interpretation.”5 Hermeneutics should then be regarded as the critical reflection on the entire process of understanding, including exegesis. Exegesis is the craft of text explanation, not as a stand-alone operation but as part of the process of understanding. In this process of understanding, we trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who enlightens our mind and gives us insight in the word of God. Hermeneutics can help us look at the entire process of understanding in a critical way and improve it where necessary. In the end, it is a false dilemma: reading glasses or magic wand. Hermeneutical awareness works rather like multifocal lenses that allow you when reading the Bible to fluently make the connection with the reality around you.
Multifocal glasses or progressive prescription lenses, as they are also known, provide the opportunity not only to see far and near well but also all intermediate distances. With such glasses you do not suffer from an abrupt transition between the reading segment and the other part, as with bifocals. It is precisely this smooth transition that the reader makes consciously or unconsciously, in a continuous interaction between the text and the reality. This does not mean, however, that the range of interpretations is endless. The better we listen to what the text is saying, the sharper the questions we will ask in our situation. Conversely: the more precisely we analyse the situation, the more we will be motivated to listen to scripture. Various examples of this challenging interaction between text and reality could be given here, such as questions about God’s omnipotence in a world full of distress, or concerns about the next generations of humankind and their ecological environment. In so doing, the Bible as Word of God has the primacy, but reading the Bible does not separate us from the reality of the past and the present.
What Bavinck already pointed out is worth remembering: general revelation (namely the reality of God) is the necessary sounding board for special revelation (that is, the word of God).6 So, both scripture and reality are given as means to find our way. Of course, scripture is authoritative, while reality is not. But what do we mean exactly with the authority of scripture? It is the authority of the speaking God himself, who acts in this world and whose intention is to save people.7 Scripture provides access to another reality, the Kingdom of God. The sola scriptura may not lead to such unscriptural absolutizing of scripture that the living God is moved away.
2 The Search for Meaning
The fact that we are or become conscious of the specific manner in which we read the Bible is described in technical terms as ‘hermeneutical awareness’. Reflection on the search for meaning has always been taking place, also in the case of the Bible. Previously, however, that happened less explicitly, particularly with regard to the reader’s own perspective. At the present time, the process of coming to an understanding of meaning itself is being examined and described.
A composite diagram can show, in a perhaps oversimplified schematic form, what happens when Christians read the Bible.
With ‘text’ I mean a larger or smaller Bible passage, which functions within the whole of scripture. The small triangle indicates this text in its original context, with the first readers as the primary target group (meaning); the big triangle still has the same text at the center, but in another cultural-historical situation. Now we are the readers and the text functions also in our context (significance). I use the word ‘context’ as an overall designation for the various surrounding areas of the text.
There are many examples of such larger triangles, such as Germany in the time of Luther, the Netherlands in 1950, or Kenya today.
Essential is the order of the triangles. The text must be analysed within the smaller triangle first, before coming to its function in the larger triangle. It is important, therefore, to make a distinction between the two. Sometimes, the reader may allow the two triangles to coincide; to do so could lead to errors in two different directions. The first error is to apply the smaller triangle (the meaning of the text in its original context) directly to our situation; the second error is to begin with the larger triangle (the significance of the text in our context) and to interpret this back to the earlier situation.8 What the triangles together aim to show is how the reading of a text develops during the passage of time, opening new dimensons.
3 Living with the Bible Open
The process of understanding is not just concerned with a relationship between text and reader. Bible readers are given insight into another reality: the significant world behind the text, the world of God’s acting in redemptive history and of his Kingdom. For our hermeneutical awareness it is important to bear in mind that we are dealing with three interconnected areas: the Bible, the reality of God’s acting, and also the reality in which we live.9
How can we in a responsible way deal with the Bible today? Let us begin with ourselves. ‘Every heretic finds a proof-text’, as the saying goes, and you can intentionally twist the scriptures, so as to give an incorrect meaning to them (2 Pet. 3: 16). The faithful reader of the Bible, however, will behave as a disciple. We do not create a private interpretation (2 Pet. 1: 20); we listen to the Bible and try to reproduce the message that we are hearing. Kevin Vanhoozer remarks rightly that reproducing a meaning that, in some sense, is already there, has to be distinguished from producing a meaning. He compares the Bible reader with someone who finds him/herself at a well. “The reader at the well, in order to be nourished, must draw from and drink of the text. To “drink” here means to accept and to appropriate.” It is the responsibility of the reader to receive the text according to its nature and intention. This requires competent readers, who are able to reproduce, in Vanhoozer’s words, a ‘creative echo to the text.’10
This way of dealing with scripture requires readers who are genuine disciples. A helpful metaphor was introduced in 1991 by N.T. Wright. Suppose there exists a Shakespeare play of which the fifth act has been lost almost completely. Only four acts are known, together with the first scene of the fifth, which gives hints of how the play is supposed to end. How could the actors play the whole drama, without a complete script for the final part? When they are familiar with Shakespeare, they are able to improvise, but they are not free to produce their own text. The best they can do is “[to enter] into the story as it stood, in order first to understand how the threads could appropriately be drawn together, and then to put that understanding into effect by speaking and acting with both innovation and consistency.”11
Let us consider for a moment the holy scripture as a holy script, taking into account the redemptive-historical perspective. It tells the great story of God, who is both the author and the main actor. As Bible readers, we are involved in his story. The four known acts progress (simply put) from Creation through Israel to Jesus. Act Five contains the whole period to the Eschaton, but from the New Testament we know only the first scene and we have a visionary description of the rest, namely the book of Revelation. The text of scripture is complete, and finished, while the story-line continues. So we find ourselves within the scope of the Bible, although the canon has been closed. Our performance has to be faithful to the previous acts. You have to play your role in line with the entire story and together with the other actors. In this way, acting with innovation and consistency, Christians of the 21st century are able to deal with scripture.
Bible reading is somewhat of a dialogue: talking, listening, answering.12 We have to remember that the scriptures originated and functioned in an oral culture. God has both the first and the last word. He appeals to us and as believers we respond to what he says. This dialogue should take place within a personal relationship. Without faith we are left with a lifeless book; the Bible has nothing to say anymore. But because it is God who speaks to us by means of his written Word, the dynamic interaction between the triune God and the believer will drench the hermeneutical process. To clarify this, a circle may be drawn around the previously shown diagram with triangles. This circle illustrates that we find ourselves with the Bible within the force field (or sphere of influence) of the holy Spirit:
Such an attitude towards reading and living the Bible will take into account the following five items, stated briefly:
As members of the New Testament church, believers have received the Holy Spirit, who will make them wise step by step with the Bible.13 Wisdom is a creational gift, which already in the Bible tries to push human life in the right direction.
For God, not so much the external behaviour as the inner disposition is important: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16: 7); we may live with the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ (Phil. 2: 5). In doing so, we are led by the—purified—conscience of a Christian who is reborn in the Spirit (Rom. 12: 1–2; 14: 5b).
As followers of Christ we practice Christian virtues, with the coming of his Kingdom in view. This is known as the biblical motif of the imitation of Christ. Tom Wright stresses the need to develop Christian characters, equipped with a better understanding by the renewal of their thinking.14
As a community of believers, we have to grow in ‘contextual sensitivity’15 and to take into account the reaction of outsiders, which was for the apostle Paul one of the most important driving forces in his missionary work.16
Christians will form in the worldwide church, “together with all saints”, a scriptural community around the Bible (Eph. 3: 18).17
Thus, the Bible has to be the spiritual property of Christian believers, carefully carried in their hearts. We seek fellowship with God in his Word, by maintaining a personal relationship of faith with him and his Son Jesus Christ, as living members of a congregation that is finding her way with the light of the Bible and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then, in our search for meaning, God will come to us, in order to give significance to the texts and through these texts to our lives.
Bibliography
Bartholomew, Craig C. & Michael W. Goheen. The Drama of Scripture. Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.
Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003.
Berkeley Mickelsen, A. Interpreting the Bible. A Book of Basic Principles for Understanding the Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977 7.
Bowald, Mark Alan. Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics. Mapping Divine and Human Agency. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
Bruggen, Jakob van. “Bijbel en leesbril. Over hermeneutiek,” Radix 5 (1979): 117–143.
Bruggen, Jakob van. Het lezen van de bijbel. Een inleiding (Kampen: Kok, 1981).
Bruggen, Jakob van. “The Authority of Scripture as a Presupposition in Reformed Theology,” in: The Vitality of Reformed Theology. Proceedings of the International Theological Congress June 20–24th 1994 Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, eds. J.M. Batteau et al. Kampen: Kok, 1994, 63–83.
De Bruijne, A.L.Th. “Appreciate the wisdom of the Bible!,” Lux Mundi 29.4 (2010): 100–103.
Du Toit, Andrie B. “Sensitivity towards the reaction of outsiders as ethical motivation in early Christian paraenesis,” hts Theological Studies 68.1 (2012): 1–7. Accessed August 29, 2017. doi: 10.4102/hts.v68i1.1212.
Green, Joel B. “The Practice of Reading the New Testament,” in: Hearing the New Testament. Strategies for Interpretation, ed. Joel B. Green. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995, 411–427.
Noordegraaf, A. Leesbril of toverstaf. Over het verstaan en vertolken van de Bijbel. Kampen: Kok Voorhoeve, 1991.
Thiselton, Anthony C. New Horizons in Hermeneutics. The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading. London: HarperCollins, 1992.
Thiselton, Anthony C. Hermeneutics. An Introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. The Drama of Doctrine. A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “The Reader in New Testament Interpretation,” in: Hearing the New Testament. Strategies for Interpretation, ed. Joel B. Green. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010 2, 259–288.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. Remythologizing Theology. Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship. Cambridge: University Press, 2010.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “Scripture and Hermeneutics,” in: The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, ed. Gerald R. McDermott. Oxford: University Press, 2010, 35–51.
Wells, Samuel. Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004.
Wisse, Maarten. “Zoek nieuwe omgang met Bijbel,” Nederlands Dagblad 13 september 2013.
Wright, N.T. “How can the Bible be authoritative?,” Vox Evangelica 21 (1991): 7–31. Accessed August 29, 2017. http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm.
Wright, N.T. After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.
Wright, N.T. Scripture and the Authority of God. How to Read the Bible Today. Revised and expanded edition of The Last Word; New York: HarperOne, 2011.
Zwiep, Arie. Tussen tekst en lezer. Een historische inleiding in de bijbelse hermeneutiek i–II, Amsterdam: vu University Press, 2009/2013.
J. van Bruggen, “The Authority of Scripture as a Presupposition in Reformed Theology,” in: J.M. Batteau e.a. (eds.), The Vitality of Reformed Theology. Proceedings of the International Theological Congress June 20–24th 1994 Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands (Kampen: Kok, 1994), 63–83 [84].
Maarten Wisse, “Zoek nieuwe omgang met Bijbel,” Nederlands Dagblad 13 september 2013.
For a more detailed overview of different hermeneutical positions, see Anthony Thiselton, New Horizons in Hermeneutics. The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading (London: HarperCollins, 1992).
Jakob van Bruggen, Het lezen van de bijbel. Een inleiding (Kampen: Kok, 1981), 19. Cf. his article “Bijbel en leesbril. Over hermeneutiek,” Radix 5 (1979), 117–143. A. Noordegraaf used this motto ten years later as title for his booklet on biblical hermeneutics: Leesbril of toverstaf. Over het verstaan en vertolken van de Bijbel (Kampen: Kok Voorhoeve, 1991). See also A. Berkeley Mickelsen, Interpreting the Bible. A Book of Basic Principles for Understanding the Scriptures (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963, 7th printing 1977): the task of interpreting the Bible is to discover the author’s meaning and to transmit that meaning to modern readers.
Anthony C. Thiselton, Hermeneutics. An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 4.
Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1 (John Bolt, editor & John Vriend, translator; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), chapter 10–12 [301–385]. The reformed tradition has always emphasized that, without general revelation, special revelation loses its connectedness with the whole cosmic existence and life. Furthermore, obedience to the Scriptures is not an aim in itself; it is reacting to the God who reveals himself.
N.T. Wright, “How can the Bible be authoritative?,” Vox Evangelica 21 (1991), 7–31, Accessed August 29, 2017, http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm.
More on the reading of the Bible throughout the ages can be found in: Arie Zwiep, Tussen tekst en lezer. Een historische inleiding in de bijbelse hermeneutiek i-II (Amsterdam: vu University Press, 2009 and 2013).
Mark Alan Bowald, Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics. Mapping Divine and Human Agency (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), chapter 2.
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, “The Reader in New Testament Interpretation,” in: Joel B. Green (ed.), Hearing the New Testament. Strategies for Interpretation (Second Edition; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 259–288 [283].
Wright, “How can the Bible be authoritative?”; N.T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God. How to Read the Bible Today (revised and expanded edition of The Last Word; New York: HarperOne, 2011). Cf. Craig C. Bartholomew & Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture. Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004); Samuel Wells, Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004); Kevin J. Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine. A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005). Vanhoozer correctly adds to this metaphor the element that you do not choose your own role; your role—the theologically correct term is: calling, or vocation—is defined by your identity in Christ. Such role definitions are most appropriately understood within a vital Christian community (363–369).
“God authorially interacts with human beings in dialogical fashion,” concludes Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Remythologizing Theology. Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship (Cambridge: University Press, 2010), at the end of chapter 6 [337].
A.L.Th. De Bruijne, “Appreciate the wisdom of the Bible!,” Lux Mundi 29.4 (2010), 100–103.
N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters (New York: HarperCollins, 2010).
Vanhoozer, “Scripture and Hermeneutics,” in: Gerald R. McDermott (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology (Oxford: University Press, 2010), 35–51 [47].
Andrie B. Du Toit, “Sensitivity Towards the Reaction of Outsiders as Ethical Motivation in Early Christian Paraenesis,” hts Theological Studies 68.1 (2012), 1–7, Accessed August 29, 2017, doi: 10.4102/hts.v68i1.1212.
On cross cultural Bible reading, see: Green, “The Practice of Reading the New Testament,” in: Joel B. Green (ed.), Hearing the New Testament. Strategies for Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 411–427 [424–427].