By Gary Ray Branscome
As I have previously mentioned, and feel that I cannot
stress enough, the doctrine that God wants us to teach is what He has said,
not what men think. And, the meaning He wants us to place on His words is the
same meaning that you are placing on my words as you read this, the plain
conversational meaning of the words. That is what Paul was trying to get across
when he said, “Do not go beyond what is written” // “We have not
written anything to you, other than what you read” (1Corinthians 4:6,
2Corinthians
The
plain conversational meaning of the words includes all of the normal figures of
speech that are in everyday use [or were when the Bible was written]. However,
people who attempt to get around what the Bible says by inventing figures of
speech and exotic “poetic” languages unknown to history are condemned by the
words, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine”
(2Timothy 4:3). That being said, I offer the following quotations which reflect
a sound approach to theology.
“|All exegesis, whether it be in general the unfolding of
the sense of Scripture or in particular the explanation of (or rather the
attempt to explain) the more difficult passages of Scripture, is based on the
fact that the entire Christian doctrine is revealed and set forth in Scripture
passages so clear that the learned and the unlearned alike can understand them;
they do not stand in need of “exegesis” for explanation. If Scripture did not
have this quality, it would not be for all Christians, “a lamp unto their feet
and a light unto their path,” nor would all Christians be able to establish the
truth of their faith by Scripture, and in the light of Scripture mark and avoid
false teachers.|” (Dr. Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 1, pages
359-360)
“The Christian
doctrine is not produced by the theologian; all that the Christian theologian
does is that he compiles the doctrinal statements contained in Scripture (in
the text and context), groups them under their proper heads, and arranges these
doctrines in the order of their relationship.” (Dr. Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics,
Vol. 1, pages 51-52)
“Hence a true
Christian exegete must possess the following qualifications: a) He must regard
the whole Bible as the inerrant Word of God; b) he must treat Holy Scripture as
a book which is clear in itself; c) he must conscientiously point out the real
sense of the text; and d) he must be able to refute the erroneous human
opinions which false teachers or misguided orthodox theologians have foisted on
the text.” (John Theodore Mueller, “Christian Dogmatics,” page 139)
“The whole Christian doctrine is revealed in Scripture
passages that need no exegesis, but are an open book alike to the learned and
the unlearned and can be so readily translated that the translator cannot go
wrong unless he has made up his mind to depart from the original.” (Dr. Francis
Pieper, Christian Dogmatics,
Vol. 1, page 347)
“Whoever attempts to shed more light on dark passages
of Scripture than Scripture itself offers in its clear passages is adding to
God’s Word. And whoever obscures clear
passages by bringing in obscure passages is taking away from God’s Word.” (Dr.
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 1, pages 364-365)
“We go astray in our exegesis of Scripture as soon as
we think that the historical background given in Scripture needs to be
supplemented by material from secular history and permit this supplementation
to have a decisive influence on our exegesis.” (Dr. Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics,
Vol. 1, pages 366)
“|Correctly defined, open questions are such questions
as inevitably arise in our study of Scripture doctrines but are not answered by
Scripture at all or at least not clearly. And Scripture enjoins us to let them
remain open questions. If we presume to answer them and ask men to accept our
opinion as divine truth, we would be rejecting those Scripture passages which
forbid us to add anything to God’s Word. Every true theologian must learn not
only to speak, but also to keep silence. He should speak where and as far as
God’s Word speaks; he should hold his tongue where God’s Word is silent. He who
has not learned this art of silence and dares to speak where God’s Word is
silent is condemned by Jeremiah 23:16: “Thus
says the Lord of Hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision out of their own
heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord.”|” (Dr. Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics,
Vol. 1, pages 93-94)
“The
requirements of the divine will should not be altered by man, nor should His
Word be changed to please the carnal heart.” (John Theodore Mueller, “Christian Dogmatics,”
page 395)
A
truly Biblical hermeneutic looks at what the words of Scripture say, not
opinions about what those words might mean or what conclusions should be drawn
from them. In short, the doctrine that God wants us to get from His Word
consists of what His words actually say, not what men think. And, the truth of
what they say is an objective fact that can be verified simply by reading the
verse.
When
the Reformation began, Martin Luther’s confidence was not in himself, or in
shaky interpretations of Scripture, but in the objective truths so plainly
stated in Scripture that they needed no interpretation. Those plainly stated
truths of Scripture are known in Reformation Theology as the seats of
doctrine, and they are the foundation of orthodox Theology. Furthermore,
because Bible doctrine consists of what the Bible says, not what men think, we
can list the seats of doctrine for a particular topic. For example, the
Biblical doctrine of divorce is given in Deut. 24:1, Mal. 2:15-16, Matt.
5:31-32 & 19:7-9, and 1Cor.
The sum total of all the Bible passages
that clearly state a doctrinal truth is known in theology as the “analogy of
faith” (the standard of faith). That standard is the authority by which all
interpretations, conclusions, and opinions of men must be judged (Isaiah
Many
see nothing wrong with brushing aside and explaining away what the Bible says.
Nevertheless, in the eyes of God that is rebellion, and the words, “They
rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the most High,”
// “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and defiance is as iniquity and
idolatry,” condemn it (Psalm 107:11, 1Samuel
SCRIPTURE ALONE