Faithful Interpretation

One of the most important yet often most neglected fields of study in the church is hermeneutics, or the study of the interpretation of literary texts. As Christians, we are focused especially on the proper interpretation of sacred Scripture, for the lack of a sound, consistently applied hermeneutic results in poor interpretations and applications of Scripture. Many people in the church today base their hermeneutics on their feelings or impressions. As an example of this, small-group Bible studies often ask, “What does this verse mean to you?” rather than the more appropriate question, “What does the author of this verse mean?”

Hermeneutics must be based on established principles, not pragmatics or emotions. To that end, the pastors who drafted the Westminster Standards provided the church with the most concise and helpful summary of Scripture and its interpretation ever formulated. Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith is perhaps the most important. It establishes that Scripture is our only infallible rule for faith and practice and provides us with hermeneutical principles rooted in Scripture. In so doing, it gives us the principles that faithful interpreters of Scripture have sought to apply from the very beginning of church history.

Westminster Confession 1.6 states: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” This means that we interpret and apply Scripture based on the words of the text as well as on the inescapable principles and necessary applications of the text. This is one of the most important hermeneutical principles for Christian life and doctrine, and it is precisely how we see Jesus Christ and the biblical authors approaching Scripture. Therefore, the confession also states, “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself, and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly” (1.9). Scripture interprets Scripture using what is explicitly written and what may be properly deduced from Scripture. But we must not neglect the significance of the crucial words “good and necessary.” Otherwise, we will fall into legalism, putting our traditions on the same level as the Word of God. A tradition not based on a good and necessary deduction cannot bind the conscience, but good and necessary deductions are vital for defining and defending the faith once delivered to the saints.