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Suggestions for Making Sense of the Epistles

The Basic Rule of Hermeneutics for the Epistles

A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its author or readers. This is why exegesis must always come first.

The Second Rule

Whenever we share comparable particulars (i.e., similar specific life situations) with the first-century hearers, God’s word to us is the same as his word to them.

The great caution here is that we do our exegesis well so that we have confidence that our situations and particulars are genuinely comparable to theirs. This is why the careful reconstruction of their problem is so important. For example, it is significant for our hermeneutics to note that the lawsuit in 1 Corinthians 6:1 – 11 was between two Christian brothers before a pagan judge out in the open marketplace in Corinth. We would argue that the point of the text does not change if the judge happens to be a Christian or because the trial takes place in a courthouse. The wrong is for two brothers to go to law outside the church, instead of handling things internally, as Paul’s own rhetoric (vv. 6 – 11) makes perfectly clear. On the other hand, one could rightly ask whether this would still apply to a Christian suing a corporation in modern-day America, for in this case not all the particulars would remain the same — although one’s decision should surely take Paul’s appeal to the non-retaliation ethic of Jesus (v. 7) into account.

These are some of our hermeneutical suggestions for reading and interpreting the Epistles. Our immediate aim is for greater precision and consistency; our larger aim is to call us all to greater obedience to what we do hear and understand — and to an openness and charity toward others when they differ with us. Perhaps if we were truly to do so, the world might pay more attention to our Savior.

What should we do about especially challenging "problem passages"? Let's explore this in the next email.