I received an e-mail that contained a list of “Principles of Biblical Interpretation for the 21st Century. While I didn’t agree with all of them, the first five were sadly accurate:
- Scripture is full of paradoxes and apparent contradictions that cannot be explained, reconciled, harmonized, or systematized by the finite, human mind [and I add, it is considered backwards, ignorant, or “traditionalist,” to seek to explain or harmonize such things].
- Apparently contradictory statements in Scripture must each be given equal weight and authority in interpretation [even if their contexts are completely different, see #3].
- Each passage of Scripture stands alone and must be interpreted by itself.
- There are no passages of Scripture that speak more clearly than other passages. Each passage is equally clear. Each passage is equally unclear.
- The true and full sense of Scripture is manifold, limited only by the number of apparently contradictory passages a reader can find.
Those who seek to promote God’s truth at this time when post-modernism has infected the very core of Evangelicalism, well know the truth, and destructiveness, of the above propositions.
