1. Free to Change
2. Freedom and Responsibility
3. My Kind of People
4. "Come Out And Be Separate"
5. Private Intepretation
6. A "Monkey-Wrench" Scripture
7. The Truth That Frees
8. Literary Devices
9. Fear of God
10. A Love Story
11. The Three Trees In Eden
12. Imputed Righteousness
13. Different Essentials For Different People
14. God's Sons In All Ages
15. Looking To Lust
16. Divorce Her!
17. "While Her Husband Is Alive"
18. "They Won't Let Me Preach!"
19. God's Perplexing Prophets
20. Religous Titles
21. Who Sinned?
22. "I'll Join Your Church"
23. The Church As The Route To Heaven
24. One Hundred Years Old
25. Can Our Churches Unite?
26. Can The Cause Of Sickness Be The Cure?
27. When Life Begins
28. Abortion: Law Or Principle?
29. Human Chattel
30. The Hope of Israel
31. The Great Temptation of Jesus
32. The Rich Man And Lazarus
33. My Hermeneutic
34. Is Immersion Proved By Example?
35. Who Gets The Credit?
36. Hook's Points
37. Heresy
38. I Am A Debtor

Other Books at Freedom's Ring

The radio preacher assured us that the speakers on his program would give us only the simple Bible message without any interpretation. They would just teach the Scriptures without giving us a private interpretation. That sounds great, doesn't it?

Every English version of the Bible is an interpretation of God's message delivered originally in the ancient languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The translations are interpretations made by uninspired men.

The message of the Bible is conveyed through symbols which must be interpreted to be of value. First, letters of our alphabet are symbols which make up words which are more complex symbols. The illiterate person does not know what letters and words symbolize; hence, he cannot understand a written message. If one cannot interpret the symbols, that person cannot gain the message.

When a person reads the Scriptures aloud to others, that person is interpreting the character symbols into words which symbolize meanings, ideas, and concepts. If a person hears those words ever so clearly but does not know their meaning, he or she has not profited. There must be an interpretation in order to bring understanding. If the speaker reads the words that produce no understanding, he is wasting his time.

Many speakers have denounced persons who would attempt to interpret the Scriptures. Yet, those speakers never confine their activity to the simple reading of the Bible. They always offer comments. Those comments are an effort to enable the hearer to understand. That is interpreting the Scriptures!

This aversion to interpreting the Scriptures comes from a misunderstanding (misinterpretation!) of 2 Peter l:20f where Peter declares, "First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." In this setting, Peter is assuring us that we do not follow cleverly devised myths when we accept the account of the eyewitnesses of his majesty or the messages revealed to prophets of the Lord. Those prophets did not depend upon their own interpretation of events which they witnessed or put their own construction on the messages revealed to them. They received revelations of truth from God being moved by the Holy Spirit. None of us receive such revelations today.

So, we have the prophetic word made more sure. But we still must understand what those prophets wrote for it to benefit us. That understanding can come only through our interpreting the words which they left us.

Even though all of us have the same prophetic word today, all of us do not understand it alike. All of us can welcome explanations from others even as the Ethiopian nobleman did when Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Our reply should be like his, "How can I, unless some one guides me?"

There are two consolations. First, our salvation is not dependent upon a correct interpretation and understanding of all of God's word. Second, even though we may profit from the interpretations of persons more schooled in the Scriptures than we are, we are not obligated to accept their interpretations.