Michigan Camp Meeting 2018: As a Witness, Matthew 24:14

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Hermeneutics - Why it's Important how we Interpret the Bible

Daniel Scarone

Hermeneutics - Why it’s Important how we Interpret the Bible - Part 1

Father in heaven, thank you for your blessings.

Thank you for this meeting and please be with us in this presentation regarding the topic of interpretation of your Word.

Let me share with you something probably those who were with me a couple of years ago when I did this presentation before I were dealing with because last year with when we were doing the presentation with Eric Del Valle on the pistol to the Corinthians, we shared this study.

And you can get it online, by the way, but it's good to have that.

And I recommend strongly that if you have the chance, you share that with your churches.

Because, let me tell you a little bit about the background of the story of this, or my story with this document.

During the 80s, I was in the South American Division, and I was working with Buenos Aires Publishing House, and I was in charge of Ministerio del Dentista, that is Ministry Magazine in Spanish.

And Ministry Magazine in Spanish is a kind of effort from the 2 divisions, Inter-American Division and South American Division, regarding probably the general topics of ministry magazine in English for the pastors of the church, mixed with some kind of local writings coming from or Inter-American Division or South American Division that is a little bit more complex in certain sense because we do have also O Ministerio, that is Ministry Magazine in Portuguese language too.

So This document came across to the division in Rio de Janeiro, that is Brazil, and you are going to find out at the end that this is a document, official document of the charge, from 1986.

However, in the time I was there, I never, never, never, never get across to this document until I left.

And I came to the Inter-American Division to work with Colombia and after that Costa Rica.

And for my surprise, well, let me give you a glimpse of the 80s in those days.

Those days we were working with telex, I don't know if you remember those instruments, telex, in which in the companies you were communicating with another company across the world through a telex.

A telex was a machine in which you type a short message and you are going to start typing in the other face of the world, Revianjera, Pacific Press, whatever, the message, you know, but for some reason this document didn't reach us.

For some reason also it was not selected to be in the ministry magazine in South America.

And I was a little bit surprised with that.

Let me tell you that this document is 1986.

However, it was translated into Spanish in the year 2000.

So 14 years after that event and a long time after I left Buenos Aires Publishing House.

Let me tell you also that this document is going to help the Church, if you read it carefully with a study, prayer, and so on, and it contains, I will say, the basic elements of a good process of hermeneutics or biblical interpretation.

I'm going to deal with that, according to that.

But I don't know what happened with that, but let me tell you that is what I am saying, and I am very concerned with that.

Because I've been sending—I translated that into Spanish, sent that to BRI, that is Biblical Research, and I recommend to put in an online version together with an Anglo version that, of course, already was online.

So I think that this study will have avoided many problems that we are having as a collateral effect today, if this was already distributed properly on time.

I guess you guys are sorry I am talking about this method of the Bible study.

So read it and share that with the church because that document is a blessing.

You need to enter into BRI, Biblical Research Institute, and you are going to download it, how many copies you want to have in the computer, and it's free.

It's an official document of the Church regarding biblical interpretation.

So what we are going to be dealing with is the topic of hermeneutics.

We have been dealing with what is hermeneutics, what is the word, what is the meaning, what is the relationship with hermeneutic and biblical authority, and what is not biblical authority, by the way.

And of course, here's a section in Spanish I am putting down, so we are going to find out.

So here is the place in which you are going to find out the point in Spanish.

For those who are with Spanish, this is the version, the place in the web to get it down.

The Bible says, Paul talking to Timothy, studying to show thyself a proven to God.

A workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And Ordo Tomeo, from Ordo comes order, and also what is orthodoxy is connected with that word, and probably that is the word that explains in a certain sense the function of the Apostle Paul that was working tents.

And to do or perform a good tent, you need to rightly divide the pieces in the right proportion in order to get balance in the object that you are building up.

And that is the case probably here, but it's a very quite interesting recommendation of the Apostle Paul because today sometimes I am concerned with the tendencies that are appearing in the church.

I don't know what is your perception, But I am going to open my heart as a pastor what I perform when I'm going to preach.

First of all, I'm not going to preach about myself.

I'm not going to try to entertain people.

I am not in favor of the theology of entertainment.

I'm going to the Word, and I'm going to explain the word as far as I understand the word, even in the original language and sometimes checking up with the context of the book and also reviewing LNG White writings and so on, in order to give the audience, that is us, the body of Christ, the best understanding and the best of accomplishing the meaning of the word.

Today, however, I am a little bit concerned about some tendencies that are appearing into the church.

And I guess that we need to get back to this topic.

Dividing right the word is a blessing, it's refreshing, it's a recreation of the truth in our times.

But, but, and I put that in Spanish, in Kirianguanda, Arrico is Kirianguanda, but this is a critical word, by the way, but, because somebody says that but in a word, however, is going to change everything after that.

Somebody says that a judge was visiting Cuba, and the translator was translating everything that the introducer of the speaker was telling about the famous judge visiting Cuba, and the judge talked to the translator and said to him, please stop the translation, don't worry about that.

But after the word pero, but, translate everything.

Because but is going to change, you know, some things in the sentence.

If the word is not rightly divided, then there will be some problems, sometimes heresies, and sometimes consequences and divisions in the people of God.

The word comes from Hermes, and it's a Greek word, and you are going to find out a lot of explanations regarding this.

But let me tell you that what I am going to tell you is my belief, my perception of the topic.

Probably this is more connected with Aristotle than any other thing, because he wrote a treaty called Peri-Hermeneia, And it's about the process of interpretation.

And I'm going to show you that immediately, because hermeneutics today is a discipline that is in the seminaries, and it is written hermeneutics, verbal hermeneutics, and non-verbal hermeneutics, too.

So it is important to take into account that, because it's a very important process of communication.

Aristotle, around 360 before Christ, was the earlier author to work on the topic, and here is the point.

And this is the transliteration, peri-Hermeneias.

Peri means around of hermeneutics, around Hermeneias.

Hermes, by the way, was the by the way, was the god that was the interpreter of Zeus in Greece, pantheon, vision of the gods in those days.

And Aristotle came to explain the topic of the words.

He says that the words appears first here in the mind, in our brain, as symbols of affection of the soul.

And he began to say that a noon signifies the noon by convention.

A verb carries with it the notion of time.

The verb can be past, can be present, can be future, and that is the meaning for Aristotle.

And by the way, this is the function of grammatical historical process of interpretation or hermeneutics.

That is very important to take in count this.

So the sentence is an expression that is part of something that has a meaning for us in our mind.

So every single proposition has a verb, and verb carries the notion of time, past, present, and future.

And please, I am putting this in a very simplistic, I will say, way of explanation because you need to take into account something.

Aristotle probably is the first in writing a systematic treaty regarding hermeneutics.

So sometimes when you read someone that is starting a process off, normally it's not the best explanation or easy way going with the process of interpretation.

So what is the connection with interpretation?

Well, the connection with interpretation is that here in Peri- sorry, in Peri-Hermeneia, you see this is the translation of the Aristotle work in Latin.

Historically, the Greek culture was going to be under the dominion of the Roman.

And of course, Aristotle was very well appreciated by the Romans in those days.

So their works of Aristotle were going to be in Latin, and the process of translation of Peri-Hermeneia was Dei Interpretationis, and from there you are going to get that in English and Spanish and French and several other languages regarding this topic.

I was trying to explain that Hermes in the pantheon of the Greece culture was the interpreter of the will of the higher gods.

So in that culture, that is a pagan culture, was in a certain sense a very interesting topic.

The rabbinical process of interpretation was a little bit different from this, and Aristotle was not, what I would say, a key author for them.

Hermeneutics - Why it’s Important how we Interpret the Bible - Part 2

Father in heaven, thank you very much for the blessings of the day.

Be with us in this moment in which we are going to open the Bible to study some of the topics.

Okay, we are going to continue today with hermeneutics.

Yesterday, we were in this point in which we were talking about 3 elements that are very important in the process of hermeneutics.

That are revelation, inspiration, and illumination.

And that's the reason why we say yesterday that it's important that when we do the process of hermeneutics, that is the process of interpretation of the Bible, the Lord revealed his truth through dreams, by voice, speaking in the minds of the prophet, by visions, and of course the work, it is important to take in count in the process of hermeneutics, the work of the Holy Spirit.

Of course when we are entering into this, you are going to understand that we are on the view of a very conservative process of hermeneutics.

This is not a liberal understanding of the process of hermeneutic in which high criticism is just comparing manuscripts.

And we are going to be talking about these elements probably intermingled in the future of the presentation.

But also, illumination means that when we are praying, the same spirit that guided the holy writers are going to guide us in the process of understanding the scriptures.

And we need to understand what is the flow of the process of hermeneutics.

The text, and I put that in English and Spanish, is guiding through or going to the reader that is the recipient of the process, and that is the right way.

So, it's the text that is guiding you, not you to the text.

What does it mean and why I mention this?

Because nowadays we do have kind of different hermeneutics and I'm going to make or put here in make or put here in which text of the Bible it is culture.

And Sometimes the culture is going to influence in the understanding of the text.

Of course, there are elements in that process, yes.

Because everybody is reading from a different culture, the same text, okay?

But in this process, there is a mediation, And we are going to review something from yesterday.

And of course, sometimes translation is bringing some kind of positions, bias or what I will say other elements that come in from those who are in the mediation process of the translation process.

For example, if I Sometimes it's good to have this with my wife because sometimes she says to me, please take out all these elements coming from South America or this and that.

But it's part of the experience, you know, and sometimes I cannot avoid, but yesterday I put the element coming from RV60, remember, RV60, when I say Shabbat, and they put here day of rest.

So that every time that you read that in that language is going to be fix all people that is resting every single day in the week.

You keep Sabbath, the Bible says day of rest.

But the point is what is in the original.

So this is a tendency in which translators sometimes enter a kind of element that puts in neutral the topic.

And in the moment in which you put the topic in neutral, you are not going forward.

Put that neutral in your car, and you are not going to advance.

So in that kind of situations, translation, today I mentioned, has to be clear in 1 clear to the audience.

But also, in relationship with the text, has to be honest.

An honest translation means that you need to find out the best of the text in the originals to give that meaning into the culture in which you are translating the topic in the text of the Bible.

You said in the footnote they have a phrase, a key something, sabato?

Are you familiar with typos in computers?

OK, typeface normally is 12 when you are writing.

However, if you put that typographical typeface in 6, you are going to be very difficult to read it.

So they put in something between 6 and 8.

Here, it's equivalent to sabado or sabat.

And it's very tiny and in the bottom, but not in the text.

So the people is reading, when you are reading the Bible, you are reading, and here is the point, you are reading here.

So they put it in a very little tiny things.

And they, you know, they save their face upon that, but the question is, what you are doing that?

Why don't, if that is equivalent to Sabbath, under, why don't you put it in the text?

And of course, that is part of the problem.

So Sometimes there are some questions coming for translation.

Our friend is here, so I'm going to enter in a quick review about the topic we were discussing yesterday, and let me put, okay, this is a point in which yesterday we were discussing in class.

The point is, and it has to do with translation.

And you brought the question, so the point is that when in Second Timothy, the King James Version, and you know, it's a very honored version in English and by the way it's a very good version in general very very good so it's so good that some people think that King James Version is first of the originals so first comes for some people King James Version, and after the originals.

And the Bible says here, study to you thyself approved.

And my friend here says, well, the original doesn't say study.

The point is how we can go to disclose the topic.

I'm going to share with you some of the methodologies that are involved here.

Hasten is the critical word with which start the original.

When you go, put all the orders of the words, and this is the transliteration.

This is in Greek, and this is in English, and This is in the code, by the way.

All this, when the computers are tagged, they tag by number.

So what the computer made is to put, what I will say, a code number for each word.

So you are going to have the word in just for example, if God is number 1, you are going to have Elohim and the equivalent of that in the Septuagint and the equivalent to that in the Greek New Testament.

I'm just explaining the process of these codes, but it is good as a good exercise if you have a kind of evaluation and you are going to see all the words in order.

So you are going to put then, Spoudason, Hasten, Seauton.

It's this 1, Seauton, yourself, document approved.

Paratestai, to introduce yourself, to present, to stand by, is another option.

To Theo, to God, as Ergaton, Ergaton here, Walkman, and probably, and yesterday, I was emphasizing, if you remember, I was emphasizing here when she says, the Bible didn't say study.

So it is good sometimes then to go to the original and also to do the exercise to put other versions.

And when she said that, I began to review in my mind how it says in Spanish.

And in the moment in which I did that, I remembered that in Spanish didn't say, study, because the version in Spanish say, procura con diligencia, fasten yourself to do something.

However, don't think that you need to go to Spanish.

I do because I know the version in Spanish, but if I have to check something, I am going to go to the Greek in the New Testament, Hebrew in the Old Testament.

Hermeneutics - Why it’s Important how we Interpret the Bible - Part 3

Father in Heaven, thank you for your blessings of the day.

Thank you for the moments in which we were enjoying this meeting in the seminars and the blessings of the teachings and learning process.

Be with us as we prepare ourselves to share things with our family, church, and also to build up our minds regarding your Word.

If I put the tape and thing, the microphone and the connection.

Yes, I am fully wired in this moment, so don't disclose anything secret because it's going to be revealed and sealed for cheap.

Okay, we are reconstructing what I've been calling the hermeneutical circle in the process.

Because we are growing in every moment, and there are disciplines that we need to attach in the process of amniotics.

I am beginning to work in a manuscript, by the way.

And let me tell you that there are certain other things that probably in the future I have to include in this because there is a lot of elements and some elements are coming from history, like archaeology and those kind of things that we need to attach in the process because it is important.

And Archaeo-Mneutics is growing because it's taking elements coming from these new research elements appearing in new archaeological things.

Every time that they are digging something and appears something else, it's going to put new information regarding those things.

But so far, so far, as I said before, when we compare the process with other situations in other religions, and yesterday we were finishing probably the presentation comparing the biblical hermeneutics with the case of, for example, the Islam and the Book of Mormon and so on, we do have a strong, strong basis for interpretation based upon history and geography and all those elements are helping us in the process of interpretation.

Because when you say Belem, you go to Belem, still Belem exists.

If you say Nazareth, Nazareth exists, still exists.

And Jericho, and when you are comparing elements to elements, you are going to see that the Bible is shining because there are elements in history, in geography, that still are there.

Yesterday we were talking about, we were starting this in the process of our relationship with the Bible.

And my recommendation is to work with the author.

The relationship of the author with the book is powerful.

Sean and Matthew, New Testament guys, gospel writers, very different 1 of the other.

Different backgrounds, different elements, different cultures involved with them.

And 1 was a publican, and the other was a descendant of fishers, probably in the same line of profession.

And you are going to see that in the sub-product in which the inspiration works with them.

So let me tell you that I respect everybody, and I learned to respect everybody because in the Bible you are going to find out that there is not a PhD that is writing this book or this other or this other.

And there are especially learned people and people, very common people, that are people from the crowd, by the way.

Is he inspired and I have to respect him?

Of course, because the Lord used all of them equally.

And that is the beauty of the Bible, because in a certain sense, that is the charge, too.

I regret sometimes with people that having certain degree beliefs is superior of other without a degree.

I am trying to put, when I do a presentation, I put only my name.

Right at the foot of the cross, the ground is leveled.

Everybody is a candidate for the kingdom of heaven.

So from that point, we need to see us and each other, and we are going to gain a lot of experience in doing that process, because we are co-learning.

Let me tell you that every time that I'm teaching, I am learning too.

So let's go to the process in which we were dealing with.

And I today added something that was not yesterday and is isolated there, but is coming together with the flux of the process.

We need to go to the text and review the context, Because it's important, the text with a context.

Sometimes I like very much textual preaching in the Bible.

Sometimes 1 verse, Sometimes 2, 3, no more than that.

Of course, when you are expanding, it's not a textual sermon.

You know, it's a little bigger because you need more ideas.

But I like very much the textual preaching in the Bible.

And I like very much to know the languages involved, the meaning that is involved, what does it mean.

For example, elements that are in the Bible.

Let's put an example about what we might be able to learn and disclose, especially in the practical sense in the Bible.

And let's go to the beginning of the book of Job.

And let's talk a little – thank you very much, very mucho, gracias.

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