Transcript Interpreting Scripture: The Ethical Teachings of Jesus

Interpreting Scripture:
The Ethical Teachings of
Scripture
Literalist vs Contextualist
 Remember
Grade 9?
 There are 2 ways of
interpreting biblical
text:
– Literally
– Contextually
Literalists
 To
read scripture literally means to
take it word for word.
 Believe it is written in a pure sense, not
to be interpreted
 No hidden meanings
 No reading between the lines
 Literalists will interpret the scriptures
in this manner
The Strength of Language

However, literal interpretations do not always
reveal the true meaning of words and phrases
 In interpreting scripture a person cannot fail to
recognize that different time periods have slang
uses for different words.
Contextualists

Aim to interpret or
understand the deeper
message
 Who is the author and
what life experiences does
he/she bring to the text
 Understanding the history,
culture and society of the
time in which the text was
written
Interpreting Scripture:
The Author

Every biblical writer
painted a portrait of
our relationship with
God based on their
own life experiences.
 Personal interests or
concerns and point of
view can affect how
we see and understand
things
Create a story based on what you
see in this picture.
Caravaggio’s
“Supper at Emmaus”

Notice how Jesus is beardless....this have led some of you
to mistake his identity. Caravaggio does this on purpose in
order to bring you into the story – the two disciples did not
recognize Jesus at first and perhaps neither did you!
 The table lays out a still-life meal. Like the world these
apostles knew, the basket of food teeters perilously over
the edge.
 Caravaggio came from an extremely poor family and spent
his life living among the poor. His paintings come out of
this and he brings Christ into our world living and
preaching among the poor.
Interpreting Scripture

Many scholars agree that taking the gospels
literally is not the best approach
 Jesus lived in a world very different from ours,
yet his words still have a big impact on our time
Take for example:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye,
and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist
an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Interpreting Christ’s
Moral Teachings
 Catholics
interpret Jesus’ teachings on
ethics and morality in 2 main ways:
– In their original context (Exegesis)
– How they impact us today
(Hermeneutics)
EXEGESIS

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!
This was the law of the land during Old testament times. There was no
official judicial system that kept the law, so the people had this mutual
understanding: if someone stole your cow, you had the right to steal their
cow…no more, no less. It was a way of limiting revenge.

When someone slaps you on the right cheek turn
and offer the other cheek also.
Jesus forbid revenge entirely. In His day people would attempt to
punitively reprimand an offender by slapping them on the right cheek with
the back of their hand. (This method is used on people you have no
respect for…i.e. slaves.) If you wanted to teach a lesson to somebody
that you had respect for, then you would slap them on the left cheek with
the palm of your hand. (This method was reserved for people that you
respected and had the same stature as you.)
Exegesis

Studies biblical text in it’s original context

Considers:
– Language used (sometimes there are no words in one
language that can correctly be used to describe
another)
– Historical context (customs, practices)
– Religious Traditions (major festivals)
– Literary Genres (poem, legend, myth)
– Other religions of the time
To fully understand what the authors intended, we need
to understand something about their worlds, their
motivations.

Imagine gr. 12 students 100 years from now were to do a
research paper on the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the WTC.
To do so, they would have to know something about
– the political situation in the world as it was in 2001.
– the different religious groups and movements.
– the different biases of the different sources from which they were
getting information (ie. Conspiracy theorists).


Newspapers from the US, Israel,
Saud Arabia would all cover the
same event from very different
perspectives.
The task of exegesis is to determine why it is important to
understand each source of information within its original
context.
Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is essentially the task of interpretation.
When we interpret something, we do so in relation to
something else.
 Ex. Say those same high-school students in the next
century were doing a research paper on the evolution of
airport security procedures since the dawn of air travel.
They would miss the mark is they failed to recognize the
importance of the Sept 11 terrorist attack as a key factor
leading to changes in airport security.
 September 11 and the ongoing threat of terrorism
become a hermeneutical lens through which we
understand things like airport security.
 The objective is to gain an understanding of the text, but
relate it to the impact it has on the world today
Using the state of the current
Canadian criminal justice system as
your platform perform some
hermeneutics on:
‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not
resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Jesus is essentially trying to tell us that we should love everyone,
even offenders, not to the point that we allow them to walk all
over us (as the traditional understanding of this quote goes) but to
let them know that we, the persecuted, have an inherent dignity
that must be respected…therefore do not punitively reprimand
me….teach me to be a better person. Thus, by turning the other
cheek the persecuted was in effect demanding equality. This is
the purpose behind rehabilitation. Instead of punishing a murderer
by ending his life in the same way he ended an innocent victim’s
life (capital punishment), we should offer them therapy and
education in an attempt to rehabilitate them.
Be-careful! Sometimes
Hermeneutics can be
inappropriately done to fulfill a
hidden agenda!
Many church leaders have been seduced into a
conspiracy of teaching that you should bear with
abuse or your being used by those with power over
you. It has taught that you should 'go the extra mile'
and endure a marriage that is killing your spirit. It has
taught that you should tolerate abuse and 'turn the
other cheek'. As a result, many sinful behaviors have
been ignored if not sanctioned in the service of
avoiding conflict and exposing abuse. Such an
interpretation may have suited the white maledominated world of the past.
Example: The 10
Commandments

The 10 commandments state what God expects of
the people bound by the covenant.
 The 10 commandments only make sense in the
context of the covenant.
 They are not just rules and
commandments on their own.
 They state the type of relationship
to which Israel is privileged.
An adopted people.....

At times this covenant is described using the
language of adoption: Psalm 2 states:
 “You are my son.” Israel is the Lord’s adopted
son. That is why the first commandment directs
Israel to who it is with whom they have entered
into a covenant: “I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of
the Land of Egypt.” It is none
other than your liberator God, the
one that brought you “out of the
land of slavery.”
A Covenant with God and Others

Notice how the first three commandments
deal with our relationship with God. They
contain the words which explain how to
honour and love God.
 The last seven commandments describes
this relationship with God in our relation to
the other. Our relation to others is part of
our worship of God.
 The covenant with God is at the same time a
covenant with our neighbour.
Exegesis and Covenant

To understand how covenants
work, we need to look at their
origins.
 Covenants were treaties
between a sovereign nation and a vassal
nation (a person/group of people) who
have entered into a mutual obligation. The
obligations often included military support
and mutual protection, in exchange for
certain privileges
Covenants Exhibited 5 traits
1. THE PREAMBLE
In the bible treaties begin with the name, the
titles and attributes of the king of the
sovereign nation along with his genealogy.
Exodus 3:13-15
 13 Moses
said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell
them?”
 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what
you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The
LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.”
YHWH

Moses was given a new name for God. In
Hebrew the name reads “ehyeh’ asher’
ehjeh. Translated it can be read as
 “I am who I am,”
 “I am who I is,”
 “I am who I shall be”
 “I shall be who I am”

Some have taken God’s refusal to give a
name in the very giving of a name. God
seems to refuse to entrust Self into the
hands of people and yet at the same time
does. Others have understood this name as
a promise: I will show you who I am in my
being with you, or I will be with you
tomorrow as I have been up to now.
2. THE HISTORICAL PROLOGUE
 The Great King then gives a historical
overview that describes the previous
relations between the two contractors. It
recounts the many benefits the sovereign
has bestowed upon the vassal.
 Ex. The sovereign might point out how he
has come to the vassal’s aid when he was
threatened by enemy attack.
Exodus 19:3-4

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD
called to him from the mountain and said,
“This is what you are to say to the
descendants of Jacob and what you are to
tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves
have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I
carried you on eagles’ wings and brought
you to myself.
3. THE SUBMISSION

The submission states what the Great King expects
from the vassal. This submission of often includes a
fundamental declaration on the future relations of the
partners. It consists in a request of loyalty. This
aspect of the submission is expressed frequently by the
formula: “With my friend, be a friend! With my
enemy, be an enemy!”
 Often at this point the
submission details certain
conditions that must be met,
for ex. Taxes to be paid,
prisoners to be released.
Exodus 19:5 & Exodus 23:22
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my
covenant…….,’
5
 22 “If
you listen carefully to what he says
and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to
your enemies and will oppose those who
oppose you.”
4. THE WITNESSES
 In biblical times the
witnesses are the gods
of the two partners, but
also the deified
elements of nature: the
mountains, the rivers,
the sea, the heavens and
the earth.
Exodus:19:9
The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to
come to you in a dense cloud, so that the
people will hear me speaking with you and
will always put their trust in you.” Then
Moses told the
LORD what
the people had
said.
9
5. THE BLESSINGS AND CURSES
 The treaty tells what will happen if the
vassal remains faithful or is unfaithful to the
demands of the treaty.
Exodus 19:5-6

“….then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession. Although the whole
earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
These are the words you are to speak to the
Israelites.”
Hermeneutics
Which is better?

Scripture can not be understood without
a good balance of both Exegesis and
Hermeneutics!
What the “big men” say!
“The primary object of faith is not the
proposition, but the reality (it designates).”
– Thomas Aquinas, “Nature and Grace”
 “The Bible is thus the story of God’s struggle
with human beings to make himself
understandable to them over the course of
time; but it is also the story of their struggle to
seize hold of God over the course of time.”
-Cardinal Ratzinger – Now Pope Benedict XVI

The Church’s Stance

All scripture can be interpreted in 4 ways
–
–
–
–
–
Literal
Allegorical: How it points to Christ
Moral: How it points to us living a good life
Anagogical: How it points us to heavenly reality
In a biblical context, allegorical interpretation is an
approach assuming that the authors of a text (e.g., the
Bible) intended something other than what is literally
expressed.
– That division of the typical sense which includes
blessings to be hoped for, and which refers particularly
to the future life. The rest which the Israelites found in