Reality Check 101

Interpretation: Summary of Principles

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Remember “Occam’s Razor”: All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.

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THE FIRST RULE OF INTERPRETATION

Commit No Historical or Cultural Blunders

Discover the author, the people addressed, and the life and times of the people involved in a given case.

THE SECOND RULE OF INTERPRETATION

Follow Customary Usages of Language

Discover the facts and the truths presented in a given passage and note the exact wording of the text.

THE GOLDEN RULE OF INTERPRETATION

When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate otherwise.

THE LAW OF FIRST MENTION

The principle requires one to go to that portion of the Scriptures where a doctrine is mentioned for the first time and to study the first occurrence of the same in order to get the fundamental inherent meaning of that doctrine.

THE LAW OF DOUBLE REFERENCE

When the prophet went beyond his own day and was describing a second different scene, only then is the law of double reference or a manifold fulfillment of prophecy used. Never interpret a passage as an illustration of double reference unless there are facts that show positively that the speaker ceased to talk about the thing immediately before him and began to describe something in the future. The facts of the context alone are to guide.

THE LAW OF RECURRENCE

The Lord understands human psychology and knows that a thing must be repeated time and time again, each new time with added detail in order to make the proper impression upon the human mind.

PARONOMASIA OR A PLAY ON WORDS

Paronomasia consists of our laying down beside one word or idea that has been used– a similar one with a little variation or change. The point or force of the word or idea thus employed is contingent upon our understanding of the word or idea upon which it is a pun.

THE LAW OF THE CONTEXT OF QUOTATIONS

Study both the original context and the one into which the quotation is transplanted, in order to get the full scriptural picture of a given prediction.

THE LAW OF COMPARING SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

Examine carefully the testimony of each of the biblical writers on the subject to be investigated. The testimony of each passage must be related properly to the theme in hand in order that a clear picture may be presented by all of those giving their testimony. Should there appear to be, on the surface, a contradiction, let us conclude that the discrepancy is only apparent and not real. Any such variance is to be accounted for upon the basis of our lack of knowledge or comprehension. We must be certain that the passages under consideration are indeed talking of the same things, persons, or events.

SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE

A passage is not symbolic unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.

Seek Figurative Meaning Only When Facts Demand Such an Interpretation. If a person can take a plain passage of Scripture, close his eyes to its real meaning, and read into it a figurative or symbolic meaning, he will be forced to do the same thing with related passages–if he is logical. In doing this, he is forced to reconstruct large sections of the Scripture and to impose upon them a meaning foreign to that of the original writer. When one has once adopted this method, one has no place to stop.