HOW TO INTERPRET & UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE

By Akin Ojumu

Contrary to what some modern-day preachers would like you to believe, the knowledge of God is not a hidden secret known only to a select few. Scripture is God’s gift to the Church. In it, God reveals Himself to us. Everything we need to know about God is revealed in His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

God’s Word is also our spiritual sustenance. Within it are the spiritual nutrients we need to mature in the faith. As we study and understand God’s Word, we are purified and separated unto Him.

1 Peter 2:2

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”

Seeing how important Scripture is to our spiritual well-being, it’s incumbent on the Believer to study it properly and understand it correctly. To derive the benefits from Scripture, we must handle it accurately. And this is the subject of this commentary.

2 Timothy 2:15

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”

Hermeneutics, exegesis, eisegesis, and narcigesis are theological lingos I have become familiar with over the past few years as I seek to enrich my understanding of Scripture. As mouthful as they may sound, these are simply terminologies that describe the methods of interpreting Bible texts.

For the benefit of those who may not be familiar with these words, below are their definitions, courtesy of Grace Theological Seminary and Got Questions.

1) Hermeneutics

Generally, hermeneutics is a branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation. The word most often refers to how to interpret the Bible or other sacred texts from other religions.

There are four major types of biblical hermeneutics that have arisen throughout history, although only the first is widely accepted today amongst evangelical churches.

Literal Interpretation

This approach seeks out the “plain meaning” of a biblical text. This is not to imply that every passage of Scripture should be interpreted literally, but rather the plain meaning be accepted as truth. For instance, when Jesus said the Christians are the light of the world, we don’t believe we are literally a 100-watt light bulb. We do believe that Jesus was telling us plainly that it is our role to showcase the love of God to everyone around us.

Moral Interpretation

Originally practiced by Jews who believed their laws, poems, and historical narratives had multiple layers of meanings, this approach supposes to reveal the ethics behind any text.

Allegorical Interpretation

Closely associated with moral interpretation, this type of hermeneutics viewed the biblical narratives as having a secondary level of meaning. Most often this meant interpreting people and events in the Old Testament as only foreshadowing people and events in the New Testament.

Anagogical Interpretation

Defined as mystical or spiritual, this approach sought to interpret Scripture in view of the life to come. Relying significantly on numerical values of Hebrew letters and words. The focus here was on Messianic prophecies and the study of the last days. Similar to moral and allegorical interpretation, importance was not given to the actual story but to a perceived deeper meaning behind the story.

 

2) Exegesis

Whereas hermeneutics refers to deciding which principles we will use in order to interpret the text, exegesis is the interpretation of a specific Biblical text.

Exegesis is the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of Scripture. Put simply, it is the process of discovering the original and intended meaning of a passage of Scripture.

The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text. To exegete, therefore, is to draw out the meaning from the Bible text being interpreted. Exegesis is critical to understanding Scripture. It’s the most reliable approach to discovering the truth of Scripture.

3) Eisegesis

Opposite of exegesis is eisegesis, which literally means “to lead into.” Eisegetical preaching is when the interpreter injects his own preconceived ideas and opinion into the text, thus ensuring that they find what they are looking for in the text. This often leads to making the text of Scripture say pretty much whatever the preacher wants it to say.

4) Narcigesis

Recently coined by combining the words narcissism (“excessive interest in or admiration of oneself) and eisegesis (interpretation of a text by reading into it one’s own ideas), narcigesis is when one interprets a Bible text by making it all about oneself.

In those early days, when I was just an impressionable wet behind the ears Believer, I idolized and hung onto every word spoken by the God’s Generals and super apostles of the Pentecostal/Charismatic/Word of Faith Movements belief systems like everybody else. Back then, I considered men like Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, K.C. Price, T.D. Jakes, and Creflo Dollar spiritual rockstars.

Shockingly, though, at no time did any of these people, who I erroneously believed were heavyweights of the Christian faith, teach us any of the terms I just described above. In fact, I don’t recall any of these supposedly highly gifted teachers of the Word ever mentioning them at all.

But glory be to God Almighty, who by His grace rescued me from under the influence of these false teachers and heretics of the Pentecostal/Charismatic/Word of Faith Movements. In my quest for a deeper knowledge of His Word, God showed me mercy. He led me to gifted theologians who are theological pure and doctrinally sound.

I’m talking about gifted teachers like John MacArthur, the late R.C. Sproul, Voddie Baucham, Chris Rosebrough, Justin Peters, etc. Through these men, I came to discover the teachings of early Church fathers such as Polycarp of Smyrna, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, and Augustine of Hippo, as well as the champions of the Protestant Reformation like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon.

As a result of what I’ve learned, and still learning, from the teachings of these great theologians, the scales of ignorance are gradually fallen from my eyes, and I’m starting to have a clearer view and more accurate grasp of Scripture.

My prayer for anyone reading this commentary is that they too may discover the same truth as I did so that they are delivered from the clutches of the false teachers of the Pentecostal/Charismatic/Word of Faith Movements.