Proclaimer Blog
A good model
I enjoyed reading John Steven's blog post on smacking the other day here. I link to it not so much because of the point he makes (though I do agree with him). Rather, I want to hold it up as containing some excellent examples of working hard to understand the text. Let me pick out a few:
- John has worked hard to understand some of the Bible verses in their context – both in terms of book (Proverbs) but also (importantly in this case) covenant. That has a significant effect on meaning. He has rightly asked the question, "How does this get changed (if at all) by the cross?"
- He has also sought to understand the meaning of words. In this particular case, that means getting to the bottom (no pun intended!) of what 'beat' means.
- Third, John has compared Scripture with Scripture to understand meaning. Again this is an important principle. Scripture is its own best interpreter and rather than taking one Proverbs verse it needs to be read in the light of other similar injunctions
- Fourth, implicitly, he has avoided framework. In this particular case the framework is to start with the assumption that smacking is right and proper and commanded. If you start with such assumptions, you generally end up reinforcing them. For what it's worth, this, I think, is the reason some US cousins find it so hard to think differently about the issue; because their cultural framework on this issue is so very strong (and before we throw any stones, I'm sure we carry similar baggage).
All Exegesis 101. But, as the example shows, stuff that even the most exalted preachers can forget from time to time. Worth a refresher.