Thoughts on the End Times [2]: Leading Out Not Reading In
In a theology course my senior year in Bible college we had to write a paper “exegetically defending the pre-tribulation rapture.” I just threw a lot of technical theological jargon at you that requires explanation.
“Exegesis” (i.e. exegetically defending something) is from two Greek words – ex (out of) and ago (to lead). When you ‘exegete’, you are “leading the meaning out” of the text.
The opposite of exegesis is eisegesis – from eis (into) and ago (to lead) – reading your own ideas into the text.
When you interpret the Bible (or any text), you don’t want to read your ideas into it. You want to learn what the original writer meant to say, and lead that meaning out of the text.
Pastors reading their own ideas into a text has been a problem in pulpits (and in our justice system regarding the Constitution) for quite some time. Here’s an example of eisegesis. Do you remember Judges 14? Samson kills a lion, leaves the carcass by the road, and later discovers bees had built a hive in the carcass. Samson scooped out the honey, ate it as he walked home, and then shared the rest with his parents. Right before Christmas break, a college chapel speaker preached from this passage that each of us must taste the sweet honey of the gospel ourselves and then take it home and preach it to our unbelieving family members.
The preacher ignored the fact that Samson, sworn to a Nazirite vow, was not supposed to touch dead things. Samson violated his vow reaching for that honey. How does that fit the chapel speaker’s message?
There is certainly nothing wrong with encouraging people to share the gospel with unbelieving family. But that is not what the author of Judges was trying to say in Judges 14. That’s what the preacher wanted to preach, so he read his ideas into Judges 14. That’s poor handling of God’s Word.
Eisegesis encourages us to ignore what God actually says and to instead make the Bible say whatever WE want it to say – a dangerous thing, I believe. That is why my college professors were committed to teaching us how to do exegesis properly – leading the meaning out of the Bible and applying it to our lives today. That is time-consuming and painstaking work. It is what I was trained to do, and I am committed to exegeting God’s Word so we understand what God was saying in the ancient text so we can follow Christ and live out that message today.
THAT SAID…in my senior year of Bible college my theology professor wanted us to “exegetically defend the pre-tribulation rapture.” So, I had to show that the clear intention of the biblical writers was to teach that the rapture took place before the tribulation.
Rapture? Tribulation? More technical jargon to explain…in the next blog.
“Exegesis” (i.e. exegetically defending something) is from two Greek words – ex (out of) and ago (to lead). When you ‘exegete’, you are “leading the meaning out” of the text.
The opposite of exegesis is eisegesis – from eis (into) and ago (to lead) – reading your own ideas into the text.
When you interpret the Bible (or any text), you don’t want to read your ideas into it. You want to learn what the original writer meant to say, and lead that meaning out of the text.
Pastors reading their own ideas into a text has been a problem in pulpits (and in our justice system regarding the Constitution) for quite some time. Here’s an example of eisegesis. Do you remember Judges 14? Samson kills a lion, leaves the carcass by the road, and later discovers bees had built a hive in the carcass. Samson scooped out the honey, ate it as he walked home, and then shared the rest with his parents. Right before Christmas break, a college chapel speaker preached from this passage that each of us must taste the sweet honey of the gospel ourselves and then take it home and preach it to our unbelieving family members.
The preacher ignored the fact that Samson, sworn to a Nazirite vow, was not supposed to touch dead things. Samson violated his vow reaching for that honey. How does that fit the chapel speaker’s message?
There is certainly nothing wrong with encouraging people to share the gospel with unbelieving family. But that is not what the author of Judges was trying to say in Judges 14. That’s what the preacher wanted to preach, so he read his ideas into Judges 14. That’s poor handling of God’s Word.
Eisegesis encourages us to ignore what God actually says and to instead make the Bible say whatever WE want it to say – a dangerous thing, I believe. That is why my college professors were committed to teaching us how to do exegesis properly – leading the meaning out of the Bible and applying it to our lives today. That is time-consuming and painstaking work. It is what I was trained to do, and I am committed to exegeting God’s Word so we understand what God was saying in the ancient text so we can follow Christ and live out that message today.
THAT SAID…in my senior year of Bible college my theology professor wanted us to “exegetically defend the pre-tribulation rapture.” So, I had to show that the clear intention of the biblical writers was to teach that the rapture took place before the tribulation.
Rapture? Tribulation? More technical jargon to explain…in the next blog.