성경해석에 있어서 믿음과 성령 조명의 역할과 순수 이성 중심의 역사: 비평적 해석에 대한 대안으로서의 공시적 본문 읽기

Abstract

Bible readers or biblical interpreters in the evangelical/reformed tradition believe that the Bible as God’s Word of revelation is the sole canon for faith and life. The problem is that such a belief cannot automatically assume a legitimate biblical interpretation. Though this is true both inherently and practically, even most seminary students and pastors think that studying theology enables them to interpret the Bible. In the worst case, some believe that as long as they have faith, they can discover the spiritual meanings of the biblical texts. These even contend that the Bible, being a spiritual document, cannot be understood by human reason; that only by faith or by illumination of the Holy Spirit can we perceive and comprehend spiritual truths of the Bible. Though this assertion may seem sound, in reality it is detrimental to reading scripture well, blocking legitimate biblical interpretation. To rely solely on faith and the Spirit’s illumination is akin to anticipating direct revelation from God, when in fact God’s ultimate revelation is the Bible. It stubbornly sidesteps a fundamental characteristic of the Bible-namely, that God employed particular historical situations and literary conventions for the sake of communicating Himself and His will to human beings. It is self-evident that correctly interpreting the Bible requires careful study of methods on biblical interpretation, since the Bible is a text written in specific historical contexts and with particular literary conventions. We must be reminded thoroughly that a degree in theology, in any form or level, does not necessarily warrant a legitimate biblical reading or interpretation. I call the saints and churches of Korea to remember that we can interpret the Bible well only when we read it in its own terms and characters. This article asserts that while faith and the work of the Holy Spirit is a presupposition of biblical interpretation (and such reliance is a virtue expected of Bible readers), these are not inherently linked with the interpretation itself. When one reads the Word or looks to interpret it, they do not simply sit in front of the Bible with no effort to understand it, expecting his faith or the work of the Holy Spirit within him to reveal the meaning. That is to say, in fact, that interpretation is not needed at all! But the Bible is a literary text written in human languages, specific to historical contexts and in accordance to literary conventions. In this sense, Bible reading or biblical interpretation is to be a work of human reason. At the same time, we must remember that as the divinely inspired word, the Bible is spiritual and full of spiritual truths, never to be fully digested by unredeemed human reason. In this regard, only reason that has been redeemed from human autonomy by the work of Jesus Christ can properly interpret the Bible within its own terms and nature, with the help of faith and the Holy Spirit living and working within a redeemed soul. It should be noted that by “interpreting the Bible within its own terms” does not stop at approaching the Bible with a “redeemed reason”. It goes further to mean that the reader or interpreter must be cautious of relying on the historical-critical interpretive method (which dissects texts by deconstructing and reconstructing historical reality only relying on autonomous reason and imagination of the human mind) as an objective way of judging biblical text. The historical-critical interpretive method is inherently speculative and hypothetical in its analytical and reconstructive attempts (hence the diachronic method). The interpreter of the Word should rather focus on viewing the text organically and synchronically, as if he surveys the whole landscape or forest rather than scrutinizing the lone trees within it, showing respect to the present and final form of the text before us (hence the synchronic method). This article endeavors to explain in detail what has been summarized in this abstract thus far and illustrate the diachronic and synchronic interpretive methods of the biblical interpretation.