the time travel interpretation of the bible

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The Time Travel Interpretation of the Bible Paperback – June 11, 2021

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 282 pages
• Language English
• Publication date June 11, 2021
• Dimensions 5.25 x 0.71 x 8 inches
• ISBN-13 979-8518667815
• See all details

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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B096TTSGR3
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (June 11, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 282 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8518667815
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.71 x 8 inches
• #41,828 in Christian Bible Study (Books)

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The Theology of Time Travel

Don’t you hate it when people bring up objections to the Gospel that seem high and intelligent just to catch you off-guard in your witness about Jesus? For instance, have you heard that silly challenge that asks, “Can God create something so heavy that even he cannot lift it?” Those types of questions are designed to stump the Christian and even make you and I look silly. (By the way, the answer is yes he can. Jesus collapsed under the weight of his cross).

The movie, “Looper” and popular science fiction shows have brought up another protest to the Gospel that seems just as silly. “If time travel is possible, doesn’t that mean that God is not in control of the world, or history?”

I confess that I enjoy thinking through issues like these. These issues stretch the imagination and can force us to go back to the scripture for answers to even the silliest or the hardest of issues. And yes, there is also an answer to this question in the scripture.

Is Time Travel Possible?

Before you accuse me of having too much time on my hands to engage is this silliness, keep in mind that questions like these have actually led some people to be shipwrecked in their faith. If popular science keeps presenting theoretical ways that such things might be, then surely this lends evidence to the idea that God does not exist or perhaps is not in control of things the way the Bible presents. But we should not be afraid of questions like this—even highly speculative ones.

So, let me put the cookies on the counter where they are easily reached. Is time travel possible? The answer to this question is no. Now, I’m not going to argue from science or scientific theory about the possibility of time travel. That is not my area of expertise. Much has been written from that perspective. Nor am I going to try and answer philosophical musings about time travel such as the grandfather paradox. Rather, I’d like to answer this challenge strictly from a biblical or theological view. I’d like to back up my answer with explanations from four areas of theology:

            • The argument from God’s unchangeable nature

            • The argument from Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection

            • The argument from God’s decretive will

            • The argument from prophecy

For each area I’d will state the ascertain why time travel is not possible, then I will present an argument from scripture and accepted theology. So let’s begin.

The Argument From God’s Unchangeable Nature

Time travel, by implication, would necessitate a change in God’s nature, specifically, his eternality.

How would time travel change God’s nature? Because God has already experienced the past in the manner in which it has unfolded. To go back in time and do things differently would necessitate a change in God’s actions or reactions to those past events, thus changing God’s unchangeable nature. This is impossible. God is immutable.

The scripture states numerously and clearly that God is an unchangeable being (Numbers 23:19; I Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 46:10; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:12; 6:18; 13:8; James 1:17). This means that all that God does and decrees is born from within his unchangeable nature. God’s character and decisions are set. For God to change his mind would necessitate a change in his nature. Yet, he already declares that his nature is unchangeable. He is unchangeable because he is eternal.

To be eternal does not mean that God is unchangeable from moment to moment. Created things experience time as a succession of moments one after another. However, God is apart from and is outside of time. He does not experience a succession of moments as we do. All points in time are the same to God. Because God experiences life in this way any decision made is made in his eternal nature. It is made once and does not need to be made again, his decisions are eternal. Doing so would necessitate a change in his eternality.

The Argument From Jesus’ Life, Death, and Resurrection

Time travel would imply that the life of Jesus would not be fixed and thus man would have the power to thwart God’s plan for Jesus and for our salvation.

To use a popular concept from science fiction, the conception, birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are “fixed” events in history that cannot be changed. In fact, all events in history are fixed and cannot be changed since there was a succession of events from creation until Jesus that were necessary to take place resulting in the coming of Jesus. Remember Jesus words to the Father in Matthew 26:42. He specifically asked God for the cup of suffering to pass from him. In other words, if there is another way to redeem man, then let it be. God’s answer to Jesus was that there was not another way. Why? Because God had fixed it as his will from his eternal counsel long before the foundation of the earth (Psalm 33:9-11; I Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8).

The Argument From God’s Decretive Will

Time travel would imply that God is not in control of events that he has determined will take place.

What is God’s decretive will? This is a term theologians use to identify those things of God’s will that will come to pass no matter what. These are God’s decrees. For instance, it is God’s decretive will that life exists. Sure, we may kill each other, but life itself is a necessary component of God’s plan and therefore living things must exist. Nothing that we can do will thwart God’s will in this matter. The work of creation is another example of God’s decretive will. He decided that the cosmos would come into existence and it did. Nothing thwarts God’s decretive will.

Though the concept is controversial to some, God has decided from eternity past those who would know him. We might say that the salvation we experience is God’s decretive will. Nothing we can do will separate us from the love of Jesus and the salvation we have from him. God has decreed it and it will happen. End of story. We find this concept in Matthew 25:34; Romans 8:29, 9:13-23; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8.)

How is this related to the theory of time travel? To put it simply, God has decreed that certain things in history will take place, past, present, and future. Throughout the Old Testament we see God creating a people for himself that will one day give rise to the Savior. In order for Jesus to be born certain events preceding Jesus’ birth had to take place according to God’s eternal plan. Time travel essentially leaves open the possibility that those events can be changed by a traveler just like any other event. But if the past is immutable, so then is the future, as we shall see.

The Argument from Prophecy

Time travel implies that God’s purposes and working out of history can be altered and thus the scripture can be broken. Jesus said that scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). Let us look at this truth not only from the past that we look back to, but to the future, specifically, in scripture like the Old Testament book of Daniel, Matthew 24, I Corinthians 15, and the book of Revelation.

In each case there are specific prophesies made about nations, people, and events that at the time of their writing were unfulfilled. Gabriel makes it clear to Daniel that the events he revealed would take place in the future. He gave no option such as things “might” happen. Rather, he communicated to Daniel in clear certainty that they would happen and at specific times in history. We might say that these prophesied events are fixed. Just like Matthew 24 and Revelation, these events are promised and are indicated to take place at specific times. For that to happen certain events must take place in world history to lead to the fulfillment of those prophesies. They are guaranteed. They are fixed. There is no changing them. God has decreed they will take place.

A Counterpoint

It might be argued that the men who received this knowledge or view into future events effectively were time travelers. That is, God took them out of one time frame and placed them in another time frame to witness these events. I don’t think this is a persuasive argument. Most prophesies given would seem to be a foretelling. That is, the prophet spoke or wrote about what he was told, but did not actually see the events themselves, except in specifically revealed cases. God is outside of time and sees all time instantly from his perspective. Time travel is unnecessary to him.

It might also be argued that the Apostle John time traveled since he saw the events about which he wrote. I don’t think this is persuasive argument either. We are simply told about things that John saw, but the scripture does not indicate he was present for the events themselves. He also witnessed things in Revelation that are clear types or pictures meant to illustrate the truths he was seeing, but these were pictures, not the events themselves, such as the dragon and the beast and the woman fleeing to a prepared place (Revelation 12 & 13).

There is one aspect where seeing future events, or learning of future events affects the past. By learning of future events like we have learned in Ezekiel, Zechariah, Matthew 24, Daniel, and Revelation we can, and many do, reorganize our lives in keeping with God has revealed. A simple example of this happened in Genesis 19 when Lot was told the future—Sodom was to be destroyed. At the behest of the angels he took this future knowledge and tried to persuade his sons-in-law to escape with him. He then took his family and fled the city as the angels had directed him. Clearly, if Lot had been given no warning about the future then his life would have gone on none the wiser until the rocks started falling from the sky.

In this sense we can say that while time travel is not possible, warnings about the future can come to the past (or present) from God so that we might be saved from what is to come, or to be ready to endure it and not give up the hope of our faith in Christ. Only in this way does the future change the past. Yet because it takes an act of God to reveal the future there is no literal time travel involved, simply a revealing of what God knows from his eternal perspective.

We can divide what we know about God’s nature, his plan from eternity, and his revelation, that time travel is not possible in the universe in which we live. Hebrews 9:27 says “It is appointed for man to die once, then the judgment.” By this we can infer that it is also appointed for us to live once. There are no do overs. Therefore, knowing what the future holds we should pattern our lives after Christ to ensure that when our times comes before the judgment seat of God, our faith and cleansing in Christ will give us full confidence that we may stand before God clean.

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Tom Terry is a broadcaster and missionary having served in the US, Turkey, and Mongolia with Campus Crusade for Christ. He currently heads up Global Broadcast Strategy for JESUS Film Project and serves as General Manager of The Better FM, a streaming radio station reaching India and Pakistan. He has written numerous Bible studies used for discipleship in Mongolia and has authored 12 books including Bible study books, Studies In The Word, Real Imitation and Like An Eagle, the story of his 10-year experience in Mongolia. In addition to his work with JESUS Film Project and The Better FM, Tom is pursuing his Masters degree with Whitefield Theological Seminary.

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The Time Travel Interpretation of the Bible

Authors: Jonathan W. Tooker

We describe the Biblical work of ages as a time travel program for saving humanity from extinction. God's existence is proven as a consequence of the existence of time travel, which is supposed. We present the case that Abraham's grandson Jacob, also called Israel, is Satan. We make the case that the Israelites are described as God's chosen people in the Bible despite their identity as the children of Satan because God's Messiah is descended from Abraham through Satan. They are chosen as the ancestors of the Messiah rather than as Satan's children. We propose an interpretation in which God commanded Abraham to kill his son Isaac to prevent Isaac from becoming the father of Satan. We suggest that God stayed Abraham's hand above Isaac because preventing the existence of Satan would also prevent the existence of Satan's descendant the Messiah. The history of the Israelites is summarized through Jesus and Paul. This book is written so that the number of believers in the world will increase.

Comments: 282 Pages. Expanded edition. Previously viXra:2104.0068.

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50 Bible Verses about Time Travel

Ecclesiastes 3:11 esv / 31 helpful votes helpful not helpful.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Psalm 90:4 ESV / 27 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV / 22 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Matthew 19:26 ESV / 20 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 17 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV / 17 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

James 2:1-4:17 ESV / 11 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ...

Matthew 5:44 ESV / 11 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Romans 8:29-30 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

Joshua 1:5 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

2 Peter 3:8 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

1 Peter 1:1-2 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Galatians 6:5-7 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Romans 8:37-39 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 27:11-14 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Teach me your way, O Lord , and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord ; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord !

2 Timothy 1:8-9 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

Daniel 7:13 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

Ezekiel 18:20 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Acts 17:28 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Proverbs 8:27 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

2 Thessalonians 2:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Galatians 6:5-6 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Romans 9:31 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

John 8:57-58 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

John 1:1-3 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Isaiah 57:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

James 4:2-4 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 Timothy 1:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

1 Timothy 1:9-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

Colossians 1:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Ephesians 1:7-12 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ...

Galatians 6:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For each will have to bear his own load.

Galatians 6:5-8 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Matthew 5:44-45 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. ...

Proverbs 25:21-22 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

Proverbs 8:1-36 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. ...

Psalm 91:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 73:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 27:13-14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord ; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord !

Psalm 27:12-14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord ; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord !

Psalm 14:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

3 John 1:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles , a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.

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The Bible Says Time Travel Is Possible

mickholt · September 16, 2013 · God's Will · Albert Einstein , Book of Revelation , Doctor Who , General relativity , God's will , grace , mercy , Star Trek , Time travel · 30 Comments

Photo By: Pop Culture Geek (CC)

Of all the things I look forward to about getting into Heaven – yes I am going to be there and if you’re not sure message me and I will help you – one of the most exciting things for me has got to be the ability to time travel.

This has long been something that man has dreamed of doing. Science fiction books and movies give us a glimpse of what our minds think it might be like – and I don’t think there is one that I don’t like.

From “The Time Machine”, “Dr. Who” and every incantation of Star Trek to – my personal time travel favorite – “Back to the Future” it is obvious that our minds – at almost every level – desire to live in and see other times.

Not always wanting to change our own past or even and major history changing event but rather just to see how people lived or will live.

He’s the thing – I believe that time travel is not only possible and probable but it is supported by scripture.

What? Certainly you did not just read that. Well, yes you did. I just said the Bible supports the idea of time travel.

Hold on, I’ll explain.

I believe that all the things that man has created were thought of first by God. I believe that God gives the ideas to men and we either run with them or not. I also believe that ANYTHING we can imagine ANYTHING we can dream has already been thought of by the Creator of the universe.

So, if we think about time travel, if we dream about being able to see other times other eras why is it hard to believe that it can not only happen but that God has not already perfected it.

I think he has.

Now, I am not going to throw a curve ball at you and say that God made history writers and photographers and their word makes it possible to see the past and therefore – in a sense – we can travel back in time. I mean those thing are there and do allow us to see the past but for time travel to viable for it to be legitimate it MUST go forward as well as back.

Again, I believe the bible supports this.

If you read the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, John says he has a “vision” but in this vision he does not just watch them or “see” them take place he participates in the events. In order to participate in them he HAD to be there not just in a vision but physically.

To be there physically means that God plucked him out of our time line and deposited him squarely in a year – time and place – that has not happened. If it has not happened yet then it MUST be in the future.

It has to be. There can be no other explanation.

I think that as Christ followers, we accept the fact that God’s omnipresence – being everywhere and anywhere at once – mandates that He is not only here in 2013 but also congruently in the year 5. HE’s watching what happens to me and Jesus simultaneously.

He lives outside time as we understand it.

His creation, His rules.

I do not believe that we’ll ever be able to travel back or forward in time – this side of Heaven – except in our dreams, books and movies and that’s OK. Because we can take comfort that one day God’s going to open up time as HE understands it and then the fun is really going to begin.

Now please excuse me, I have to go work on my Flux Capacitor.

If God came to and said you can go back into your life and change one thing or go forward and see how something turns out which would you choose and why? Leave a comment below and let’s have some fun.

Share this:, 30 comments.

OK, first of all, I KNEW that was a flux capacitor. I’m surprised you don’t have a Mr. Fusion model, Doc!

Interesting post. There is one event in my past that I would love to go back and change. But here’s the thing – on this side of it, I can see how it impacted my walk with the Lord for GOOD. I’m not sure that I would change it after all, if it meant that I lost the lessons that I have learned, and lost how I understand His LOVE like I do now. Sigh.

Going forward? No, other than my reassurance that in the end ALL WILL BE WELL, I’m good trying to live now and STOP worrying about that future!!

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

Just a road map – the BIBLE!

Sharon, The current knowledge thing makes it hard right? How many times have you said – or anyone else – “If only I knew then what I know now” ? If your event had a positive effect on your relationship with God I can understand your hesitation. As for the “Mr. Fusion” model – Mr Fusion was the power source for the FC. It replaced the plutonium. It is always the FC that “makes time travel possible.”

Thanks for stopping by, as always and thanks for commenting.

Oooo… That’s a tough one… Just as we saw in Back to the Future, sometimes making changes can have unexpected outcomes. Who knows what else hinged on that event or that choice? Yes, there are things I wish I hadn’t done, or that I hadn’t done the way I did, but everything I did brought me where I am now. If I would change anything at all, it would probably be to spend more time in the Word, and sharing the word with others and less in trivial things.

So, are you going to write a post on transporting instantly from one place to another? That’s something else I’m looking forward to. Beam me up, Scotty!

Cheree, The unknown is what makes that such a tough question. If I had done “X” would I have been where I was when I met my wife? Who knows, well God of course. I would say that the things you mention you could change now and see what unexpected changes they bring in the “future.” 🙂

As far as the transporting ability, well, Jesus did seem to get out of a couple tough spots before he was ready to be captured. So I think there is scriptural ground for that too.

As Stan Lee used to say “Stay tuned true believers.” Of course, I welcome the others too.

Interesting thoughts.

While it’s fun to think about changing something in the past or seeing how something will turn out in the future, I think that’s it’s a good thing we are not actually allowed to do that. I can’t imagine how I would mess my life up if I actually had either of those options. I mess stuff up enough as it is 🙂

Interesting thoughts though. Thanks.

TC, Welcome back – glad as always that you stopped by.

I agree we would change things and not for the better especially if we “knew” what one outcome would be. I happen to think that the other choice, for me anyway, would end up worse that the first. But I do think we’ll be able to do it just not affect the out comes and such. Maybe watch the Battle at Gettysburg or the moon lading – from the surface of the moon of course – stuff like that.

Thanks aging for stopping by your comments are always appreciated.

Yeah it’s me, POP! I’ve always wanted the ability to go back to when I was 15. The year I quit playing baseball in the middle of the All Star Tournament back home in Michigan. I had the opportunity to go to West Palm Beach, FL to get into the Kansas City Athletics farm organization. For those of you too young to remember that was the location of the Oakland A’s at the time, Kansas City! They were interested in a young boy who’s fastball was clocked, as accurately as they could back in 1963, at 97 MPH. Obviously they wanted me as a pitcher but my favorite position was behind the plate, however I was too small to go much beyond Babe Ruth League ages 13,14 and 15 as a catcher. Anyway, most likely my life would have been entirely different than it has turned out. Fortunes are made playing Major League Baseball, I probably would have done quite well, though not like they pay these kids today, but for the times it would have been a lot!

That all being said, I can tell you that I wouldn’t change a thing about my life as it has turned out. Ya see, had I chosen the other path I likely wouldn’t have met your Mother, wouldn’t have had my son (YOU) and certainly wouldn’t have my Grandson (Xander). Riches aside, the greatest thrill I’ve ever had was the first day you were born and the first time I held you in my arms. The only other thing I treasure as much was the first time I held Xander in my arms.(Even though his Mama made me disinfect my hands first)! PAM!!!!!!!!

No, wouldn’t change it even if I could!

There are only 4 people in this world that I would give my life for and three of them live in your house!

Love forever,

Pop (Grampa)

Hey Pop, Color me surprised. I can honestly say yours was not a name I expected to see leaving a comment here. So, thank you for taking the time to read and to comment. Knowing that you an mom might not have met and I would not have come to pass is good reason for me to say “good choice, Pop and thanks.” I knew most of that story but I did not realize that you were that young. Grampa should have thumped you and MADE you go to WPB. At 15 there was plenty of time fro you and mom to meet. 🙂

Thanks again for stopping by. Please come by again. Love you too – also forever.

See you all next Saturday the 10th!

If I could go back in time, I’d go back when my brothers and sisters were all little. I’d pick each one up, sit them in my lap, gaze into thier innocent eyes and tell them how special each one of them are. I’d tell them God loved them and always remember no matter what’s going on, to remember he’s always there with them. I’d tell them to stick together and help each other out during times of trouble. Then, I’d tell them I loved each of them…including my younger self…and to always pray. I’d tell them if they needed to really talk to someone about any problems they were having at home that they should do it and not be afraid because the Lord would be with them. I’d kiss each one on the cheek, tell each one of them how important they are and that God has a plan for thier lives.

Mary, Thank you first for your comment and second for humbling me – and I hope anyone else that reads it. Your selflessness stands above our, MY, petty thoughts of “oh, I’d study harder”, or ” I’d never take this job or that job” that you’d take an opportunity like that and speak God’s truth into others lives and not use it advance your own cause truly speaks to living out what Jesus said was the second greatest commandment to “love others as your self.” Thank you for coming by, I hope you make this a regular stop on your interwebs journey!

Mary, your reply was so beautiful.

She really hit it didn’t she? Maybe the best response to a blog post EVER!

I’de go back and try and stop my mom and dad from being sick.

That’s a noble desire – Sometime we cannot stop that sort of thing. I hope all is well now. Thanks for commenting. Feel free to stop by again – our doors are always open.

I’m not so sure it’s impossible “this side of heaven”… I think if it is there, it’s extremely restricted and only certain people are allowed to use it. But you can’t change anything through time travel- say that, I use the TARDIS, go to the past, leave a letter for myself, then go back. In the past, I saw that letter, and that is why I went in the future to bring it to myself in the past. If time travel happens, it doesn’t change anything, because everything is already the way it is because the time travel has already techincally happened. 😛

Still, great article! God bless!

Ace, first – thanks for stopping by, reading AND commenting. Great observations BTW. B) I understand all the time travel paradoxes and agree that traveling along your own past timeline might prove difficult – perhaps it would be more an opportunity to “watch” your younger self but as a strict rule – I agree what’s done is done – It’s just one of those things I like to contemplate. having said that – John’s trip to the future cannot be argued. He participated in events the Bible says have yet to happen only they have happened. I guess you might call that “future fact”?

Again, thanks for stopping by – feel free to came back whenever.

Old article but I thought I’d comment.

If time travel were made possible to us today, I would choose to go back to late 2014/ the beginning of 2015 and relive what was probably the most amazing year of my life. I would do everything exactly as I did it originally except for one change: I’d make the choice to do what I now God was asking me to do but didn’t because of doubts. I’d save myself months of heartache and get to experience all that He had for me on the original time line and I’m sad that it won’t be on that time line as long as I’m alive now.

Lilly – you’re right it has been around for a while but I am glad you left a comment.

I understand what you’re saying but perhaps this will be of some encouragement – you not doing what God placed on your heart did not come as a surprise to Him. He knew you’d have doubts but would eventually come to His way of thinking. The time line your on – is the very one God KNEW you’d be on. So, be of good cheer. You’ve lined up your life with His calling for you and can be joyful knowing that.

Thanks for stopping by – feel free to come back any time.

Great article. I really hope this is true! I would love to roam around and actually live for a while through the 20th century.

But for now, let’s enjoy what God has planned for us in present life.

Agreed – there is too much to LOVE about the present (and God 🙂 ). What part of the 20th century is of interest or just all of it? I’d like to see things at the turn of that century early 1900’s.

I would go back and stop my pastor father from beating me

Mark, I am sorry to read that you experienced that, I cannot even imagine what you endured. I would join you and help stop it if I could. Without now all the details, all I can say is that while your father was a pastor – that kind of behavior IS NOT scriptural and did not come from a place of love – which is what God is – God IS love. I hope you can separate the actions of a sinful human being, a creation of THE Father, and the actions of God, the LOVE of Jesus and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and forgive your earthly father and rest in the PEACE of the one TRUE God. Please, comment any time or if you need to talk you can reach me at “[email protected]”.

many possible answers to your question. Jesus had the ability to travel in time, walk on water, cure the uncureable, predict the future, transport himself over distance and time, travel to and from the alternate spiritual reality, etc. Was he unique to the times he came from and why did he say a sacrifice was needed. Angels have been our spiritual guides for years as have the demons for others. In the end we trust that in a spiritual belief system that fosters kindness we will evolve into creatures making a “heavenly” transportation that will give us the qualities that Jesus encouraged when he said something like everything I have done you too can do and even greater.

Don, thanks for stopping by, reading and taking the time to comment – it is appreciated. You bring up some interesting points that deserve some thought. I think Christ was unique, yes to the time he was on Earth, prior to creation and for all eternity. Love to discus this more or other topics. Hope you find another post you like and will start another conversation. Keep the acorn spinnin’ #dontbreakthechain

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A Hebraic Metaphysic of Time in the Bible: Whose Time? Which Eternity?

By James Duguid on March 24, 2020

Did God create time? To answer the question, and to determine what time in the Bible means, it would probably be good to figure out what we mean by “time” in general. This is the approach that Dr. Leithart takes (See his essay on the Center for Hebraic Thought website.). He begins to tackle this question with a definition, as he seeks to show us what time in the Bible looks like. His piece inspired me to put together some of my own observations about the conception of time in the Hebrew Bible and in Second Temple Judaism , to fill out the picture of how we get to the idea of “created time” in Augustine’s writing.

Let me start by commending Dr. Leithart’s concern to seriously investigate what the Bible has to say on this subject. Both Dr. Leithart and I are against the idea that “the Bible is too primitive to offer a ‘philosophy of time.’” Scripture is not just an unphilosophical or pre-philosophical collection of data to which we can apply our philosophical frameworks; Scripture is already philosophical. It may not address every philosophical question directly, but we would be well advised to listen carefully to what it does have to say about philosophy before posing further questions.

Dr. Leithart highlights the fact that, like many other pre-modern conceptions of time, the idea of time as a cycle plays a vital role in the Hebrew Bible. Time in the Bible is organized around the repetition of meaningful events, and Dr. Leithart is right to see this as the focus of Day 4 of the creation story documented in Genesis 1. God creates the heavenly lights for the express purpose of organizing time into festival seasons, signs, days, and years. Prominent among these is the religious festivals—time is organized around God’s relationship with his people as exercised in these festivals. Modern people who have become accustomed to thinking of time only in linear and scientifically quantized ways will have to do some adapting to understand this biblical conception.

As we think about extending and exploring this picture, we face a few methodological problems. The first is one of breadth: A focus on the Hebrew time-word ᑦēt (time, occasion) will highlight this theme of cyclical time. However, other biblical time-words need to be investigated. For example, words like ᑦôlām (foreverness, long duration) and ᑦad (perpetuity) tend to describe a more linear view of time, which coexists alongside the cyclical one. We should also not become too focused on word-studies, but look more broadly at the concept of time as it shows up throughout the canonical Scriptures. To be clear, I am not going to provide a complete theory of time in the Bible in this article, nor am I even able to do so at present. There is a great need for basic, close-textual analysis in the field of philosophical criticism of the Bible on the subject of time. I don’t think that the necessary scholarly work has yet been done—until it has, our attempts to characterize a biblical theory of time will always be somewhat misleading.

For the second problem: we need to distinguish between language about time and a theory of time. It is easy to show that certain language about time assumes certain imagined frameworks, but less easy to show that those using the language are intentionally theorizing about those frameworks. To give an illustration here, the language of the Hebrew Bible geographically orients a speaker toward the east, with the sea behind them, so that in Biblical Hebrew north is “left” and south is “right,” contrary to modern maps’ orientation with north at center forward. But it would be saying too much to say that this is a biblical theory of geography. We could make similar mistakes with time as well. For example, there is plenty of evidence in the Hebrew language that time was understood through spatial categories (as it is in English and many other languages). We can see this from idioms like “length of days” to describe a long time. The Hebrew preposition bet (ב) has the concrete spatial meaning “in,” and it is frequently used in temporal clauses, where English would use “when.” This is evidence for the metaphor “TIME IS A CONTAINER,” where a stretch of time is understood as an object inside of which another time can be located.” If we take these linguistic phenomena to be evidence of explicit theorizing about time being comparable to space, then this theorizing has taken big steps towards scientific conceptions of time as a dimension, as well as the conception of time as a bounded object. Such a theory could make the advanced theological claim that God is “outside” of time meaningful. But this would be a mistake. Just because the Bible uses a language that reflects a very common conceptual metaphor in its vocabulary doesn’t mean that it is developing a theory along the lines of that metaphor. More work is required to show that the biblical authors are really making claims about time itself.

Leithart rightly highlights the importance of the book of Ecclesiastes for explicit biblical reflection on time. The idea of cyclical time is undeniably present—we could hardly have a more eloquent statement of the concept than the “time ( ᑦēt ) for everything” passage of Ecclesiastes 3. But the author is not only interested in the cycles of time; he is also interested in the linear duration of time. Indeed, precisely what is remarkable about the book is that from the very first chapter, the author zooms out from the repeating cycle to show us the stretch of cycle after cycle repeating over and over forever. It is this which is the source of his anxiety —the fact that the cycle’s repetition grinds away everything good and even every memory of everything good.

Still, some things are forever ( lǝ ᑦ ôlām ). In Ecclesiastes 3:14, “what God does” will last forever: here it is especially God’s establishing of the endless cycle itself which is in view. In 9:6, it is death which forever banishes humans from this world. On top of that, 2:16 makes clear that even human memory of the dead does not last forever. According to 3:11, God has put “forever” ( ha ᑦ ōlām ) in the human heart. Some take this to mean that God has given humans a concept of eternal reward to console them through the reverses of time; I take it more pessimistically to mean that God has ordained for humans to be the only animals that are aware of the fact that they and everything they treasure will eventually be erased by the unending march of time. To sum up, the author’s concept of ᑦ ôlām, “forever,” specifically picks out the permanent and unrepeatable duration of time, and wrestles with God’s purposes in it. This description I have given is all too brief, but it does show us a biblical view of linear time which is perhaps closer in some ways to an “infinite container or a blank colorless constant.”

This leads straight into the third methodological problem: Once we have detected a theory of time in the Bible, can we say that it contradicts alternate theories? To return to our geography example: if biblical geography is oriented towards the east, but modern maps are oriented towards true north, does that make modern maps unbiblical? Or are these just different but acceptable ways of looking at the world? As we just said, the author of Ecclesiastes seems to have both a cyclical and a linear view of time; indeed, the interaction between these two drives the central tension of the book. It is inevitable that, as we seek to discover the philosophy of the Bible, we will need to make contrasts with other philosophies, but this procedure is also dangerous, as it could lead us into a sort of simplistic dichotomization. If the biblical theory of time is cyclical and personal, does that contradict Plato or Aristotle or Augustine or Newton’s theory of time? Perhaps, from a certain perspective, time could be cyclical or linear, infinite container or bounded container, colorless constant or significantly demarcated. In fact, good philosophical theories often integrate several different nuances of a topic while avoiding the dichotomous opposition of simpler accounts. It is not enough to simply put the biblical theory side by side with another theory and point out that they are different. One would actually have to prove that they are contradictory. I think I need only mention the geocentrist/heliocentrist debate, or the creationist/evolutionist debate, to show how fraught and complex this process of discernment might be. Certainly, we would need the comprehensive view of what the Bible has to say if we are to have any chance of accomplishing this (and again, I don’t currently have such an account in my possession).

The fourth problem emerges from this one: To understand the full implications of the principles of the Hebrew Bible, we must look beyond the Hebrew Bible. We need to understand the bigger story of how we got to Augustine and Newton. Sometimes, the development of human thought may require us to apply biblical principles to problems that are not directly addressed in the Bible. I think the question of whether God created time is one of these. These sorts of questions were probably raised for the first time for Jewish scholars of the Bible with the advent of a Hellenistic intellectual context—indeed, the book of Ecclesiastes may be late enough to already show evidence of this cultural pressure. One facet of this challenge was as follows: The Hebrew Bible is clear where God stands in relation to other gods, and to the basic physical structure of the world – he created them. But where does God stand in relation to more abstract principles, like matter or time? The Hebrew Bible doesn’t explicitly rule out the possibility that God could be subject to these principles, or that they eternally co-existed with him—but one might think that it implies that this would be a sort of idolatry. Perhaps, just like the gods of old, these principles should be demoted to the realm of God’s creative control—in other words, God created these too. Notice how a new philosophical outlook, not found in the pages of the Hebrew Bible, was necessary to put the question—nevertheless, we might say that the answer does come from the Bible in some sense, since biblical principles imply that the question must be answered a particular way.

Would this be a capitulation to “Greek thought?” It would be more accurate to say that given some philosophical categories introduced by Greek thought, the Hebrew Bible had certain implications, and Second Temple Jews worked through those implications. In this way, biblical principles could be extended to new questions.

It is then with Second Temple Judaism that we get the first explicit statements about God creating time. The sectarian writings of the Qumran community included “the ages of eternity” ( qṣy ᑦd or qṣy ᑦwlm ) in the list of things God created (1QM 10:15-16, 1QH 5:15-16). The Apostle Paul says that God gave grace to his people in Christ “before eternal times” ( pro chronōn aiōniōn , 2 Timothy 1:9), a phrase which implies that God exists outside of time. The phrases here are quite similar and remind us of the perspective of Ecclesiastes—a plural period of times is bundled together as a totality, and as such a totality, is described as “eternal” in duration.

Philo argues that time exists in dependence on the world, since time is the interval of the world’s motion, and a mere image of God’s eternity ( On the Creation 7, On the Eternity of the World 10, On the Unchangeableness of God 6). Philo does use Plato’s theory of time to make this argument, but the conclusion he is arguing for is the broadly Jewish one of subjecting all things to God’s power—Greek philosophy is being used to support a biblical principle. Rather than speaking of an eternally extended bundle of times, Philo uses the singular “time” as more of an abstract concept. But the resulting doctrine is not distant from the Qumran community or Paul. God is outside of time, and time is subject to his power. In Philo, this theme occurs in the context of God’s complete foreknowledge of all things, at Qumran and with Paul, it occurs with an even stronger sense of predestination—God’s creation of time includes his predestination of future events.

Of course, one might disagree with the interpretive moves of these Second Temple Jewish thinkers. Perhaps some new theory of time could provide another way out of the dilemma, a different way of answering the question while preserving the relevant biblical principles. But we had better understand these thinkers well, and understand why they thought their view was biblical, so that we can be sure the view we would replace it with is at least equally successful in preserving biblical principles.

This is my very rough outline of how we got the doctrine that God created time, beginning with the biblical authors and progressing through the Hellenistic context of Second Temple Judaism. I happily admit that it could use a good deal of filling in (perhaps some gaps in the logic could be filled in by including insights from early Christian theologians). In any case, this blog post is woefully inadequate as a summary of the biblical theory of time, and so I must end it by calling for further work to be done, to sketch out, in exegetical detail and whole-Bible balance, what the Bible’s own philosophy of time is. If this work is advanced significantly, we will be in a much better place to understand and evaluate the attempts in later tradition to apply the principles of the Hebrew Bible to new philosophical problems.

Did you enjoy this article? Read more scholarship from the CHT.

James Duguid is a Ph.D. student in Egyptian and Semitic Languages and Literatures at the Catholic University of America, and pastoral intern at Wallace Presbyterian Church (PCA). His research interests focus on characterizing the ontologies of Biblical and Egyptian texts, and he is currently working on a dissertation on metaphors for nothingness in Isaiah 40-66.

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All about Hermeneutics: A Guide to Interpreting God’s Word Faithfully

What is hermeneutics?

Hermeneutics is any effort to interpret the meaning of communication, particularly communication that is being interpreted in a different cultural context.

In the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary , Bernard C. Lategan says about hermeneutics: “Although language presupposes shared conventions between persons, the unique experience of the individual cannot be expressed adequately through this medium. The receiver therefore needs help to reproduce the meaning of the sender in his or her own consciousness. The task of hermeneutics is to provide this help.”

In other words, every time we read or hear something, we absorb the info using language. But even when we’re speaking the same language, we can misunderstand what someone means because their context is different from ours. That’s what hermeneutics does—it helps us understand what the original speaker/writer means by what they say.

Biblical hermeneutics is the method of interpreting Scripture so we can bridge the gaps between modern-day readers of the Bible, its original audiences, and God as its ultimate author.

Hermeneutics is foundational to theological study. Whether or not they know it, every biblical reader interprets the Bible through their own hermeneutic. Developing a clearly communicated biblical hermeneutic helps Bible students to understand the biases they bring into their interpretive work. Without effective (and faithful) methods of interpretation, we can’t understand the meaning of the text and therefore build cohesive biblical theologies, and therefore, a Christ-honoring, mission-driven Christian life.  Steve Bond, in his article on hermeneutics for the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary , notes that how we interpret the Bible has much in common with how we interpret other texts, but “the difference between biblical texts and texts from law, literature, and the sciences is that despite the 66 biblical books having been written by many people over a period of 1,500 years, the Bible claims God as its ultimate author.”

Why is biblical hermeneutics important?

The church today faces many important issues as technological innovation transforms everything from communications to family structures to social relationships. We need the wisdom from God himself to properly engage and understand the world we live in. Yet the primary way we learn what God has to say is the Bible—a book written between 2,000 to 3,500 years ago. 

How we interpret the timeless Word of God shapes how we answer the important questions we face as we pursue God’s mission in the world today. 

In this article, I’ll help you to think through issues of biblical hermeneutics so you can better interpret God’s Word. Through this article, you’ll discover:

• How biblical interpretation has changed from the biblical period to the modern age
• Which key issues to consider when interpreting the Bible
• Why hermeneutics strategies are used differently in different biblical genres

4 eras of biblical hermeneutics

Biblical era, patristic era, medieval era, reformation era.

The task of hermeneutics is to discover the meaning of the text in its proper setting; to draw meaning from Scripture rather than reading one’s presuppositions into it. — John MacArthur

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Hermeneutics across church history.

Hermeneutics goes all the way back to the biblical period itself. Astute Bible students have long noted how the biblical authors used previous passages of the Bible within their own arguments, like when Peter referred to  Isaiah 40:7–8  in  1 Peter 1:24–25 . Their interpretive strategies have impacted future hermeneutics in the church.

Stanley Porter and Beth Stovell describe these early hermeneutic strategies in their introduction to  Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views : “In the Old Testament, the latter writings, like the Psalms and the Prophets, reinterpret the story of Israel presented in the Torah, and the New Testament continues to reinterpret this continuing story in light of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (an approach that later redemptive-historical scholars would appropriate).” Even 2,000 years after the end of the New Testament, there isn’t consensus on how New Testament writers used the Old Testament. New Testament scholar Richard Longenecker’s book  Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Times  makes the case that Jesus and the New Testament writers leaned heavily upon contemporary Jewish interpretive strategies in ways they use the Old Testament in their teaching.

Because the early church fathers played such a critical role in describing and formulating New Testament theology, their interpretive strategies have had a large impact on future theologians. Despite their influence, church leaders in the patristic era weren’t uniform in their hermeneutics. Two interpretive schools dominated the era.

The Alexandrian school  was centered in one of the most learned cities in the Roman Empire, Alexandria, Egypt. The school, heavily influenced by Platonic philosophy, taught the allegorical method of interpretation. Built upon a worldview that saw the physical world as a shadow of the spiritual, Alexandrian interpreters saw the Bible pointing non-literally to deeper spiritual (or allegorical) truths.  The Antioch school  represented an opposite perspective. The school focused its approach on a literal reading of the text. The spiritual reading of the text, they believed, must come from the literal reading. According to the book   Biblical Hermeneutics   by Bruce Corley, Steve Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy, the Antioch school was influenced by both Greek and Jewish thinkers. But instead of Plato, Antioch was largely influenced by Aristotle.

Augustine set the stage for much of Medieval hermeneutics with his landmark book  On Christian Teaching  (or  On Christian Doctrine)  published in the late 4th and early 5th centuries A.D. In the book, he described a number of interpretive rules that are still bedrocks of biblical hermeneutics in the 21st century. For example, he wrote that Bible students should:

• Interpret obscure texts in light of clear ones
• Apply secular knowledge to biblical interpretation when possible
• Determine the literal and figurative senses of the passage

In  Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth , Ray Zuck describes hermeneutics as a key element to the Reformation. He writes: “The Reformation was a time of social and ecclesiastical upheaval but, as [Bernard] Ramm points out [in his book  Protestant Biblical Hermeneutics ], it was basically a hermeneutical reformation, a reformation in reference to the approach to the Bible.”

In  Biblical Hermeneutics , Corley, Lemke, and Lovejoy describe the hermeneutics of Protestant Reformation leaders as inductive and faith-oriented. They emphasized the “illuminating power of the Holy Spirit” in the interpretive process. Four principles—that all challenged contemporary Roman Catholic hermeneutics—dominated their contributions. Those principles, as described in  Biblical Hermeneutics , were:

• The focus of Scripture was on Christ, not the church nor man.
• The ultimate purpose of the Bible was salvation, not knowledge.
• The basis for Christian doctrine and practice was the Bible.
• The authority for interpreting the Bible was in the individual.

Post-Reformation Era

The innovations of the post-Reformation era centered on attempts to apply the reasoning and methods fueling academic advancement in other fields to the study of the Bible. Movements like rationalism, Protestant scholasticism, Calvinism (as well as responses to Calvinism) dominated 16th and 17th century Protestant hermeneutics. 

In his early 18th century book  De Sacrae Scripturae Interpretandae Methodo Tractatus , Jean-Alphonse Turretin illustrated some of these rationalistic approaches to interpretation in the following five points related to biblical exegesis and interpretation:

• We should interpret Scripture like any other book.
• Interpreters should give attention to words and expressions in the Bible.
• The goal of biblical exegesis is to understand the purpose of the author in the context.
• The interpreter should use reason to understand the Bible.
• Biblical interpreters should understand the text’s original authors in their own contextual terms.

Modern hermeneutics (roughly 1800 to today), particularly among Protestants, has often seen a split between conservative (or even fundamentalist) hermeneutics and more liberal biblical approaches. 

The celebrated “Princeton School,” emanating from Princeton Theological Seminary and later Westminster Theological Seminary, centered on a return to Calvinism and the reformational roots of Protestantism. 

Corley, Lemke, and Lovejoy describe the Princeton school this way: “Princeton’s methods of scriptural interpretation relied heavily on the principles of Scottish common sense philosophy. Their defense of scriptural authority was based upon the notion that empirical induction is the primary source of truth and that all reasonable people intuit moral absolutes. They defined theology as a science, mining the Scriptures for facts much like a scientist gathers data from nature.”

Fundamentalism, which arose in the early 20th century, emphasized a literal and dispensational approach to interpreting Scripture. Dispensational theology divided human history into seven periods (or dispensations). The relationship between God and man varied in each of these periods. These differing periods impacted how to interpret associated Scriptures.

Classic liberal theology arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an attempt to harmonize the Bible with new scientific information. Liberal theologians saw the Bible as a human book, whose supernatural elements could be explained in scientific terms.  

5 key components of biblical hermeneutics

As you try to interpret the meaning of the text, start by considering its context. Usually interpreters consider two aspects of context.

First, you have the historical context. You want to ask the question, “What did the text mean in its original situation?” Commentaries (or even book summaries at the beginning of a study Bible) can help shed light on the historical situation. Bible dictionaries with articles on specific biblical books can also help. 

In The Hermeneutical Spiral , Grant Osborne suggests four specific questions to consider when looking at the historical context.

• Who wrote the book?
• When was the book written?
• What group was the book addressing?
• What is the purpose or theme of the book?

Next, it’s important to consider the basic laws of language. Although knowing the original languages helps considerably with this step, students without that background can still benefit from looking at how the biblical writers structured their sentences. 

Commentaries will help you understand the grammar, but you don’t want to depend upon the exegesis of others. Comparing multiple Bible versions with varying translation strategies will help to make sure you aren’t leveraging a particular commentary writer’s grammatical approach.

Digital Bible tools can be extremely helpful as well. With apps like Logos , you can tap on a word in most English translations and see the word in its original language, along with information about the grammatical construction. At that point, you’re only a few taps away from grammar textbooks that can fill in the gaps about what the particular verb tense or noun declination means.

Readers trying to make a proper interpretation of a verse don’t need to note the grammatical construction of every single word but can focus on the key words in each verse, particularly the subject, verb, and important clauses.

3. Semantics

Word studies have become one of the most popular lay exegetical activities in recent years. One reason is that digital tools make word studies really easy. In The Hermeneutical Spiral , Osborne notes that semantics (determining word meanings) is a relatively young field in biblical studies. It dates back to the 19th century and didn’t move to the forefront until the 1950s.

Again, original language background (along with an expanding original language vocabulary) helps with semantics but many of the important skills aren’t dependent upon language knowledge. Mark Ward provides a great three-step guide that helps any Bible student dig into the words of Scripture:

• Look for a promising word. Find a word that if it’s better defined you’ll have a better sense of the passage—and can more effectively apply it to your life and the lives of those with whom you’re in community. 
• Identify the underlying Greek or Hebrew lemma. Greek and Hebrew words often have multiple English meanings. Try to identify the meaning particular to your passage.
• Find every instance of a particular Greek or Hebrew word. Digital tools can do this with a simple search function, but a good original language concordance will also do this. 

All of this can be done without extensive original language knowledge. Once you’ve discovered the usage of a word, you can then begin to look at it in context and get a better grasp of the meaning. Digital tools that allow you to review verses using a word’s various senses help with this as well.

When you look at the grammar of a verse or passage of the Bible, you’re focusing on the rules of how words relate with one another. The syntax relates to how the words are actually used. Syntax is about the relationship between words.

Sometimes studying the syntax of a verse simply means you look at a specific word and its place in the sentence. Is the noun being used as a subject or an object? How is the verb understood when it has God for the subject? How is it understood when the word has God for its object?

You can make these observations by looking through a concordance or with the help of digital tools, like Logos. 

Other times studying the syntax of a verse is looking deeper into the figures of speech used. In The Hermeneutical Spiral , Osborne defines six types of figures of speech to consider: 

• figures of comparison
• figures of addition or fullness of expression
• incomplete figures of speech
• figures involving contrast or understatement
• figures centering on association or relation
• figures stressing the personal dimension

Understanding which, if any, of these figures of speech are being used in the verse helps you to unlock its meaning.

5. Historical or cultural backgrounds

Understanding the background of a particular Scripture helps it come alive for Bible students. Osborne writes: “The stories and discourses of the Bible were never meant to be merely two-dimensional treatises divorced from real life. Every one was written within a concrete cultural milieu and written to a concrete situation. It is socio-scientific background studies that unlock the original situation that otherwise would be lost to the modern reader.”

A number of resources can help you understand a passage’s historical and cultural background. The IVP Bible Dictionaries can be particularly helpful because they include extensive articles on most important background topics. Commentaries can be helpful as well.

Resources for studying hermeneutics

Logos 9 Basic

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Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon

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Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics

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Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period

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Basic Bible Interpretation

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The IVP Bible Dictionaries (8 vols.)

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Interpreting biblical genres

The 66 books of the Bible are hardly monolithic and can’t be interpreted as if they are. While general hermeneutic principles apply throughout the Bible, specific strategies help us better interpret each genre of Scripture. Below are some of the unique strategies to use while interpreting various biblical genres. These strategies aren’t exhaustive, but they will help as you begin to explore hermeneutics based upon the biblical genre.

Although not all of the texts within the books of the Pentateuch are law (in fact, the Pentateuch is primarily narrative), all the instances of law in the Bible are within the Pentateuch. The law includes the biblical texts that make up the moral, civil, and ritual instructions for the people of Israel. Understanding which type of law you’re studying is a critical part of proper interpretation—particularly as you try to apply the law to contemporary society. 

In his book Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook , Peter Vogt tells readers to determine the nature of the legal requirement within the law. In other words, what is the law requiring or forbidding? Sometimes this is straightforward, but often it takes a detailed reading of the verse.

Then, Vogt says, Bible students should clarify what the law’s purpose was in Israel (the good of the community, maintain a sense of equity, protection, etc.). Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to apply the law’s purpose to your contemporary situation.

Narrative elements of the Bible are spread throughout the Old and New Testaments, including parts of the Pentateuch and the vast majority of the historical books of the Old Testament, along with the Gospels and the book of Acts in the New Testament. 

Writing for Insight for Living Canada, Steve Johnson explains , “Biblical narratives are interpreted history with a specific divine purpose. They are not allegories nor are they primarily intended to teach moral lessons or doctrine although they may illustrate doctrine taught propositionally elsewhere. Narratives may teach either explicitly, by clearly stating something, or implicitly, by clearly implying something without actually saying it.”

Interpreting narratives throughout the Bible hinges on understanding three elements. First, narratives have settings, which means they have a time and place. Understanding the settings means doing the historical background research on where and when the narrative takes place. Two distinct settings are important during the interpretation process—the setting of when the story takes place and the setting of when it’s written. Both impact the author’s meaning. 

Second, narratives have characters—both primary and secondary. In his book Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook , Robert Chisholm notes that it’s important to understand how the narrator evaluates the characters (so we know whether the character’s actions are intended as a model or a warning for us). Because the narrator of biblical texts tends to leave evaluation to the reader, this makes the interpretive task more difficult. 

Finally, it’s important to understand the plot—the sequence of events— within the narrative. Chisholm describes a number of different plot structures in the narratives of the Old Testament’s historical books, including tragedy, comedy, admiration story, reward story, etc. Understanding the structure helps you understand the part the narrative plays in the biblical book and overall story of Scripture.

When most Christians think of biblical poetry, they immediately focus on the Psalms, but there are a variety of songs and poems throughout the Bible. Still the vast majority of biblical poetry can be found in the Psalms. 

As you seek to interpret biblical poetry, start by identifying the type. In Logos, you can see the different types of poetry with each Psalm categorized according to its type. 

Writers used specific types of poetry in order to better communicate the poem’s message. 

Biblical poets almost always used a structure of parallelism to communicate their message. Generally, that means that in biblical poetry a line has correspondence with the next one. The challenge is usually trying to discern what that correspondence is. Sometimes, as with synonymous parallels, the second line simply repeats the first line a little differently.

Other times, as with antithetic parallelism, the second line is the opposite. Still others use a form of advancing parallelism, where the second line advances the message of the first. Understanding which of these methods is being used is critical to both interpretation and application of the text.

Most of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job are considered wisdom literature. Of all the genres of Scripture, wisdom literature has some of the most unique interpretive rules. Thus, it also includes some of the most misinterpreted Scripture in the biblical canon. 

Take for example biblical proverbs. In his book How to Read Proverbs , Tremper Longman III explains, “A proverb expresses an insight, observation, or advice that has been popularly accepted as a general truth. Indeed, a proverb can be so universally accepted as true that simply citing it is enough to end a conversation. But notice this: a proverb is only accepted as true if applied at the right time.”

While Proverbs are generally true, they aren’t designed to be absolute. Proverbs 22:6, which says, “Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it” (CSB), is generally true, but that doesn’t mean that when a child departs from the faith it is because his or her parents didn’t faithfully disciple the child as a youth. 

It’s also critical to understand the form of the wisdom literature. Sub-genres within wisdom literature include proverbs, extended didactic sayings, allegories, etc. Each has its own interpretive rules. 

Also, watch out for clear hyperbole in the text. Often wisdom literature writers use exaggeration to make a point. Osborne notes Proverbs 23:9–10 as an example of this in The Hermeneutical Spiral . While the saying reminds us that God will repay our sacrifices, it isn’t necessarily saying we will get rich in doing so. Osborne wrote, “Wisdom sayings are written in order to be remembered, and so they tend to be pithy statements that prefer rhetorical skill to accuracy.”

The prophetic books of the Old Testament contain some of the most quoted passages in the Bible—and some of the least understood. They include the major prophets—like Jeremiah and Isaiah—passages from which many Christians have committed to memory. They also include the minor ones—like Nahum, Haggai, and Micah—which many believers would struggle to find in their Bibles.  

Possibly the most important interpretive principle to consider when reviewing biblical prophecy is a general one that is particularly critical for this genre. Take note of the historical situation before considering contemporary application. Often the text itself alerts you to when the text was shared (usually prophetic texts were spoken before they were written). Take the time to understand what the prophet wanted to say to the people of his day. Identify a specific theme, and then apply that theme to the world of today.

Also, take the time to understand the passage as a part of the entire prophetic book. Prophecies in the Old Testament can often be misapplied when taken out of their logical progression. 

Because the Bible’s prophetic books were directed at Israel, God’s people of the Old Covenant, it’s important to consider his New Covenant people when interpreting it today. Think through what the specific prophecy says to the church today. How can God’s people corporately apply its warnings and encouragement as the church fulfills its mission in our communities and in our world?

Apocalyptic

Sometimes when biblical readers see the word apocalypse , they immediately think about the end times, but the word literally means to reveal or unveil something that is hidden . In this kind of biblical literature—most notably in Daniel and Revelation , but also spread out in various Old Testament passages—the biblical writer is given a vision of a transcendent reality. Paul Hanson writes in Visionaries and their Apocalypses , “The visions reverse normal experience by making the heavenly mysteries the real world and depicting the present crisis as a temporary, illusory situation. This is achieved via God’s transforming this world for the faithful.”

Most apocalyptic literature was written in a time of persecution of God’s people, which means it needs to be read with an underlying theme of hope. Apocalyptic writers were encouraging the faithful to remain committed to God’s ways despite the difficulties they were facing. Discovering how the text is presenting hope is one of your key interpretive challenges. 

Symbols play a major role in interpreting apocalyptic literature. To do that, you’ll need to dig into the historical meaning of these symbols. Because these texts are often focused on future events, it’s sometimes easy to forget that apocalyptic literature is written in a previous time and place. As you look at the symbols, spend some time unpacking what those symbols meant for the original readers—then you’ll have a better idea of what they mean today. Osborne writes,  “Yet in every case the author’s original meaning must predominate, for it is the key to the fulfillment.”

The letters of the New Testament contain some of the most important theological content in the 2,000+-year history of the church. Using proper hermeneutics when studying these letters is critical. In The Hermeneutical Spiral , Osborne calls letters “the most basic of the genre categories.” Yet, he notes, there are many unique “hermeneutical peculiarities” to them. 

Though some of Paul’s letters were personal in nature (Philemon, for example), most were meant to be read corporately—and often several times in several different locations. G. R. Osborne, in his article on “Hermeneutics” in the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters , writes: “Paul’s letters were more than personal reminiscences; they represented his presence in the community and were meant to be read again and again in the worship service. On the basis of Paul’s apostolic authority behind the letters, they possessed almost a creedal authority from the start.”

Maybe the most critical interpretive point to keep in mind as you study New Testament letters is that while letters were passed around to different churches, they had specific audiences and were addressing particular situations. The letter writer often provides clues to the situation within the text. Pay attention to these clues. While the letter has meaning beyond the original situation, the interpreter needs to start with the original meaning.

Often, as is the case with Paul’s letters to the churches in Corinth, the biblical letters are part of a string of correspondence. We don’t have access to any of the other pieces of this string of correspondence. Take this into consideration as you interpret these letters.

More related resources

Jesus in the old testament.

Jesus shows up in the Bible long before you get to the Gospels. Discover how to see the work and person of Jesus in the Old Testament.

The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Biblical Greek

Learn how to do a word study and other essentials of biblical Greek study in  The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Biblical Greek , a free guide by Dr. Mark Ward.

29 Bible Study Tools

Discover tools for reading the Bible more effectively.

The Hermeneutics Collection

This 12-volume collection of resources examines modern hermeneutical processes that can help you get a better grasp of the intended meaning of Scripture.

Introduction to biblical interpretation video lectures

Biblical scholars William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard provide a seminary-level overview of biblical hermeneutics. The course includes content on the history of biblical interpretation, guidelines for reading biblical poetry and prose, and insights for understanding and applying Scripture today.

Hermeneutics: a lifetime of study

Faithful students of the Bible will spend their lives learning to interpret God’s Word more faithfully. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.”  Every single time you open your Bible, you are interpreting the text, either effectively or ineffectively. The principles above will help, but choose today to never stop learning about this important topic.

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• What Is Exegesis & Why Is It Important? Plus, How to Start
• 3 Sanity Checks for Odd Bible Interpretations & Questions to Ask
• What’s the True Cost of Bad Biblical Interpretation?
• How What You Love Shapes How You Interpret the Bible
• Scripture in Scripture: Reading the Old Testament with the Apostles 
• How Can the Bible Be Interpreted ?
• Interpreting the Bible in 3 Simple Steps
• 9 Facts About Hermeneutics
• https://ref.ly/logosres/hermntclspiral?art=ch1.2&off=1374

Tobin Perry

Tobin Perry has spent over 20 years as a writer and editor for faith-based audiences. He has written for Christianity Today, Baptist Press, Saddleback Church, the North American Mission Board, and more. He has also served as a lead pastor of a small church in Southern Indiana and a church planting intern in Seattle, Washington. Tobin has a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Divinity degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (now Gateway Seminary). He lives in Evansville, Indiana with his wife and three children.

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The 2 Concepts of Time in the Bible

Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.

Key Points:

Different cultures have different perspectives about time. The Bible has different concepts of time than we might assume today. The New Testament (NT) has two main concepts of time represented by two Greek words:  chronos  ( χρόνος ) and  kairos  ( καιρός ). Chronos is about sequential time as we often think of it – clocks, calendars, and weekend plans. It’s where we get words like  chronological . Kairos is about the right season or occasion. Some Greek dictionaries define it as “appointed” time. Jesus came into the world on  kairos  time – precisely the right time . “Kairos time” is about a long-awaited hope coming to fruition, it is about  times  of prayer and worship, walking through one  season  of life into another, or  waiting  on God.

Quote This:

Matthew 26:18   “As you go into the city,”  he told them,  “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time [ kairos ] has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”

• What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
• Have you ever dealt with other cultures’ concepts of time? Explain.
• Have you ever felt like  chronos  time is overshadowing  kairos  time in your life? Explain.
• Give an example of a kairos time in your life. What happened?
• How do you think kairos time helps you remember God’s sovereignty in your life and in the world? Explain.
• Why do you think this topic is important for understanding the Bible? Why is it important for your life as a Christian?
• Write a personal action step based on this conversation.

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February 17, 2020

How Does the Bible Talk About Time?

I was reading a book recently that discussed our modern notion of time. The writer said that we have started to view time as a resource that we have possession of. We treat the minutes of our day much like we treat the dollars in our pocket, considering how we might spend what we mistake to be ours.

The writer says that this has produced “a kind of bondage to the clock.” [1]

But what does Scripture have to say about this? What kind of language does God’s Word use concerning time?

The Days are Evil

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16–17)

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encourages us to make “the best use” of time. This is so crucial because the days themselves are evil. What does this mean? It could mean that the world we live in is prone to evil. It could also mean that without any redemptive activity, the time span of a day itself does not lead anyone to Christ.

And what then is the best use of our time?

God Entrusts Us with Time

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? (Matthew 24:45)

Before I speak to the best use of our time, I must point out where time comes from. I associated time with money at the beginning of this article, and that is a good way to think about it. We know that money is a resource trusted to us by God Himself. Why should time be any different?

In the verse above, we see that there is a master of the household who trusts his faithful and wise servant. The trust here is not only to give out the food but also to give out the food at the proper time . The master of the household grants his servant the power of deciding when to do things.

We too must view our time as entrusted to us by God Himself. He has given us these things, and He expects us to make the best use of them. So what is the best use of the time we have been given?

Time is Fulfilled in Jesus Christ

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Although the days are evil, time can be fulfilled and redeemed. How? By repentance and by believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why? Because the past prophesied Christ (and our past included the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Christ), the future is all about Christ’s glory and reign, and so the present must follow suit and be all about Christ.

So, “making the best use of time” means glorifying Jesus Christ and bringing others to Him!

Night is Coming

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4)

What I want to highlight from this verse is the sense that some new kind of time is approaching. Jesus refers to it as “night” which is a scary thing if you consider that Jesus is the light of the world. So “night” then implies some new kind of time where the days are not only evil but completely dark.

The difference I am trying to convey is that in the first category, evil can be changed to good, while in the second category, the darkness is incapable of any change. Listen to Paul’s words in 2 Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching . (2 Timothy 4:1–3, italics added)

So, we must work to bring people to Christ now! And we expect the work to be very difficult because the “days are evil.”

“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

I find this progression to be a very helpful picture of the story of time from a biblical perspective. It is day, but the days are evil. What comes after day? Night. And what happens to people at night? They get tired, and they fall asleep.

There is nothing wrong with getting good sleep! Jesus is certainly not advocating for us to pull all-nighters as if we were energy drink–charged middle school students. This is figurative speaking for how things will change regarding the world’s relationship with God. The days are evil, but work can still be done. Night is coming, where no work can be done.

For the individual Christian, Jesus is urging us to not fall prey to this change in the times. He says, “stay awake at all times .” Meaning, even if the whole world around you has abandoned the truth of the gospel, follow Christ anyway.

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[1] Philip D. Kenneson, Life on the Vine (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 116.

Davis Wetherell

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Bible Interpretation: 4 Challenges and How to Overcome Them

• October 11, 2017
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You probably already know that the Bible was originally written to someone else who:

• lived a long time ago,
• in another part of the world,
• where they spoke a different language,
• and had different cultural values.

A word that captures one of the greatest challenges and frustrations in Bible interpretation is distance . There are four aspects to this distance: time, geography, language, and cultural values. Being aware of these is a critical step toward interpreting the Bible correctly.

In this post, adapted from William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard’s Introduction to Biblical Interpretation online course , we'll take a look at each of these.

1. There is a distance in time between when the events happened and when we read them

Consider first the distance of time between the ancient texts and our modern world. The writings and events in the Bible span many centuries, but more than 1,900 years have passed since its last words were written.

Not only has the world changed in substantial ways, but most of us lack essential information about the world “back then” or the process involved in producing the Bible’s various and diverse “books” within oral cultures. We may be at a loss to understand what a text means because it involves subjects far removed in the past.

Take a look at a few examples from Hosea 10. This chapter refers to:

• calf-idol of Beth Aven (v. 5);
• Assyria (v. 6);
• Ephraim (v. 6);
• “Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances” (v. 6);
• “the high places” (v. 8);
• “the evil doers in Gibeah” (v. 9);
• “a trained heifer” (v. 11); and
• “Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle” (v. 14)

What was a calf-idol or high places? Where were Beth Aven, Assyria, or Ephraim located? Are they within or outside Israel? What’s this about Gibeah or a trained heifer?

The distance of time between us and them makes it difficult to determine what Hosea 10 refers to.

Distance between when the events happened and when they were written down

Consider also the time between the time between when the Bible events occurred and the time when those events were written down. Here are a few examples:

Since the chronology in Genesis goes all the way to the death of the patriarch Joseph, earlier sections like Genesis 12–25 probably were composed, passed down orally, and eventually written into a text after their main character, Abraham, died.

At the creation of universe (Genesis 1), God was the only sentient being, and since Hebrew as a distinct language probably emerged ca. 1000 BC, obviously someone composed the creation account after that date.

Prophetic literature

We may locate the ministry of the prophet Amos in the mid-eighth century BC, but it is very likely that his oral messages were preserved and then eventually collected into the biblical book bearing his name by someone else at a later date.

The same is true for many of the other prophets.

Though Jesus’ ministry probably spanned the years AD 27–30, our Gospels were not written until several decades later. Jesus’ words were preserved (mostly) orally and then translated into Greek before being committed to the writings we call the Gospels.

This means that our interpretations must reckon with both the situation at the time Amos or Jesus originally spoke and the circumstances in which later people preserved, passed on, compiled, and, finally, wrote down their words.

Certainly, both Jews and Christians cared deeply about preserving and transmitting their traditions accurately.

Yet the believing communities (Israel and the church), as well as the final authors’ unique perspectives and their goals for writing, influenced what they felt was important, what deserved emphasis, and what might be omitted.

In this process the writers were mindful of their readers and the effects they hoped to produce in them.

Certainly, some of the biblical authors were eyewitnesses and wrote out of their own experiences (such as Isaiah and Paul).

Others incorporated additional sources into their eyewitness accounts (such as the author of Acts).

Still others had little or no personal contact with the people and events about which they wrote (Luke, in the case of the third Gospel).

Once we recognize that many of the biblical writers employed or edited preexisting materials (and sometimes, several renditions alongside each other), then we must evaluate the roles and motives of these editors.

For example, if we surmise that Matthew hoped to persuade Jews in his community not to repeat the mistake of Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries by rejecting Jesus as Messiah, we have a better appreciation of his constant use of Old Testament quotes and allusions. His message to that particular audience shouts that Jesus is the Messiah.

The books of the Bible are literary pieces, carefully crafted to achieve their purposes, not transcripts or merely cut-and-paste collections put together naively, haphazardly, or even chronologically.

2. There is distance in geography .

Another challenge to correct Bible interpretation is geographical distance.

Unless we have had the opportunity to visit the places mentioned in the Bible, we lack a mental, visual databank that would aid our understanding of certain events.

Of course, even if we could visit all the accessible sites (and many Christians have), few of them retain the look (and none, the identical culture) they had in biblical times. We have seen satellite dishes stationed next to Bedouin tents in the Negev!

In other words, we have difficulty picturing why the Assyrians came “up” from Lachish to Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:17) and why the New Testament speaks of people going “up” to Jerusalem from Caesarea (Acts 21:12) or “down” from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30) unless we know the differences in elevation.

Perhaps less trivial, though in many parts of the world graves are excavated “down” into the earth, in Palestine graves often were dug into limestone outcroppings (or existing caves were used and were scaled with a stone). So the phrase, “he was gathered to his people/fathers” (Gen 49:29, 33; 2 Kgs 22:20), may have originated from the practice of collecting the bones of the deceased after the flesh had decomposed and putting them in a location with those of the ancestors (perhaps in an ossuary, though this is not certain).

Likewise, knowledge of geography helps us understand why Jonah, in seeking to avoid God’s call to prophesy against Assyria (to the northeast of Israel), headed for Tarshish (far to the west of Israel).

3. There is distance in language .

The language gap between the biblical world and our own further challenges the task of biblical interpretation.

The writers of the Bible wrote in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Hellenistic Greek.

And Jesus likely spoke Aramaic.

These languages are inaccessible to most people today even though they may have their modern descendants.

For example, Hebrew and Greek have different forms for masculine and feminine nouns, pronouns, and verbs, so English “you” hides whether the Hebrew or Greek word it translates is singular or plural and masculine or feminine. The plural “they” could also be either gender, as is true in English.

We are also relatively unfamiliar with the literary conventions of the ancient authors. We depend upon trained biblical scholars to translate the biblical languages and their literary devices into our native tongues, but their work is necessarily interpretive.

In addition, the desire to supply “gender neutral” or “inclusive” versions makes the translation process even more complex.

In short, the distances between the various biblical worlds and our own require careful historical study if we are to understand the meaning of words in the Bible.

4. There is distance in culture .

Another challenge of distance is the cultural distance that separates us from the world of the biblical texts.

The biblical world was essentially agrarian, made up of landowners and tenant farmers using machinery that was primitive by our standards and methods of travel that were slow and wearying. On the pages of the Bible we encounter customs, beliefs, and practices that make little sense to us.

For example:

• Why would people in the ancient world anoint priests and kings, and sick people, with oil?
• What is the sandal custom for the redemption and transfer of property mentioned in Ruth 4:6–8?
• What was the point of the Levitical purity laws or the many other seemingly pointless requirements? For example, Leviticus 19:19 seems to rule out most of the garments we wear today: “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” What about today’s polyester and wool blends?
• And why were tattoos forbidden in Leviticus 19:28? Are they still?

Literate vs. Oral Culture

In addition to factors such as these, we hasten to add a feature mentioned earlier: these people existed as parts of oral cultures.

A majority of people in the ancient world were illiterate; only a minority, especially among the elites or scribes, knew how to read, with a fewer number able to write.

It’s virtually impossible for us in literary, digital, visual, and electronic worlds to comprehend a world with few or no written texts, and the inability of most people to read those that did exist.

Modern understanding affecting ancient significance

In addition, how we think about certain things may so color our understanding of ancient customs that we miss their significance.

For example, what does “head covering” mean in 1 Corinthians 11:4–16? Are we to understand this in terms of some kind of head scarf? After reading some translations we may assume that Paul refers to veils, so we envision the veil or hijab that Middle Eastern Muslim women wear today. Yet some commentators insist that hairstyles, not veils are in view here. We need more information to understand properly how Paul viewed this issue and why it was important.

Likewise, a western concern for cleanliness might not help (it might even hinder) our understanding of the Pharisees’ practice of ceremonial washing (Mark 7:3–5). We must inform ourselves if we are to understand properly the customs and concepts of the biblical world that are foreign to us.

We cannot simply pick up the Bible and read it like a familiar book.

Reading modern cultural assumptions into the Bible

Finally, we must be aware that the grid of our cultural values and priorities sometimes may inadvertently lead us to adopt an interpretation that is not present in the text.

For example, in the Western world individualism pervades our thinking. As a result we may impose an individualistic framework on texts that that author intended to have a corporate meaning.

For instance, readers familiar with modern contests between individuals might view the battle between the boy David and the Philistine Goliath as simply two enemies going “one-on-one” (1 Sam 17).

In fact, the episode follows the ancient custom of “representative combat” in which armies let a winner-take-all contest between two soldiers decide the victorious army rather than slaughter each other on the battlefield. Each contestant competes as if he were the whole army.

Similarly, some readers conclude that in 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 Paul’s reference to God’s temple instructs individual Christians. As a result, they explore how Christians can build proper spiritual qualities in their personal lives (certainly not a bad practice).

Yet this reads individualism into the passage despite clear indicators that Paul is referring to the corporate body of Christ as a temple in which God’s Spirit dwells. Christians together form one temple—on a local or worldwide level.

In the metaphor, Paul cooperates in building the church (1 Cor 3:10). He urges his readers to exert their efforts to unity, to build up the body of Christ, the church, not tear it down through their divisions. He does use the same metaphor individually in 6:19, but we should not read that meaning back into chapter 3.

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Happy Passover 2024! When is Pesach? What is The Haggadah? A Seder meal? How to celebrate

Passover is nearly here and the Jewish holiday plays an important role in Judaism , according to myjewishlearning.com .

Only unleavened bread or "matzo" must may be eaten during the celebratory Jewish festival, according to britannica.com . Matzo symbolizes "the Hebrews' suffering while in bondage and the haste with which they left Egypt in the course of the  Exodus ."

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Here's what you need to know about Passover:

When is Passover 2024?

Passover begins at sundown Monday, April 22 and ends at sundown on Tuesday, April 30, in 2024, according to almanac.com .

What is Pesach?

Pesach is the Hebrew word for Passover, according to myjewishlearning.com . The name comes from the miracle in which God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the 10th plague.

What is the meaning of Passover?

Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, according to britannica.com . The holiday also recognizes the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites − the “passing over” of the forces of destruction − when the Lord “smote the land of Egypt” on the eve of the  Exodus .

How is passover celebrated?

Passover is a ceremonious occasion to rejoice in Judaism, especially during the first family meal or Seder, according to britannica.com .

Foods of symbolic significance are consumed, while prayers and traditional recitations are performed. Strict dietary laws are observed and special prohibitions restrict work at the beginning and end of the festival.

How long is Passover?

Biblicial command dictates Passover last for 7 days, according to chabad.org . The festival begins on  Nissan 15 , while the first and seventh days are observed as  yom tov − a period when work is not performed.

When is 2024 Kentucky Derby?: What to know on date, start time, horses, outfits

When does Passover 2024 start?

Passover starts at sundown on Monday, April 22.

When does Passover 2024 end?

Passover ends at sundown on Tuesday, April 30.

What is The Haggadah?

The Haggadah is a book − meaning the "telling" − that is read during the Passover Seder, according to reformjudaism.org .

What is a Seder?

The Seder dinner is a Jewish ritual celebrated during the first two nights of Passover, according to myjewishlearning.com :

There are three fundamental patterns of the Seder − the family, the individual and the nation.

"The Seder permits Jews to worship God through prayer, study and learning by taking part in what is essentially a lesson of Jewish history, literature and religion. Participation in the seder lets one symbolically and vicariously relive the Exodus," the website states.

When is the first Seder of 2024 Passover?

The first Passover Seder begins at sundown on Monday, April 22, according to myjewishlearning.com.

When is the second Seder of 2024 Passover?

The second Passover Seder is Tuesday, April 23, according to myjewishlearning.com.

What are the 6 parts of a Seder plate?

The six parts of a Seder plate include beitzah, charoset, chazeret, karpas, maror and zeroa, according to reformjudaism.org .

What is beitzah in Passover Seder?

The word literally means “egg,” according to reformjudaism.org . The Passover Seder plate item represents the Passover sacrifice from biblical times and symbolizes the spring season.

What is charoset in Passover Seder?

A part of the Passover Seder consisting of fruits, nuts, spices and wine, according to reformjudaism.org . The color and consistency reminds Jews of the bricks and mortar used by Israelite slaves.

What is chazeret in Passover Seder?

A vegetable − usually romaine lettuce − that is used in addition to maror on the Seder plate, according to reformjudaism.org .

What is karpas in Passover Seder?

Karpas is a green herb or vegetable − such as parsley, celery or watercress − which symbolizes spring and rebirth as part of the Passover Seder, according to reformjudaism.org .

What is maror in Passover Seder?

The word literally means "bitter," according to reformjudaism.org . Maror is the bitter herb or vegetable − such as horseradish − that symbolizes "the bitter plight of enslaved Israelites" for the Passover Seder.

What is zeroa in Passover Seder?

Zeroa is the shank bone "symbolizing the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in biblical times," according to reformjudaism.org . Chicken neck is a common substitute, as is beets for vegetarians.

Chris Sims is a digital content producer at Midwest Connect Gannett. Follow him on Twitter:  @ChrisFSims .