Hermeneutics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The way we read the Bible is our hermeneutic. It's an old Greek word and is used by scholars of literature and philosophy to mean the principle of interpretation. Holy Scripture is meant to be interpreted with the help of the whole community of those who have faith in Jesus Christ. For Jesus is our principle of interpretation.

Even a child knows that not all passages of Scripture are to be treated with the same emphasis or value. Jesus himself interprets some Old Testament texts such as "an eye for an eye." (Exodus 21:24 and other texts) In Matthew 5:38-39 Jesus says, "you have heard it said An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist and eveil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." In this way, Jesus interprets the text in a way that almost reverses the meaning.

In the story of the resurrection appearance of Jesus with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) Jesus interprets the scriptures to those who did not know him. "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (v. 27) The Greek word translated as "explained" or "expounded" is the Greek word di-ermeneuo.

From the point of view of the Christian tradition, stretching all the way back to the Middle Ages, the church has moved away from a literalistic reading of Scripture toward a reading "through the lens of Jesus Christ" who himself is the only Word of God. At the very beginning of the Gospel of John it is written, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God...The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth." (verses 1& 14)

The Word of God

This phrase has a double meaning in the Church. First and foremost, Jesus Christ is the One Word of God (John 1:1). The Bible is, as Martin Luther put it, the authoritative"witness to the Word" but, technically, not the Word itself. This is an important point for how we read Scripture. We read all of Scripture through our faith in Christ Jesus. The Community of the faithful (both that community that exists today as well as all the saints who have gone before us) helps us read and interpret the Bible. We read the scriptural Word of God through the Word of God who is Jesus.

See the discussion above.