The Use of Scripture in Theology
This five page paper was written for Dr. David Luy’s (Program Head of Biblical and Systematic Theology, 2020-2022), Use of Scripture and Theology Masters course at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The purpose was to write a summary of selective basic points of how Scripture is used in theology.
The use of Scripture in theology has been a conversation over the centuries from different thinkers and believers. The canonical Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is important because it enculturates our perspective of the indivisible triune God, ourselves, and the world. Because theology is the study of God, there must be diligence and faithfulness in interpreting the Word which He has given for us to know and love Him. Understanding how thinkers move from Scripture to the formation of a theological framework is essential to a true apprehension of the truth of God in its purpose, pedagogy, and praxis.
The Purpose of the Use of Scripture and Theology
The crux of Scripture’s intent and purpose is to communicate the heart of God so that it would be displayed in such a way that translates and immerses readers into the reality of His love for all He has created. Scripture intentionally projects and invites readers into a moral-theological vision that relays an understanding of reality. Reading theologically allows the embracing of Scripture’s agency and agenda to work in us. The task of the reader is to apprehend, embrace, contemplate, proclaim, and enact it.
How does one apprehend, embrace, and contemplate the Scriptures correctly?
When considering how to read the Scriptures to know God and the reality of His love, it is crucial to consider the embedded horizon woven into the fabric of a text. The impulse is to read the Bible through a lens from our own perspective and worldview. However, because we have a divine book of over 40 authors written over the time of 1500 years, understanding the embedded DNA plays a substantial role in constructing the metanarrative and its purpose.
Some Preunderstandings are Helpful for Immersion in the Text. God communicates knowledge of Himself through auxiliaries, primarily the Bible. When reading the Scriptures for its purpose of knowing God, one must submit to the authority of the Scriptures as God-breathed, therefore being absolute truth; Having a preconception that the Word is trustworthy and reliable. Although some preunderstandings are helpful when encountering the horizon of biblical texts, not all preunderstandings aid in sound interpretation from errant humankind. The natural man can only be immersed in the latter preunderstandings through God’s expression of Himself through His Word, His beloved Son whom He gave, and through the Holy Spirit.
The Role of the Holy Spirit. However true the Word of God is, the Holy Spirit is the active agent which makes the natural man (1 Cor 2:13) hear and know by verbum externum and verbum internum, language operations of the Holy Spirit.
Understanding Context in its Canonical Shaping. Understanding is dependent on context. Context is communicated to the reader through the cultural moment of the biblical author’s narratives and the time of events that take place. One would read the Old Testament differently than if one was reading the New Testament based on the culture and nature of the genres within Scripture. The canonical structure of the Bible includes different genres from Narrative/Historical, Wisdom, Poetry, Prophecy, Gospels, and Letters. There is one linear metanarrative circling the Messianic Christ within all of the genres and covenant texts.
Old Testament. Though Old Testament and New Covenant Scriptures differ in certain aspects, both equate in weight of importance and share continuity in the overall good news of God. The Old Testament is a maze of evidence to the Gospel message; it plays as a matrix of symbols pointing to Jesus, signifying His truth and eternal glory. Moses, though from the Old Testament and within the Old Covenant, was a model of faith that enhances our vision of God. The Old Testament is fundamental to our understanding of God’s character. It, therefore, should be included in the teaching of the Gospel to help affirm the theme of promise and God’s divine revelation. Jesus participated in using the Old Testament to communicate the gospel, which had come to fruition through Him (Luke 24:13-47), and was to be continued by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:48, John 14:16-17). Scripture’s intertextual use of Scripture does not end at proving the Old Testament’s relevance in the timeline of the Church today. Scriptures intentionally unravel from the Old Testament to the New Testament to display God’s limitless power and faithfulness.
New Testament. The New Testament assists in the grand metanarrative by uncovering the divine revelation of God through Jesus and His purpose to make all things new. The Gospels, narratives, apocalyptic literature, and letters relay the heart of God and His intent that had been distorted by those entertained by the world and those full of unbelief.
The Pedagogy of Church History
Part of knowing God comes with the epistemological sphere of fellow saints in the faith with varied pedagogical approaches. Discourse of hermeneutical principles, ontology, theological development of doctrines, and orthopraxic inferences have dominated the conversations of the faith-life. There is joy in the aptitude of truth-seeking wisdom therefore, many believers have taken up the quest of defining the rule of faith, the hermeneutical process, and the relationship tradition has within the context of interpretive methods.
The Rule of Faith
The rule of faith is a method using creedal formulations that assist in outlining the central orthodox beliefs from Scripture that have been historically biblical and also used to refute heretical scriptural interpretations.
Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the process of interpreting a particular text to extract an idea that engages with its theological framework. Interpreting the biblical text is a conversation filled with several contributing voices based on religious background, association, experiences, and denominational churches. Within the realm of interpretation, every background agrees there is such a thing as special and general hermeneutics. General hermeneutics is the interpretation of texts generally. Special hermeneutics is interpreting special kinds of texts for a particular purpose, like the Bible. Both work together to exegete the divine Scriptures to make sense of it.
Tradition
Although tradition should not replace the foundation of Scripture’s primary filter of truth, it should neither be omitted from the value of doctrinal development and venture for truth-seeking wisdom. Tradition from the Early Church to today’s variety of denominations and its history trails a legacy of God’s work through fallible sinners. Good things have come from common men and women because God did so. Tradition has had its fair share of error, but it has also imprinted on generations the values of God, and His care for the sacred and divine.
Non-Canonical Texts. Extra-biblical or non-biblical texts should not be out of the conversation. There is immense value in literature, liturgies, and historical artifacts of information that increase our theological understanding.
The Role of the Interpreter
When we conform our minds and pattern our thoughts to the revelation embedded in the prophetic and apostolic scriptures, our understanding will be illuminated by the Holy Spirit (Ps 36:9), being one mind with Christ (1 Cor 2:16).
The Obscurity of the Scriptures.
There is a tendency to require definitive knowledge of God in certain aspects of Scripture, so formulating theological propositions benefits our compartmentalization of comprehension. Though desiring a tangible epistemological stance on a particular passage or doctrine is admirable, it is not always necessary. It is freeing to understand the finite nature of man and, in contrast, rejoice at the omniscience of God.
Praxis is the Mission of Theology
Though correct understanding of the Scriptures is a primary concern, our main objective is to labor for the Lord and gather many disciples to enter into His Kingdom. Active engagement in the text is required to persist and persevere in God’s true purpose for theology. The theologian's task is to grow in faith and invite others to this faith.
Scripture’s Implications in Knowing God
The theologian's task is to communicate the love of God they know to be true through personal experience and encounters with God, through His Word and the world. It begins with an orthodox understanding of the Scriptures that have been tested and examined through the centuries. It then moves to the hands, heart, and feet of serving God through the lens of compassion and care for the world. God loves the world and desires for it to know Him and all those who occupy it. Love is the center of God’s desire to reveal Himself to us. In retrospect, His beloved should also value His gift of love and persevere in communicating it. The use of Scripture in theology intersects with the motive of love, and is further established through the faithful interpretation of the Scriptures, keeping in mind its ultimate purpose of fulfilling the law of love by loving God and neighbor (Mark 12:30-31).
John Webster, The Domain of the Word: Scripture and Theological Reason (T&T Clark, 2012), 119.
Charles M. Wood, The Formation of Christian Understanding (Trinity Press Intl, 1993), 53-54.
Richard Hays, Reading Backwards (Baylor University Press, 2014) , 92.
Martin Luther, How Christians Should Regard Moses (1525), Luther’s Works: Word and Sacrament (Muhlenberg Press, 1960), 174.
Todd Billings, The Word of God for the People of God (Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company, 2010), 32-38.
See David S. Yaego, From Ch.6 “ The New Testament and the nicene Dogma: A Contribution to the Recovery of Theological Exegesis, The Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Blackwell Publishers, 1997), 97.
Augustine (354-430).