THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

                    When reading the New Testament many start with the wrong perspective:  they assume that the New Testament was written to them.  Please don't misunderstand - - the New Testament documents are alive and well and designed to educate for eternity.  It is vitally important that we approach them with an ear to hear - - as if these inspired writings were speaking to us.  They are, but not in the first person.  We are but secondary readers.  The primary and original recipients of the gospels and epistles were real people and groups of people who lived in the first century.   If we fail to push off from this important starting block our means of grasping its truths will go awry.

                    I was blessed in the days of my youth to have some really good Bible teachers.  My beloved mentor Marvin Jacobs (who's eulogy I spoke this past January) was fond of challenging his students to read the New Testament through first-century glasses.  From the time that I was first in double digits I heard him echo this critical directive scores of times, perhaps hundreds.  It wasn't that he was hung up on a catchy phrase, he knew the significance of reading with the RIGHT perspective.  Marvin was a Harding University graduate with a triple major in Bible, Greek and mathematics.  Such may seem like an odd trio of credentials, but it served him well in using logic in ascertaining truth.  This oft-repeated mantra has also served me well over forty-five years of teaching and preaching.  I shall be forever grateful for his guidance in sharing this all-important hermeneutical principle.  Hermeneutics is the science of interpreptation, especially as it applies to the Holy Scriptures.  Jake's instructions gave me vital direction during the formative years of my life and it continues to be an ever-present compass in my approach to studying the sacred text.

                    Marvin's observation to read the Bible from the right perspective is sound in every way.  In our approach to studying Scripture, it is necessary to ask the “W” questions:  who wrote it? … when was it written? … to whom was it written? … and why was it written?   If we ignore or disregard these initial inquiries, we will quickly find ourselves in a textual morass - - on soggy ground that invites all manner of perplexities.  Some scholars are keen on pointing out that the New Testament literature is a collection of “occasional” documents.  By this they are simply emphasizing that each and every New Testament book was occasioned by real events.  In other words, the New Testament authors were re-sponding to questions asked and/or trials encountered which invited a written response.  One can seen this clearly in the writings of Paul.  In 1Cor.5:1, he writes, it has been reported to me...  In 1Cor.7:1, he adds, Now concerning the things about which you wrote...  cf. 1Cor.8:1; 12:1 & 16:1.  Our New Testament did not evolve out of thin air - - it came into existence (was occasioned by) from a response to a multitude of questions.  Luke begins his gospel this way:   Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us...It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out to you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught... (Lk.1:1 & 3).

                    In conclusion, it goes without saying that the way we start can determine (for good or bad) the way we finish.  If we start our studies with the correct objective, to seek the truth of what was originally written, we will be richly blessed!  However, to begin in error - - with closed eyes or with preconceived notions - - will result in frustrations at best, and at worst - - a total misinterpretation (wresting/2Pet.3:16 in KJV) of the sacred volume. 

                                                                                                    Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ