With the selection last night of a Supreme Court nominee who is well known as a Constitutional originalist, I am reminded of the importance of “original intent” when interpreting the Bible.
The legal meaning of original intent is the theory of interpretation by which judges attempt to ascertain the meaning of the constitution by determining how it was understood at the time it was drafted and ratified.
Biblically, it is fundamentally important to determine the original intent of a scripture when seeking to interpret its meaning. That means looking at who said it, who was the audience, and what meaning the audience of the time would have drawn from the words. We should never give meaning to a scripture that the original audience would not have understood.
We can avoid cultural misinterpretations by learning a little bit about the history of the times. We can also avoid taking the meaning out of context by looking closely at the scriptures that come before and after the scripture we are seeking to interpret.
Fortunately, we are not without the aid of the Holy Spirit when we read the Bible! Remember John 14:26 –
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
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