Handout - Western Christadelphian Bible School

Session 1: Learning From The Word
Deciding whether a Bible teaching is a “fundamental” is not always easy. Sometimes
subjective elements creep into our discussions. What appears absolutely vital to one may be
less so to another. Settling these differences can be a vexing business.
It is helpful to have tools for deciding the significance of a particular idea being considered.
One such tool is to know how a conclusion has been reached. Then the importance of the
conclusion can be assessed in terms of the strength - or weakness - of the method used in
arriving at it. In this discussion we’ll review the methods used to arrive at conclusions from
scripture and then attempt to rate them according to their “reliability”.
To most of us, the “reliability” of an idea drawn from scripture is beyond question. But
while scripture itself has an exact meaning, our ability correctly to understand that meaning
is sometimes faulty. Hence the need to assess the limits of validity of a conclusion. To
illustrate:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ruler A
Object Being Measured
11 + -
1
4 Units
11 +
- 1 Units
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ruler B
1 Both rulers give the object's length as being nearest to 11 Units.
1
2 Ruler A tells us that the length is closer to 11 Units than it is to 10 or 111
.
2 2
3 Ruler B tells us that the length is closer to 11 Units than it is to 10 or 12.
4 Ruler A is a better instrument than Ruler B because there is less uncertainty
associated with its reading.
The reader may wonder what this has to do with the Bible. The answer is that learning
anything from the Bible, even fundamentals, involves a process that is somewhat like taking
measurements. If we use an “accurate ruler” we are entitled to draw conclusions that carry a
correspondingly small range of uncertainty. If we can only use a “rough guide” our result
will be more uncertain. In the first case our conclusions will demand greater respect as
“fundamental” than in the second.
There seem to be only four methods used in learning from the Bible. Each will be discussed
in turn, with examples; and then an attempt will be made to assess the uncertainty associated
with conclusions drawn by use of each.
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