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| Which End of the Telescope Do You Look Through? |
| The question posed in the title of this article seems like a dumb question, doesn’t it? You look into the eyepiece, or the telescope gives you a very warped view of what you are looking at. When you learned mathematics, did you begin with Calculus? Or did you begin with addition and subtraction? You began not with theoretical mathematics, but with the fundamental basics of math. First you learned addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division, then plane geometry, algebra, trigonometry, then calculus. The facts and axioms (or self-evident truths) you learned in the fundamentals of addition and subtraction, etc. did not change as you advanced in mathematics: they remained constant and true. Laws and axiomatic truths allow you to understand the more complex reasonings as you progress. What would happen if someone tried to understand calculus first, and interpret addition and subtraction from their understanding of theoretical mathematics? Impossible you say? You need to understand the basics to understand the more complex. When it comes to learning things in the world, we understand the need to grasp the basics before trying to grasp the more difficult problems. You do not reject or change the fundamentals, you use them to build upon. Yet, when it comes to understanding the Bible, many people fail to utilize this universal principle. They try to harmonize the teaching of the Bible from the difficult and complex to the basic, rather than understanding the fundamentals and making the more difficult and complex to agree with these. They are, in essence, looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Nowhere is this more evident than when someone develops a theory about the interpretation of prophecy given in signs and symbols (especially Daniel and Revelation), and then seeks to make the more basic and fundamental parts of the Scripture to agree with their preconceived notions. The simple and plain teachings of the Gospels and Acts are spiritualized and made figurative, when there is no reason not to take the statements as literal. There are two words I learned years ago, two-dollar words to express a nichol idea: Eisegesis and Exegesis. Eisegesis is when I read into the word of God what I want to see there. Exegesis is when the word of God is allowed to speak, and the will and expression of God is taken from, or out of, the passage. Too many people make up their minds what the Bible says before they read it. They make the Bible say what they want it to say, rather than look to see what God says in the Bible. The result of searching for our own ways is a departure from the fundamentals of the Scripture. A departure from the fundamentals leads from the respect and attitude that should be shown toward God. Resulting in sinfulness and wickedness. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:15-18 KJV) |