by Brett Selby Feb 7, 2017
Presuppositions are starting places.
When we begin any task, we assume certain things, and many of them are held
unconsciously. Although they are subtle and often undetected, they will guide
any endeavor to a particular conclusion even if that object was not the
intended one.
So, let’s say that I want to be a
Bible teacher and preacher. Where do I start? How do I begin my work?
Our posture toward Scripture is
crucial. First, we must be
absolutely committed to, as David Helm says it, “staying on the line of
Scripture.” We dare not say less than God says in His Word, neither can
overreach and say more. The latter is liberalism, the former is legalism, and
both kill the life and vitality of a church. This is how we have to orient
ourselves in relation to the Bible.
Second, we must
believe that Scripture is God speaking to us in the present tense. Hebrews
3:7-8 is intriguing in this regard. “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness.” This is a quote from Psalm 95 but
notice in what tense the Holy Spirit is speaking. It isn’t the past tense but
the present: “as the Holy Spirit says…” God speaks in the present
through ancient words. This is a powerful conviction and the possession of it
changes everything in the way an expositor handles the text.
Given these presuppositions, how do
I begin my work? Our tendency is to begin by asking, “What am I going to say
about this text?” And that is the wrong question and the wrong place to begin
the work. Instead, we must ask, “How did this text function in its original
setting? What did the writer intend when he put it together–under the direction
of the Holy Spirit–in this way?”
No comments:
Post a Comment