So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:19-21).

In the 1980’s I attended a small Southern Baptist College. This was during the conflict between the conservatives and moderates (liberals?) about the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. In our “Gospels” class, I remember telling a small group that the future debate would not be about verbal inspiration or inerrancy, but about hermeneutics. Thirty years later, that statement has proved to have been prophetic.

I often tell ministerial candidates that we must know what the Bible says and what it means. Each year in our Ministerial Internship Program I require our candidates to read a Civil War era pro-slavery article written by a southern Presbyterian minister. Then I ask, “Is slavery sinful?” and “Why?” This leads to a prolonged discussion about how to understand the Bible. Last year, during the discussion I polled the candidates by asking, “How many of you believe the Bible justifies slavery?” To my surprise, the majority agreed. They believed that the Bible justifies slavery because they hold to a simplistic literalist hermeneutic: “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it!” I have many objections with this way of reading the Bible, not the least of which is that it means that we don’t have to think.

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