It’s interesting that you bring up the topic of hermeneutics. That seems to be a central issue in many if not all of the major doctrinal controversies. I’ve been in several conversations recently related to the question of hermeneutics. Naturally, differing hermeneutics lead to different conclusions, so having a sound and consistent hermeneutic is of fundamental importance.

That being said, how should one decide which hermeneutic to use? If I evaluate a hermeneutic based on whether or not I like the conclusions to which it leads, then I am following my own wisdom rather than listening to God.

If choosing the correct hermeneutic is crucial to my salvation, then wouldn’t God give us instruction on that?

I am no expert on hermeneutics. But as someone who has thought about this for quite awhile, it seems to me that the Bible is designed to be understood in a less formal way. Elementary teachings are plain on their face value. Other teachings we understand in new light as we meditate on them in the context of real life experiences. Different people will learn from the scriptures at different rates and in different sequences. At any point in time we will have arrived at different subsets of the truth, mingled with different sets of misunderstandings and ignorance. It seems to me that this has to be anticipated as normal. It must not be contrary to what Jesus prayed for in John 17, and what Paul admonished for in 1 Cor 1.

If God had wanted to give us a checklist he certainly could have done so. Instead he seems to want us to wrestle with discovering his will over the course of our lives.

Peter admonished his readers of the peril of distorting Paul’s teachings (as well as the other scriptures). He did not rebuke people for finding them hard to understand. Maybe there is a hint of a hermeneutic there…the hermeneutic of the onion?

Alan