Bible Controversies come from our Hermeneutics

Many of the modern controversies surrounding the Bible—for example, human sexuality, creationism and the “openness” of God—revolve around questions concerning hermeneutics. The science of hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation. In Greek mythology the god Hermes was the messenger of the gods. It was his task to interpret the will of the gods. Hence hermeneutics deals with conveying a message that can be understood.

The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. It is a well-developed science that can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation, and thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. I will restrict our present study to the most important and basic rules and guidelines.

Historically the United States has a special agency that theoretically functions as the supreme board of hermeneutics for our land. That agency is called the Supreme Court. One of its primary tasks is to interpret the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is a written document and requires such interpretation.