Thursday, August 17, 2006
INTERPRETATION
Extreme care must be exercised in the interpretation of the parables that that the true understanding of Jesus’ teaching is discovered in its purity. This is so we do not slip into allegory as many have done in the past. Lewis Johnson prefaces his exposition with two proverbs: Prov, 26:7 Like the legs which hang down from the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Prov. 26:9 Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. He then says, “The proverbs are enough to deter the most intelligent of interpreters, how much more the common lot of them!” He then says, “We shall attempt to be careful in the treatment of them.” I am in total agreement with him in that there is caution in the explanation of the parables that no unwarranted meaning is forced into the text. The allegorist would micromanage the text that every detail represented something. We shall look only to the surface of the text.
# posted by Castusfumus : 5:32 PM
