Hermeneutics, Life, and Death

Someone asked me the other day, “What’s hermeneutics?”

I explained to her that it is the science of interpretation of a text, and that in our circles it refers to the interpretation of the Bible.

I also told her that the difference between proper hermeneutics and improper hermeneutics can be the difference between life and death.

I was not being overdramatic.

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Early in our parenting journey I was given a small booklet which proposed to me that the key to parenting success was the art of the rod. Moving from the proverb which promises a spoiled child to the parent who spares the rod, this booklet taught that the biblical method of parenting demanded frequent and forceful spankings.

Once vulnerable and trusting young Christian parents are told such things, they may just believe them. I did. For a time.

The problem is that the passage does not demand spankings but discipline, and a broader reading of scripture calls for an attitude of grace which views children as God’s image bearers and not as mere Pavlovian dogs or Skinnerian objects.

The difference between the booklet’s understanding and that of the above paragraph is not merely one of ‘point of view’. The differences are rooted in a proper and an improper hermeneutic practice.

And this difference is deadly.

I early saw the fallacy in the ‘beat them into godliness’ school. I also learned that my baser nature made me an untrustworthy bearer of the rod. But though I have grown in my understanding, others have not. I have been blind to the horrible damage, the unconscionable acts, which have been perpetrated in the name of such ‘biblical’ parenting.

Here, here, here, here, and here, my good and gifted friend TulipGirl has shared the sad, sad news of a case of child abuse which resulted in death. This case involves Christian parents who are the followers of such methods. They did not spare the rod, and as a result, a child is not spoiled, but dead.

TulipGirl has written passionately and articulately about this particular tragedy. If you have not done so already, go read what she has written. If you are a follower of Christ, weep not only for the children, but for the honor and reputation of Christ.

If you follow her links, you will see this tragedy set in the larger context of the frightening power wielded by the unrepentant teachers of such false systems. TulipGirl does not relish the role of the confrontationist, and she makes every effort to speak fairly and with grace. But if the name Pearl (or Ezzo) adorns the spines of the parenting books you or your friends trust, you should read and ponder what TulipGirl has to say.

We should be saddened by such stories. But we should be saddened as well by the broader carelessness which characterizes the hermeneutics of those who assume to themselves the mantle of ‘teacher’ in the Christian world. Hermeneutics is a matter of life and death. In this case, faulty hermeneutics has led to a child’s death. In other cases, it leads to impoverishment. In others, to a bondage of spirit from which people with difficulty emerge.

Not everyone who spouts Bible verses or claims to be ‘biblical’ is to be believed or trusted. And I say that as someone who spouts Bible verses and claims to be biblical.

* * * * *

The woman who asked about hermeneutics is following a path that will serve as a healthy antidote to the tyranny of the experts that plagues the Christian church. She has picked up R. C. Sproul’s excellent little intro to the subject called Knowing Scripture. She’ll be okay.

I commend the book to you. But I commend as well prayer for Christ’s church, for her teachers, and for those who teach the teachers. May we all be true to him who gave his Son not to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.