Tag Archives: Hermeneutics

Making sense of the Old Testament – Part Two

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Mel Wild

When we talk about Old Testament history, we must first understand two inherent problems with understanding history in general, and a third problem with biblical historical criticism in particular. The first problem is with the nature of ancient history itself. … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian apologetics | Tagged , , , , , , | 69 Comments

God said what?! – Part Three

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Mel Wild

How did the early church fathers deal with the genocidal passages in the Old Testament? We’ll look at this as we continue our journey down into the murkier places in Scripture. If you haven’t read the two previous parts of this series, I suggest you do so … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Father Heart of God, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Jesus Hermeneutic – Part Two

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Mel Wild

What is God really like? Do we just add everything together that we read that mentions God, from Genesis to Revelation, in order to create our theology? In part one, we saw the problem with this method because of apparent disparity between the God … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Father Heart of God, Love, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

The Jesus Hermeneutic – Part One

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Mel Wild

Since the beginning of the church there’s been honest debate, misunderstandings, and various dogmas forged about how we should understand the God of the Bible. In this two-part post, I want to talk about why I believe the “Jesus Hermeneutic” is necessary in … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Faith, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Deconstructing our Christian mythology

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Mel Wild

Whenever I get into a thoughtful discussion with one of my agnostic friends (or honest inquirers) about how they see God, they usually respond with some picture of a stern-faced deity up in heaven, lightning bolts in hand, ready to punish all who anger Him.

Posted in Doctrine, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments

The hermeneutics of love – part two

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Mel Wild

We started looking at how to know if we’re interpreting Scripture rightly in part one. What hermeneutical method do we use since there are so many different interpretations among “Bible believing” Christians? Christian Smith calls this the problem of “persuasive … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Love | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The hermeneutics of love – part one

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Mel Wild

How do we read Scripture rightly? How do we know we have the right hermeneutical principle so we can arrive at the correct understanding about what the Bible is telling us? I’ve already pointed out in times past that when … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Love | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Reading the Bible like Jesus | Derek Flood

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Mel Wild

I’m reading a book by Derek Flood titled, Disarming Scripture–Cherry Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did. That’s quite a title for quite a book! According to Flood, “Cherry-picking … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes, The Shift, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The problem with being taught what to think (instead of how to think)

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Mel Wild

One curious thing to me is that we tend to prefer to be told what to think instead of be taught how to think. This is unfortunate. Especially, in matters of faith. And I’m not talking about being combative or … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Faith | Tagged , , | 9 Comments