Scripture interprets Scripture is built on the belief that all Scripture is from God. Essentially, if all of the Bible is from an unchanging God then it must also be inerrant and without contradiction. It’s from one, divine author. Therefore, the goal should be to let Scripture interpret Scripture. We like the way it was put here:
The inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture is so profound that by studying it carefully, we can not understand only that we are reading truth, but learn how to know truth. This takes careful study and application, but it does not require a Bible college degree. Scripture itself is our best theology professor in helping us understand and apply Scripture.
But more importantly, what does the Bible say or show about applying this interpretive standard?
how Scripture answers "Should ‘Scripture interprets Scripture’ be our standard?"
We should have full confidence in Scripture interpreting Scripture since all Scripture is divine and perfect (from God)1,6. Its entirety forms a complete picture2,8,9,10,12,13. The very idea that God is the sole author1,6 forces the conclusion that Scripture cannot contradict itself5 and must also interpret itself since God cannot lie. Of course, we still must draw conclusions and/or teach/explain as needed7,9,14. Jesus required the lawyer to form a conclusion after reading it10 (and only it). Scripture is the sole source for morality and obedience…it was this way for those under the Law3,4,7,8,10 (“Scripture” for that time) as well as for those (like Timothy1 and us) under the Gospel9,11,13,14.
our answer is built on the following scripture-blocks
please comment if you feel it’s not adequately or correctly presented
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…and if you’re wondering more about what we’re doing and why, here are some links we hope can help explain it (and maybe even get you excited about contributing):
- the Bible Study Framework and scripture-blocks
our format and the anatomy of a question
the Bible study standard that we follow
- our top four obstacles to letting scripture interpret scripture
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