Value of Exegeted Scripture

The spirit of man as he submits to the Mind, Word and Spirit of God will be impacted greatly. The Word of God is the source of illumintation. This type of illumination can come through perceptive knowledge which is sometimes called sensory knowledge as well as revelatory knowledge which comes by way of the Holy Ghost imparting such truth and illumination into the very mind of the believer or individual.

Revelatory knowledge is that knowledge that comes specifically through and by the scripture either by strict revelation or through the understanding of the learning process. It is all revelation knowledge because scripture is special revelation that comes from a supernatural substantial text inspired by a transcendent "Super Genius" who has knowledge and wisdom without end.

There is also a type of illumination that comes from observation of nature. This is simply called "natural revelation". This type of revelation is consistently being added to an individual by way of their observance of nature and the very laws of nature in operation. As one reads the book of Romans 1:20 the concept of natural revelation can be seen very clearly.

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

This term Godhead is rendered theiotes and generally means "Divine Wisdom and power of God seen through the splendor and beauty of nature. It indicates that one can see the evidence of God by looking and examining nature. It also reveals significant aspects about the personality and character of God. It is significantly important to understand that revelation and illumination is given to mankind through:

1. The Spirit of God

2. natrually by wan of the laws of nature (theiotes)

There is a move in the theological world of today to minimize the importance of the Holy Writ that we call the Bible. Many scholars do not believe that the Word of God or I should say, the Bible is enough, in itself to arrive at theological truth. In the first place there are many modern scholars who do not fully accept the Bible as the Word of God. Various types of textual criticisms have been used to declare that the Bible contains some elements that may be associated with being the Word of God; however in their mind the entire Bible is not the Word of God in totality. Because many schools use specific modes of textual criticism the Bible is slowly being disected and literally reduced to being merely ancient literature that is nothing more than wise sayings and maxums that can be applied to life.

The maze of biblical critique has sought to reduce scripture to being mere classical literature with no true spiritual weight or importance as far as meaning concerning the eternal existence and life with God. Because of these various ideologies concerning the literal text many scholars have adapted an altered form of exegesis which includeds the use of other source documents. This is generally an acepted method unless these external source are considered to be more important or of equal importance as scripture itself.

No longer are the traditional methods valid when it comes to scriptural interpretation. What was an accepted norm in translating and interpreting the scripture and finding scriptural truth has been reduced to part of the process. In the minds of many exegesis is no longer a mere exploration of the text that consists of extracting the meaning out of the text by examining the textual meaning and definitive exhaustion of the words of that text. Exegesis has become:

1. Examination of the text from a historical orthodoxical perspective

2. A litmus test that is sometimes based upon the assertions of a theological committee such as the Jesus Seminars personnel

3. Secularized archeological findings

Exegesis was at one time exhausting a word back to its root word and examining the text from a definitive and phraseological sense and primarily doing a cultural study of the text. The text itself provided the record for what was believed and what was said in the time of its writing. This is the reason many would conduct biblical language applications to the scripture. In some instances an educated forecast was used based upon the trend in which specific ideas and concepts were used within the text.

Exegesis is very important if the scripture is to be purely analyzed and examined within the correct light of its intended purpose. We must remember that scripture is the only record that we have of truth claims that are the basis for Christianity. This is one of the reasons that DR Bell College of Central Ohio stresses the former exegetical practices. Although we also prepare our students to understand Biblical Studies and its modern practices the integrity of the Word of God must be preserved at all costs.