Crossing the Obstacles to Understanding

(Lesson Two)

To being review the following diagram.

If you cannot reproduce the diagram from memory, then take a few minutes and work on it until you can do so.  It is foundational to further study.

General View of Obstacles to Understanding.

What follows is not meant to discourage the reader from studying the Scriptures.  What follows is meant to illustrate some of the complexity of translating from one time, culture, and language into another.  

 The Miracle of the Scriptural Message

Please note that the basic themes of the Bible travel across the previously mentioned barriers with perfect accuracy.  Not one of the essential doctrines of faith is missing, all are there.  As a matter of fact one of the functions of God, the Holy Spirit was and is to insure such to be so.  More about this will be discussed at a later time.

My Great, Great, Grandparent’s Diary

Just suppose that you are looking through an old trunk that has been handed down through a several generations. Among the things that you find are several diaries of your great, great...great grandparents. They of course lived in the old country and spoke the language thereof. In order to learn something about your heritage, you decide to read them.

Immediately you are faced with several challenges as noted in the previous blog.

1.    LANGUAGE:  First, you would face the challenge of language. Even if it were in your spoken language, words change in usage, idioms change, etc. "What did that word mean in the context of the day?" would be an oft repeated question in your mind.

Now imagine that you have to translate one language to another.  That opens another set of issues. 

Exact Equivalents:  Among them is the issue of exact equivalents.  Simply said in certain instances there are not exact equivalents between languages.  Take for example the four words for love in the Greek language.  Generally they are translated by one word in the English language. 

Word Order:  In the Greek language because of how the words are constructed, the most important word(s) of the sentence began the sentence.  Of course in English the language is phonetic and so in order to make the original sentence readable the sentence at times is rearranged.

Linear and Intensive:  In the Hebrew language verbs in some cases are in an intensive form.  Though not often this in some cases adds to one understands of the concepts being presented.  In the Greek language verbs may indicate a point in time action, a linear action, or both.  Much of this is lost to the one reading in the English language.

2.    CULTURE:  Second, as you translated from your great, great, grandparents language you would face the added burden of the cultural setting in the old country. What elements of culture would be present and yet misunderstood or totally missed if viewed with today's cultural understandings?

Again it is difficult for one to cross from one culture to another.  For example, in that day Jews had been dispersed throughout the known world.  There resulted from that dispersion the Synagogue System.  That meant that wherever there were seven Jewish males a Synagogue could be established.  The Synagogue was presided over by a Rabbi among his duties was instruction.  Students of promise were pushed up through the system and thus we find the Rabbi Saul of Tarsus having progressed through Judaism beyond his peers to the point he studied under the tutelage of Rabbi Gamaliel.

There are other matters to study and such will be considered in the next lesson. 

MODIFYING THE BASIC DIAGRAM

 Focusing on the diagram there are two changes to be made.

First, since our focus is upon the panoramas of Scripture no attention will be given to the eternal past.

Second, creation will be considered later so the diagram will be modified to reflect same.

Third, since the Inter-Testamental Period will be considered later in the study it will be reduced to ITP.

PUSHING DEEPER

The next level is to further divide the diagram as follows.

OLD TESTAMENT:  What you now see is that the Old Testament is divided into five periods each of which has a distinct personality.  The word “Pentateuch” means five and is an easy way to refer to the five books of Moses.

“Entrance” is when the Jews enter the Promised Land first to be ruled by one leader, then by the Judges.  The “Kings and Prophets” tell of their life under a monarch.  The “Dispersion” is when their land was conquered and they were carried off into captivity.  The final section, “Return” tells of their reoccupation of the Land of Promise.

NEW TESTAMENT:  What you see is that the New Testament is divided into four periods.  First comes the “Gospels” which simply means good words or good message.  It tells the story of Jesus from four different perspectives and for four different reasons.

The “Acts of the Holy Spirit” tell of the Holy Spirits action in establishing the Church.  Some books are written to specific congregations can be fit into this period.  There are some general letters (books) that will follow the ending of the Book of Acts.  Then comes the “Period of the Church” which will be discussed later on.  Finally the Bible closes with the "Book of Revelation." 

PROJECT

In addition to memorizing the layout and the various elements thereof, take a moment, turn to the index in the front of your Bible and look down the listing of books.  What you will see is that already with the small amount of information studied to this point; you will have a greater understanding of the layout of the Bible.