Plain Sense

Here's the claim: "Absolute faith in the plain sense of Scripture turns a Christian into a fool and the Bible into a graven idol."

Here's the problem. Since "the plain sense" of any writing is currently undefined in our world, the claim makes no sense. The modern approach is that words mean what you want them to mean. The current idea of "the plain sense" of any writing is that it is what you think it is. Apply your meaning to the words as you would please and that is what you will call "the plain sense" and we will go with that. "Do you disagree with it? Clearly you disagree with the plain sense. What's wrong with you? Can't read very well, or just stupid? Or worse?"

There is, in the realm of judicial interpretation, including constitutional interpretation and other legal interpretation, a rule called "the plain meaning rule" or "the literal rule." Now, I find it odd that such a rule would exist, but, looking around me, I can see that it is clearly necessary. So the rule states that statutes are to be interpreted using the ordinary meaning of the language of the statute. I mean ... duh! And, yet, this is unacceptable when we read our Bibles.

It's called "the golden rule of biblical interpretation": "When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense lest it result in nonsense." It is, of course, no longer "golden." As our initial claimant stated, such a notion makes Christians fools. But the question still hangs in the air. What does "the plain sense" actually mean? Does it mean solely and always "woodenly literal"? Well, in the "golden rule" here that would absolutely be false. It clearly says, "When the plain sense makes good sense ...", requiring, "Sometimes the plain sense does not make sense." Obvious examples spring to mind. Jesus was not claiming to be a literal door (John 10:7,9) and the entire city did not show up to hear Him speak (Mark 1:33).

So "plain sense" doesn't mean "woodenly literal." It is, I believe, almost exclusively the domain of fools that would interpret all Scripture solely in a woodenly literal sense. When God breathed His Word to the authors that wrote it, He had something to get across. The authors had something they wanted to say. The entire process was intended to convey a meaning -- a plain sense. We have to take into account genre and historic context, culture and language, text and context, but in the end the aim is to find the plain sense -- the meaning of what they meant to say.

I believe we should read the Bible in its plain sense. We should take it at face value. And immediately you are required to ask, "What does that mean?" Because words have no faces, so taking it "at face value" has to mean something other than the actual words mean. In the same way, when I say we should read the Bible "in its plain sense," I don't mean "in a coldly literal way." I mean "as it was intended to be understood." And that may take some effort. Was Jesus a literal door? No, of course not. We can figure out He was offering a metaphor. Does God forget sin (Jer 31:34)? Only if He actually is not Omniscient (1 John 3:20; Isa 46:9-10; Psa 139:16). In other words, if you are to get the plain sense of Scripture, you will need to read it, read the context, read the book, and read the rest of Scripture. The best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture, and getting to that will be a lifetime project. What it is not is interpreting Scripture in light of headlines or modern philosophy or current morality or the like. That doesn't let God speak. That doesn't take God seriously. That is man-made religion.

If the Bible truly is God-breathed and if "plain sense" is understood as "the sense in which the author intended it to be taken", absolute faith in the plain sense of Scripture will conform a Christian to God's way of thinking; to fail to do so makes God to be a liar in His Word. The Bible, then is not an idol; it is trust in God that gives Scripture its worth. The question is not "Should you take God at His Word, with all the work that such a notion would entail?" The question is "Will you?" Because to fail to trust God's plain meaning turns so-called Christians into fools and strips God from His Word.