Context

[TaylorSexton]

Context, of course, is crucial to proper biblical interpretation. After all, Scripture does say, "There is no God." Recently, however, in my interactions with non-Calvinists, I constantly am confronted with the same, broken-record argument: "Context, context, context!" It's getting so bad that now, when I hear the statement, "Let's look at the passage in context," I am starting to hear, "Let's see how much we can either distract from the plain teaching of the text in question and/or mar the meaning therein."

Has anyone else experienced or felt this recently? Is anyone else as exhausted by it as I am? I feel that, at a point, people are using "context" to trump text.

 

[RC1970]

Context, of course, is crucial to proper biblical interpretation. After all, Scripture does say, "There is no God." Recently, however, in my interactions with non-Calvinists, I constantly am confronted with the same, broken-record argument: "Context, context, context!" It's getting so bad that now, when I hear the statement, "Let's look at the passage in context," I am starting to hear, "Let's see how much we can either distract from the plain teaching of the text in question and/or mar the meaning therein."

Has anyone else experienced or felt this recently? Is anyone else as exhausted by it as I am? I feel that, at a point, people are using "context" to trump text.

When Luther was standing before the Diet and was asked to recant, one of the things that he said was: "Unless I am convinced by Sacred Scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant".

What did Luther mean by "evident reason"? And, can a world that has embraced the relativization of truth recognize "evident reason"?

 

[Soyeong]

Context, of course, is crucial to proper biblical interpretation. After all, Scripture does say, "There is no God." Recently, however, in my interactions with non-Calvinists, I constantly am confronted with the same, broken-record argument: "Context, context, context!" It's getting so bad that now, when I hear the statement, "Let's look at the passage in context," I am starting to hear, "Let's see how much we can either distract from the plain teaching of the text in question and/or mar the meaning therein."

Has anyone else experienced or felt this recently? Is anyone else as exhausted by it as I am? I feel that, at a point, people are using "context" to trump text.

As you pointed out, the meaning of something can change dramatically depending on the context, so it is always something that we need to consider. Whether someone correctly understands the context is another issue.

 

[JM]

Unfortunately I’ve never had an Arminian tell me to look at the context. They normally proof text, ripping a passage from here or there in an attempt to prove their point. When I provide the context and how they misuse the scriptures they jump to another text.

 

[TaylorSexton]

Unfortunately I’ve never had an Arminian tell me to look at the context.

What a privilege. It's happened to me a bunch as of late, as it seems to be a new trend. Personally, I think Arminians have picked up on the fact that Calvinists, if they have their exegesis right, win every time because they take every text in its appropriate context. Now, they seem to believe all they have to do is say the word "context" and they automatically have the upper hand, or that their interpretation is legitimate. Now, discussions literally lead nowhere. A typical one goes like this:

"This text means A."
"No, look at the context. This text does not mean A; it means B."
"I disagree. Look at the context; it most assuredly means A."
"Absolutely not. Look at this context over here. This text means B."

And on, and on, and on. Discussion is simply impossible.

Since it is a thread in which I have tried to be engaged recently, refer to this thread for an example of what I am talking about.