There are several biblical terms and passages that are interpreted by some people to shed doubt upon the divinity of Jesus Christ. However, these texts, if rightly understood, can expand our understanding of Christ’s uniqueness and roles for us.1
How to study problematic terms and interpret difficult biblical passages regarding Jesus’ divinity? Let us first establish a few basic hermeneutical —that is, interpretative—principles. In encountering difficult texts, apply the following rules:
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you set aside your preconceived ideas and be open to God’s leadership in understanding and interpreting the biblical text correctly. This is the first prerequisite and task to knowing the meaning of the text.
• Admit your limitations and be willing to let biblical revelation have the first and the last word in your interpretation.
• Remember that clear texts need to interpret those that are obscure or difficult, and not vice versa.
• Discover the historical background of the text. Ask questions regarding who wrote it, when, where, and for whom.
• Study carefully each word and sentence in its particular context (immediate or larger), which must decide the meaning of the text.
• Discern the purpose of the biblical text. Its direction must be established on the actual intentions of the “what” and “why” questions the text is seeking to answer, and what the author wants to convey.
• Distinguish between various literary genres. Ask if the studied passage describes history, prophecy, song, poetry, parable, genealogy, narrative, biography, etc. and interpret them according to their rules of interpretation.
• Put together everything on the topic. Do not be selective and put aside some texts. Be consistent.
• Maintain the unity of the biblical message. The divine mind is behind the transmission of the text, so it must ultimately lead to harmony among them without excluding healthy tensions.
• The original meaning of the text must have a preference over against modern translations and categories of explanation.
• Understand the text or the issue in the bigger context of the meta-narrative of the biblical revelation of the great controversy between good and evil, truth and lie, Christ and Satan.
• Think about whether or not what you discovered really fits the biblical picture of a loving, caring, and just God and the overall theological teaching of the Holy Scriptures.
Remember that nothing valuable is created in an instant. One must constantly dig for the jewels of God’s word and it takes time and diligent effort to find them. You need to spend time—and usually long, dedicated periods of time—in order to discern the golden nuggets of truth (Dan 9:2). Before you tell people what the text means for us today, you need to know what the texts meant to the original audience.