Within the brambles the path can be obscured from view causing disorientation and leading someone to thrash vainly. The thicket of biblical interpretation can be equally bewildering. However, there is hope for seeing clearly in the brambles.
If the Bible is to surpass being a subjective mirror merely reflecting our own ideas in order to become a confirmable window through which we hear the voice of God, then the message which is understood can never exceed what the biblical author intended to communicate. Without this principle, there is no means for distinguishing between exegesis (reading a valid message out of the text) and eisegesis (reading our own message into the text). For if it is possible for scripture to present a valid message from God which goes beyond what the biblical author intended to communicate, then the whole range of conflicting interpretations within the bramble patch becomes potentially valid and there is no objective means to confirm which is truly God's message.
Consider how this principle applies to John 15:5. Jesus told his disciples "I am the vine and you are the branches." When John included this teaching of Jesus within his Gospel account he also communicated a specific message. Jesus had told his disciples that they had to remain in him because he was the vine who enabled them to bear fruit.
Some have suggested, however, that the various denominations are the branches. While this interpretation may provide comfort and apparent legitimacy to the current state of things, nothing within the context indicates that either Jesus or John intended such an understanding. To use scripture in such a manner is to abandon exegesis opening Pandora's box to the creative whims of the reader. If we are to have confidence that we are listening to God's voice and not the sound of our own voice, we must limit our understanding of what the text can legitimately mean today to what the text was originally intended to communicate.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2000
Other articles which may be of interest:
Unity: Paul's PrescriptionCharting A Reliable Path Through Religious Diversity (Judging, silence, grace, obedience)