Crosstalk: November 18, 2015

Dr. Jason Lisle is the director of research for the Institute for Creation Research. Dr. Lisle leads ICR's team of scientists who continue to investigate and demonstrate the evidence for creation. Dr. Lisle has his PhD in astrophysics and specialized in solar astrophysics and has made a number of scientific discoveries regarding the solar photosphere and has contributed to the field of general relativity. Dr. Lisle was instrumental in developing the planetarium at the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Dr. Lisle worked full time in apologetics ministry focusing on the defense of Genesis. He has authored numerous articles and books demonstrating that biblical creation is the only logical possibility for origins. His latest book is entitled, 'Understanding Genesis: How to Analyze, Interpret and Defend Scripture.' When someone tells you that you have your interpretation of Scripture and they have theirs, is this a defense mechanism they're using or are there many interpretations of Scripture? Dr. Lisle began by noting that today there's such a plurality of beliefs yet there can be only one meaning behind any passage of Scripture. With any book, the author has something he's trying to communicate and that's how the meaning is defined. So while you can interpret a Bible passage any way you like, there's only one correct interpretation that corresponds to the primary meaning of the passage. Therefore through correct study of the Bible you ought to be able to get to that one true meaning. Then what about those times in Bible study classes when the teacher/leader may ask, 'What does this passage mean to you?' While this seems to happen quite often, Dr. Lisle asked listeners to imagine what it would be like if NASA operated like this and asked various individuals their opinion on rocket trajectories. Instead, realizing that the verse only means one thing, the group leader should be asking how each individual can apply the verse in question to their life. In the end, can we really understand God's Word? Dr. Lisle said that there's no doubt about that. God is a linguistic being and he is certainly capable of communicating with us and he created Adam with the ability to speak. That's not to say that all parts of Scripture are equally easy to understand but it is understandable to the point that even a child can do so. The problem is that in the core of our being as sinners, we don't want to hear what God has to say. We also don't bother to study God's Word much. Genesis then becomes the book people mess up the most as they are strongly motivated to read the Bible in a non-natural way. This results in people interpreting the Bible in relation to their feelings about the universe. As Dr. Lisle continued, he explained the following: --What is hermeneutics? --What part does the Holy Spirit have in analyzing and interpreting Scripture? --How do commentaries play out in the interpretation of Scripture? --What part does logic have in interpreting the Bible when some things in the Bible seem illogical? --Is Genesis historical narrative or is there some other way it is to be interpreted? --Are there contradictions in Scripture?