Posted on Tuesday,

How to Respond to the “That’s Just Your Interpretation” Objection

When it comes to having conversations about controversial spiritual and moral matters you can usually count on one thing for sure, namely, that someone will inevitably raise the “that’s just your interpretation” objection. This is especially true if the Bible is involved.

You’ve seen this happen before right? Once someone throws out the “that’s just your interpretation” line, the conversation comes to a screeching halt. Again, this usually happens when a moral or religious topic is brought up like “abortion is wrong” or “Jesus is the only way of salvation.” Perhaps you have found yourself in a conversation like that and thought you were making progress only to be dismissed with a slogan. What do you do?

Two Options For Engaging This Objection

There are a few options on how you can engage here.

The first option is you can get into a passionate (but pointless) yelling match where you go back and forth screaming “no it doesn’t” / “yes it does” for 30 minutes or so (note: I didn’t say this first one was a good option).

Or you can chose option number two where you can try to move the conversation forward by asking a well placed question. This will be much more effective because typically people throw down the “that’s just your interpretation” slogan to dismiss you and your point of view without an argument.

At this point, you can clarify what they mean by asking, “Are you saying you don’t like my interpretation or that you think it’s false?” If they think it’s false, great. You can then ask them the reasons they have for thinking that it’s false and have a productive spiritual conversation. If you need some help in learning how to know “which interpretation of the Bible is correct” then start here.

“I Don’t Like Your Point of View”

However, more often than not it will become obvious that this person simply doesn’t like the implications of your view. Maybe if your view is correct, they might have to alter a behavior they enjoy or change their mind about a controversial social issue.

Philosopher Paul Copan suggests a reasonable response in situations like these: “There are many truths that I myself don’t like or find difficult to accept, but not liking them doesn’t give me the freedom to reject them. I have to accept that they are true.”

Sometimes the most loving thing you can do in a spiritual or moral conversation is help someone discover that reality is indifferent to our preferences. The truth about God and the way we flourish as human begins is too important to discover to allow it to be dismissed by an uncritically examined slogan.

So the next time you feel like yelling when a spiritual and moral disagreement shows up, just take a deep breath and ask a question.

If you found this post helpful, you would enjoy “How to have a conversation about Bible contradictions.”

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Posted on Wednesday,

What Does the Authority of the Bible Mean?

When we talk about authority we are raising the “who says so” question. Authority is what the FBI agent has when he shows you his badge. Frankly, we all have a cosmic authority problem; we want to do things the way we want, when we want, and how we want. But if God exists and has spoken, then he wins the “who says so” argument hands down:

“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19)

When Scripture speaks, God speaks. Because the source of Scripture is God, it bears his authority. John Stott captures this sentiment well:

“If it is a word from God, it has authority over men. For behind every word that anybody utters stands the person who speaks it. It is the speaker himself (his character, knowledge and position) who determines how people regard his words. So God’s Word carries God’s authority. It is because of who he is that we should believe what he has said.”

Paul celebrated when the Thessalonians came to understand this great truth. “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

As we conclude this brief discussion of the authority of Scripture, it is also critical to note that Jesus of Nazareth submitted to the authority of God’s Word. And if he did, how much more so should we?

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Posted on Wednesday,

How Should Christians Talk About Origins In Public Square? [Podcast]

When it comes to talking about evolution, creation, intelligent design, science, and faith in the public square, how should we do that as Christians? What should our priorities be? How do we have conviction and wisdom? Are there certain tactics that might be helpful? How can we better equip our youth to think about questions of origins? Is theistic evolution a viable option for Christians? This and more…

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Is there really no debate about evolution today?

If you enjoyed this topic / podcast, you would enjoy this discussion with a Hebrew scholar on understanding the early chapters of Genesis.

Also helpful, is this video on seven days that divide the world.

I go in to more detail talking about faith and science issues – Click Here

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Posted on Wednesday,

What Does it Mean to Say that the Bible is Inerrant?

“When all the facts are known, the Bible (in its original writings) properly interpreted in light of which culture and communication means had developed by the time of its composition will be shown to be completely true (and therefore not false) in all that it affirms, to the degree of precision intended by the author, in all matters relating to God and his creation.”—David Dockery

Posted on Saturday,

Seven Days That Divide the World with John Lennox (Video)

My answer to that important question is yes, you can, and this video with Dr. John Lennox will let you in on some of the reasons I think that.

Eric Metaxas and Socrates in the City present an evening with John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, at the Union Club in New York City on January 31, 2013. Dr. Lennox explores a method for reading and interpreting the first chapters of Genesis without discounting either science or Scripture. Afterward Metaxas is heard asking, “Why didn’t I ever have any math teachers like this?”.

Whatever your view, this is a very insightful lecture. It explores the central question…what does Genesis actually say? And then how does our scientific understanding integrate with that reading.

John Lennox: “Seven Days That Divide the World” from Socrates in the City on Vimeo.

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Old Testament scholar C. John “Jack” Collins on the Genesis accounts (i.e., days of Genesis) that Dr. John Lennox lectured on. In Lennox’s excellent book, Seven Days That Divide the World, he cites and relies upon the Hebrew exegesis of Dr. Collin’s work. You can find my interview with C. John Collins on the days of Genesis here.

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