Interpretation

Your congenial editor and his wife visited the Bellview congregation in Pensacola on July 10th. It is comforting to know where to find a sound congregation while traveling. Michael Hatcher taught a class on How to Study the Bible. As an illustration of the wrong way to study, he referred to a woman with whom he shared Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” She immediately said, “That’s your opinion.” He pointed out, “All we have done is read the Scripture. I have not commented on it.” She repeated insistently, “That’s your interpretation,” and refused to discuss the Scriptures any further.

What does interpretation mean? According to the online dictionary of Oxford languages, interpretation is defined as: “the action of explaining the meaning of something.” In other words, the meaning of what someone is trying to communicate is not always clear. Therefore, someone will use more words to bring out the meaning. An illustration follows: If someone were reading a book, he might find a lord handing a letter to a servant, with the admonition, “Deliver this posthaste.” If the reader does not know the word posthaste, he would require further explanation. He would discover that the meaning is to do it quickly, with speed, immediately. Is that an interpretation? It does explain, but mostly it just offers an objective definition. It does not involve an opinion, which is often part of an interpretation.

Simply reading Mark 16:16 does not involve an interpretation of any kind (either objective or subjective) because no explanation was offered. The woman made an erroneous charge. Just reading a verse of Scripture is getting before us God’s Divine Word. No interpretation is involved in looking at the verse and reading it aloud. No interpretation can possibly be involved until someone tries to explain the meaning of it. Obviously, the woman could see the meaning and did not want to accept it. What she actually meant (this is an interpretation) is, “I have been taught that baptism is not essential to salvation, and I refuse to even read a verse that says otherwise.” Simply put, she was not interested in the truth.

So, what is the meaning of the text? Ask the person who desires to know, “What do you think believes means?” Next, ask him what it means to be baptized. Then ask him if he knows what the conjunction and means? Remind him that and connects two things of equal value. This is not an opinion; it is a definition. One must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. Someone might ask if “sprinkling” is baptism. Using a Greek dictionary, show him that by definition, the word means “immersion.” No opinions have been involved in this study of Mark 16:16—just objective definitions. The real question is, “Does one love the truth enough to abide by it when it is plainly set forth?” (2 Thess. 2:10).