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We often comment that much of what we hear over the pulpit, and how we read scriptures can have shades of meaning. Yet, the new testament says:
“2 Pet. 1: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. “
How do you reconcile this with personal revelation, and with the fact that the same scripture can have multiple meanings depending on the perspective from which it’s analyzed?
I would think this has more to do with prophecy by prophets for the general church or world. Maybe as far as doctrines, ordiances, and covenants. Like churches vary on the trinity and it takes a prophet to interprete Gods word on that. 1. Peter may, or may not, have actually taught that. It sounds very much like the kind of thing a “church father” would have added many years later. 2. Even if Peter taught that, and it wasn’t a message just to the congregation he sent the letter to, addressing a specific problem they were having, THEN I disagree with Peter. It makes no sense. Of course scripture has to be personal and internalized for use by people in living their life, as a reaction to the world around them. If scripture were not constantly interpreted, it would become useless and cease to be regarded as “scripture.”
How many people have a copy of Zoroastrian scripture on their book shelf?
Joseph Smith took care of it by changing it – to “no prophecy of the scriptures is given of any private will of man.” So, he interpreted it privately. 😆 I actually like his change a lot.
Someone also could focus on “scriptures” and say that there can be prophecies in our “canonical scriptures” that weren’t really “scripture” in the purest sense of the word – like Brian’s question about real authorship or like our own understanding that prophets aren’t infallible.
The parser in me focuses on the words and points out that the verse as written in the KJV doesn’t rule out the readers interpreting scriptures; rather, it says scriptural prophecy isn’t of (generated by) personal interpretation. So, the most straightforward parsing means anything that is true prophecy recorded in the scriptures doesn’t come from the individual; rather, it comes from God.
It’s also important to realize that what Peter saw as “scripture” might have differed RADICALLY from what we have as canonized scripture now.
Old-Timer wrote:The parser in me focuses on the words and points out that the verse as written in the KJV doesn’t rule out the readers interpreting scriptures; rather, it says scriptural prophecy isn’t of (generated by) personal interpretation. So, the most straightforward parsing means anything that is true prophecy recorded in the scriptures doesn’t come from the individual; rather, it comes from God.
Kind of like how Joseph F. Smith (D&C 128) reflected on the scripture regarding the spirits in prison, and had a vision — if he truly had that vision, AND it was from God, then it wouldn’t violate the JS translation.
Umm, SD, I believe we are not reading that passage according to original intent. Go back and read the entire context, and see if you don’t agree that the “private interpretation” bit is referring to the writers and not the readers. In other words, the scriptures are said to have come from God and not from private understanding. In other words, what Ray said
😆 Old-Timer wrote:It’s also important to realize that what Peter saw as “scripture” might have differed RADICALLY from what we have as canonized scripture now.
Great point Ray! I totally overlooked that idea this time. We think of the Bible and other scriptures from our current perspective, as a solidly established book.
Peter wasn’t walking around with a copy of the Bible. He and the other apostles were not splitting up assignments to write chapters for an organized book. They were preaching and writing letters to congregations too far away to visit. We basically took a bunch of copies of their personal letters and journals, and bound them into an anthology book.
WE THREW OUTmore material than we kept. So taking that passage too literally, we’d have to reject the Bible, being someone’s personal interpretation of prophecy (the council that established the cannon in the 3rd-4th centuries).
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