Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 181:721 (Jan 2024)
Article: The Relation Of Logic To Interpretation
Author: Rollin Thomas Chafer

BSac 181:721 (January-March 2024) p. 19

The Relation Of Logic To Interpretation

Rollin Thomas Chafer

Rollin T. Chafer (1868–1940) served as editor for Bibliotheca Sacra from 1934 to 1940. This article was originally published as two articles that were part of a larger series on hermeneutics. See Rollin T. Chafer, “A Syllabus of Studies in Hermeneutics: IV. The Relation of Logic to Interpretation,” BSac 94.373 (1937): 72–94; and Rollin T. Chafer, “A Syllabus of Studies in Hermeneutics: 2. Deduction,” BSac 94.374 (1937): 207–17. Chafer’s original work has been lightly edited for style and formatting, and a brief section on analogy has been omitted.

Accepting the prerequisite fundamental facts enumerated in the preceding sections as a basis upon which general interpretational study must advance, the next step should be the choice of the right method of logical procedure, and to avoid ultimate confusion this must be consistently adhered to. Some writers place before all else the necessity of attention to grammatical construction, idiomatic expression and other textual consideration. Although these very important matters should have close attention in their proper order, it remains a fact that one may trot all day in a grammatical half-bushel and not come within clear sight of the great themes of the Bible and their logical development.

The Bible is not a handbook of Logic.1 It is not a compendium of Natural Science. Its own themes, however, are developed in accordance with the principles of logic and in harmony with classification of proved facts. The logic of the sacred writers has been made a subject of special attack by radical critics, one such writer voicing the sentiment of the many in the thought that Paul was too logical, that his logic is so inexorable that modern thinkers are forced to reject his conclusions. It is a sad commentary on certain phases of so-called orthodox theologies that this sentiment, now boldly voiced by spiritual outlanders, exhibits the evidence of its influence in various theological formulas. Sadder still is the fact that many hold these dicta to be normative as a standard by which

BSac 181:721 (January-March 2024) p. 20

the Word of God itself should be interpreted. In whatsoever measure this idea is allowed to influence the student’s thinking it weakens to that degree faith in the fundamental fact of the Spirit’s authorship of the Scriptures. To attack the logic of the sacred writers is to attack the logic of God. This is the necessary conclusion if the Biblical doctrines of revelation and inspiration are accepted.

In revealing God’s thought the Holy Spirit not only employs the bald and dogmatic stateme...