Interpretation

Those who reject the gospel message and the eternal truths of God's Word love to tell us, who have spent our lives studying the scriptures, that "there are many ways to interpret the Bible." True Bible scholars believe that God's Word is given to mankind so that we can know Him and His plan of grace. Codes and symbols and esoterics are not conducive to such knowledge, but contribute to the confusion of those who are trying to learn. Where the scriptures contain mysteries (doctrines known only to the elect), the Bible interprets itself with later fulfillment. The principle is: "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little" Isaiah 28:10. To those who are willing to believe and who have Holy Spirit enablement (saved people), the Bible is totally comprehensible. Let's not complicate God's clear instruction by inventing symbolism which isn't there.

“We must always remember that God’s word is a revelation, not a riddle. God gave His word to be read and understood.”  Chester A. McCalley, founder of Word of Truth Ministries

The foundations of the Reformation were laid in the return to the literal method of interpretation. In the Reformation period itself two great names stand out as exponents of the truths of Scripture: Luther and Calvin. Both of these are marked by their strong insistences on the literal method of interpretation. Luther says:

“Every word should be allowed to stand in its natural meaning and that should not be abandoned unless faith forces us to it…It is the attribute of Holy Scripture that it interprets itself by passages and places which belong together, and can only be understood by the rule of faith.”

Calvin states his own position very clearly. In the commentary to Galatians he writes:

“Let us know then, that the true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning, and let us embrace and abide by it resolutely.” 

In the Preface to Romans Calvin says: 

“It is the first business of an interpreter to let his author say what he does say, instead of attributing to him what we think he ought to say.” 

Concerning Calvin’s contribution Schaff writes:

Calvin is the founder of the grammatico-historical exegesis. He affirmed and carried out the sound hermeneutical principle that the Biblical authors, like all sensible writers, wished to convey to their readers one definite thought in words which they could understand. A passage may have a literal or a figurative sense; but cannot have two senses at once. The Word of God is inexhaustible and applicable to all times, but there is a difference between explanation and application, and application must be consistent with explanation.

It would be concluded, then, from the study of the history of interpretation that the original and accepted method of interpretation was the literal method, which was used by the Lord, the greatest interpreter, and any other method was introduced to promote heterodoxy. Therefore, the literal method must be accepted as the basic method for right interpretation in any field of doctrine today.

Pentecost, J. Dwight (2010-04-27). Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Kindle Locations 655-768). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.