Recently I've had several conversations regarding the issue of context. Some about Scripture and Biblical teachings and some about current events as related to or contrasted with historical events. I love history. I love reading about it, watching documentaries, talking to other history enthusiasts. I often tell my kids that the more you learn about history the more you realize that truth really is stranger than fiction. I'm certainly no expert in either the Scriptures or history; but one of my frustrations is seeing comments where the person clearly has no, or very little, understanding of Scripture or history. Or they try to understand them by only looking at a small piece or comparing them to how the world is today. One of my favorite history writers is David McCullough he writes:
This quote is a great summation of why context is so important to understand. I've found that there are 4 types of context that are important to evaluate for a more full understanding of what I'm reading. Also, these are a good "check" to make sure I'm not taking a verse out of context; which is dangerous since we should always be seeking to understand what God is saying and not bend Scripture to what we want it to say. These have really helped me in understanding Scripture and history; here I'm going to use some examples from Scripture.
1) Literary Context - Literary context asks the questions: who is writing? who are they writing to? what is the passage? what is the overarching message/main idea?
An example of this would be to look at Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." this is a verse that seems to be taken out of context a lot. This verse is in the middle of a message Jeremiah is giving to the Israelites who are in captivity in Babylon. The overarching message of this passage is that they will be in captivity for 70 years; God's plans are good for them and He will bring them out of captivity but there are consequences for their disobedience that they will have to endure. This verse does not mean (as so often I've seen it portrayed) that life will be a bed of roses once we accept Christ and we will never face any bad things because "God has plans to prosper" (NIV translation) this also does not mean that we will have monetary prosperity.
2) Historical Context - Historical context asks the questions: where does this take place? what was the world like? what was happening politically & socially?
So, in the case of the verse above (or the whole chapter) Jeremiah is writing in Israel warning the people what will happen if they don't turn back to God, and then what will happen now that they didn't turn to God. Some are captives in Babylon while others are kept as captives in Israel. Israel was overthrown by Babylon, they had been worshiping idols and disobeying the rules God had set out for them as a nation. God had warned them before they entered the Promised Land that if they turned from Him they would be overthrown and taken captive. (See Deuteronomy 4)
3) Cultural Context - Cultural context asks questions like: what was the culture like? what were the societal norms of the time?
One of the most frequent bashes against the Bible that I see from unbelievers is that they pull out a verse, typically from the Old Testament, and mock the guidelines given. A favorite to bash is the one that says you shouldn't wear clothes of mixed materials or sow your fields with two types of seed. (I found a good summary of explanation for these commands Here .) Many of these commands were often in response to the culture and how Israel would be distinct from the pagan nations around them. One example of this from the New Testament is found in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul talks about a woman covering her head. Now, to us in our culture and time this may seem odd but in Corinth, at the time that Paul was teaching, a head covering for a woman was a sign that she was married so to go without one was to dishonor her husband and to announce she was available. Paul is also addressing some of the underlying attitudes from this that were causing issues in the church at Corinth. (a further explanation of the cultural guidelines around head coverings and some of the attitudes causing issues can be found Here )
4) Scriptural Context - Scriptural context asks the questions: what are parallel verses or passages to what I'm reading? Are there other Biblical teachings or standards regarding this? where does this fit into the overarching message of the Bible or this passage?
One passage that I was recently pointed to regarding this (thanks to Warren Wiersbe's study on 1 Corinthians titled "BE Wise") is 1 Corinthians 13. Again, another passage that is often taken out of context. Yes, it speaks to the qualities of showing genuine love; but in this particular passage Paul is speaking to Corinth about the proper place for spiritual gifts. Our gifts are to be used for the common good of the church body and for building each other up. (See Philippians 2, Ephesians 4, Romans 14). If we preach, teach, minister, show hospitality or exercise any other spiritual gifts without love, they become as annoying as a loud clashing sound and can drive people away from rather than towards the Gospel.
God is God and Truth is Truth and they never change; so yes, we can absolutely learn from, be encouraged by and grow from all of Scripture. Yes, we can trust that God has good plans for us (see Romans 8:28-29 for a New Testament parallel; also note that God's goals for us are always eternal so His good plans often look very different than what we might imagine) but we must also see the context surrounding these verses and passages. When we evaluate Scripture in context it becomes much richer and we learn so much more. Culturally, today in the U.S., a woman not wearing a head covering isn't dishonoring her marriage; however, we do need to be mindful of other cultural things that we should not be conforming to, so that we are a light shining Truth to our world and not just blending in with society. By putting passages into their literary, historical, cultural and Scriptural context we see more clearly the beauty and consistency of the Bible. We can understand more fully the wisdom of God's commands and His great love and care for us. We also see how we can better live for Him, glorify Him and share the Gospel with others.
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