Biblical Hermeneutics

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN
Most people try to explain the progressive revelation very similar to the shaper images
formed gradually.
"Progressive revelation does not mean to say that the Old Testament is somehow less true
than the New Testament. The progress was not from untruth to truth – it was from less
information to more full information. It merely states that the revelation found in the New
Testament is complete.
The faith has now been once and for all delivered. Nothing needs to be added to it and
nothing should be subtracted from it."
There is some danger in presenting it this way because there are evidently contradiction
between the Old and the New. Grace cannot be a fulfilment of Law but an over riding nature
of God as against the Law of Nature.
"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a
letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished"(Matthew 5:18).
i.e. until all that the law was supposed to accomplish has been accomplished. Then it will
simply passed off. The Old fades away when it has done its job.
"Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, ..... fading
though it was, ...... If the ministry that condemns humankind is glorious, how much more
glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in
comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory,...."
We will provide a few examples of apparent contradictions within the revelatory regulations
which God gave through history:.
• Abraham's Descendants Were Commanded To Be Circumcised
Old: "This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants
after you: every male among you shall be circumcised" (Genesis 17:10)
New: "Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit
to you" (Galatians 5:2).
Thus the salvific effect of Christ is totally nullified with the circumcision.
• Israel Was Commanded To Observe The Sabbath
Old: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8).
New: "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things
that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:16,17).
• This Message Was To Jews Only
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