[3387]”How Biblical Interpretation Started The Reformation?”, A Seminar Attracted Full-Seated Audience

Taiwan Church News

3387 Edition

January 23 – 29, 2017

Church Ministry

 

“How Biblical Interpretation Started The Reformation?”, A Seminar Attracted Full-Seated Audience At Kaohsiung’s Sin Pink Pier

 

Reported by Chen Yi-fan

 

To reflect the historical meaning of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation for Taiwan’s citizen society in 2017, Café Philo held a seminar entitled as “How biblical interpretation started the Reformation?” at Kaohsiung’s Sin Pink Pier on 20 January. Rev Tsai Ming-wei, pastor of Loya Presbyterian Church and an assistant professor of Theological School at Chang Jung Christian University, was invited to deliver a lecture and attracted a full-seated audience into the auditorium.

Rev Tsai pointed out that most sermons before the Reformation were delivered by the Catholic priests as a moral teaching and through church wall’s color paintings of biblical stories. It was due to the historical innovation of printing machines and the promulgation of printing the Bible, the practice of biblical interpretation in sermon started its journey in church history.

Having corrected many scribed errors due to generations of manuscript coping practices, the first copy of the printed Greek New Testament was published by the Dutch scholar Erasmus in 1516. And this version of the New Testament Bible was widely accepted as “Textus Receptus”(TR), which was also the reference version of Luther Martin’s pioneering translation into the first German Bible.

TR was not very accurate, though, as the reference manuscripts were quite limited then, yet its contribution to biblical interpretation was significant and revolutionary. For example, after a comparison of TR with early Latin versions of the Bible, many theologians found the translation of Matthew 4:17 as “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” is more close to the original Greek and better than the past Latin translation as “Atone, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The act of repentance means an inner life, while the act of atonement suggests an confession to the priest or a material offerings to the church.

Rev Tsai also confirmed Luther Martin’s creed of “justification by faith”, based on Rome 1:16~17, as the most important scripture for the Reformation. Luther’s early understanding of God’s righteousness, as a punishment of all unrighteous men, was deeply engraved in his heart since he was taught in the seminary, according to Luther’s memo months before his death in 1545, said Rev Tsai, adding that it was due to Luther’s breaking interpretation of Rome 1:16~17,  as “justification by faith” meaning the faith as a gift from God, totally liberating Luther from a life in self-torture and penance.

Rev Tsai stressed it was a very common misunderstanding of Christian to favor a big faith as it seems to suit a better or prosperous religious performance. “Faith is not a merit of man, but a gift from God”, remarked Rev Tsai, as faith is a conduit to God’s righteousness and everyone can have a direct contact to God to have a “justification by faith”. And this revolutionary biblical interpretation of Luther Martin shook loose the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church and dominates the biblical interpretation of the Romans for nearly 500 years.

Translated by Peter Wolfe

 

Rev Tsai Ming-wei(standing), pastor of Lo Ya Presbyterian Church and an assistant professor of Theological School at Chang Jung Christian University, was invited by Café Philo to deliver a lecture entitled as “How biblical interpretation started the Reformation?” at Kaohsiung’s Sin Pink Pier on 20 January 2017.

Photo by Chen Yi-fan

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