26: STRANGE MEANINGS FOR “AUTHORITY” 205BUT AREN’T THESE JUST DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS?
HOW CAN A DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION BE A STEP TOWARD LIBERALISM?
At this point someone may object, “These other meanings for ‘head’ and
‘exercise authority’ are not removing God’s Word from believers; they
are just giving a different interpretation. What’s wrong with that? How
can that be a step toward liberalism?”
In response I would say, there are some kinds of “interpretations”
that actually nullify the original statement. For example, let’s say I am
driving and I see a sign that says,
SPEED LIMIT45
But suppose I am driving 70 miles per hour, and a policeman stops me.
Can I say, “Officer, I just interpreted it differently. I thought the num-
bers 4 and 5 placed together meant ‘70.’ I guess we just have a differ-
ence in interpretation”?
Or let’s say I sign a contract that says I agree to “teach six classes”
next year, and then I show up the first day and tell the students their
assignments, and I never come back again for the whole term. When my
academic dean questions me, I say, “Well, I interpreted ‘teach’ differ-
ently. I thought ‘teach’ just meant ‘give students assignments for the rest
of the term on the first day of class.’ I didn’t interpret it to mean ‘give
lectures in classes for a whole term.’ I guess we just have a difference of
interpretation.”^18
In both cases, these are not legitimate “differences of interpretation”
because my meanings are far outside the commonly accepted and rec-
ognized ranges of meanings for the words “45” and “teach.” So it is no
longer a difference of interpretation. It is a nullification and denial of the
statements altogether.
That is what I think is happening when evangelical feminists give
key verses and key words an entirely different meaning, a meaning far
outside the commonly accepted ranges of meanings for those words.
That is why the question of hard facts to support those meanings is so
(^18) Incidentally, I am not recommending or contemplating this approach. I guarantee that no
professor who took that approach would last long!