Back in 2008, the U. S. Supreme Court handed down a verdict relative to the Second Amendment. The District of Columbia has one of the strictest hand-gun laws in the nation. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided that the District’s law was too strict and unconstitutional.
This ruling illustrates the current controversy surrounding our Supreme Court – a controversy between those, usually called “strict constructionists,” who believe the Constitution ought to be interpreted in harmony with the original founders’ intent and those who believe it is a “living document” and can be and needs to be molded to each generation’s needs.
What interests me in this controversy and this ruling in particular is the method of interpretation used by the so-called “strict constructionists”. The majority opinion was written by Justice Antonin Scalia. The Second Amendment seems to be forthright enough.
In his opinion, Justice Scalia utilized several principles of Constitutional interpretation which are just as relevant to biblical interpretation. Quoting from a 1931 ruling, Scalia begins by saying the majority opinion would be guided by the principle, “[t]he Constitution was written to be understood by the voters; its words and phrases were used in their normal and ordinary as distinguished from technical meaning.”
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The majority opinion also consulted other legal documents of the founding era, particularly individual-rights provisions of nine state constitutions, notably the Pennsylvania and Ohio state constitutions.
In Bible study, if we are studying one document, it behooves us to study other documents in order to understand that one. We would begin by studying other similar, inspired documents. Other secular documents from the first century or centuries before Christ might also serve a useful purpose in understanding the inspired writings.
More thoughts Monday…
