Biblical Perspective on Non-Biblical Examples and Reasoning
The Bible frequently employs non-biblical examples and reasoning to illustrate spiritual truths, engage with diverse audiences, and reinforce its message. This approach is evident in various forms, from parables and proverbs to direct engagement with external wisdom.
One prominent method is the use of parables, which are comparisons or similitudes that explain one subject by another [1]. While many parables in the New Testament draw from everyday life experiences, they serve to illuminate biblical principles. For instance, Jesus's parables often used familiar scenarios to convey profound spiritual lessons [1]. Similarly, proverbs, which can be short sayings or enigmatic maxims, also serve this illustrative purpose, sometimes drawing on observations of the natural world or human behavior to impart wisdom [1].
Beyond parables, biblical authors sometimes reference or allude to broader wisdom traditions or common human experiences. The Apostle Paul, for example, engages with the concept of "worldly wisdom" in 1 Corinthians, contrasting it with divine wisdom [8]. He cites Old Testament passages to demonstrate that God "brings to naught" the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent [8, 10]. John Gill notes that Paul's citation of Psalm 94:11 ("The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain") serves to further confirm the idea that worldly wisdom is foolishness to God [10]. This engagement shows an awareness of and interaction with non-biblical intellectual frameworks, even if to critique or reframe them from a divine perspective.
The Bible also acknowledges that certain truths can be understood through observation, even if not explicitly revealed. For example, Hebrews 11:3 states that "by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing" [3]. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown interpret this to mean that while the natural world cannot, without revelation, teach the fact of creation, it confirms this truth once apprehended by faith [11]. This suggests that general revelation, accessible outside specific biblical texts, can corroborate biblical teaching.
Furthermore, the biblical text itself contains numerous cross-references that connect different passages and themes, demonstrating an internal coherence and a reliance on established scriptural reasoning [2, 4, 5, 6, 7]. This internal referencing serves as a model for how reasoning can be built upon established truths, whether those truths are explicitly biblical or universally observable and then interpreted through a biblical lens. The emphasis remains on grace and faith as the foundation for understanding, rather than "divers" or "strange doctrines" that might carry believers away [9].
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Parable — (The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another.--McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expand”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Revelation 2:3 cross-references: Psalms 37:7, Psalms 69:7, Micah 7:9, Mark 15:21, Luke 8:15, Luke 14:27, Luke 18:1, Luke 21:19, John 15:21, Romans 2:7, Romans 5:3, Romans 8:25, Romans 12:12, Romans 15:4, Romans 16:12, 1 Corinthians 13:7, 1 Corinthians 16:16, 2 Corinthians 4:1, 2 Corinthians 4:16, 2 Corinthians 5:9, 2 Corinthians 6:5, 2 Corinthians 10:15, 2 Corinthians 11:23, Galatians 6:2, Galatians 6:9, Philippians 2:16, Philippians 4:3, Colossians 1:11, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 3:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:13, 1 Timothy 4:”
- Hebrews “Hebrews 11:3 (YLT) — by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing;”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “James 3:6 cross-references: Genesis 3:4, Leviticus 24:11, Numbers 25:2, Numbers 31:16, Deuteronomy 13:6, Judges 12:4, Judges 16:15, 1 Samuel 22:9, 2 Samuel 13:26, 2 Samuel 15:2, 2 Samuel 16:20, 2 Samuel 19:43, 1 Kings 21:5, 2 Chronicles 10:13, 2 Chronicles 13:17, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 120:2, Psalms 140:3, Proverbs 1:10, Proverbs 6:19, Proverbs 7:5, Proverbs 7:21, Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 16:27, Proverbs 26:20, Isaiah 30:27, Jeremiah 20:10, Jeremiah 28:16, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 12:24, Matthew 12:32, Matthew 15:11, Mark 7:15, Mark 7:20, Mark 14:55, Luke 16:24, Acts 5:3, Acts 6:13, Acts 20:30, Roman”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Ephesians 1:3 cross-references: Genesis 12:2, Genesis 14:20, Genesis 22:18, 1 Chronicles 4:10, 1 Chronicles 29:20, 2 Chronicles 31:8, Nehemiah 9:5, Psalms 72:17, Psalms 72:19, Psalms 134:3, Isaiah 61:9, Daniel 4:34, Luke 2:28, John 10:29, John 14:20, John 15:2, John 17:21, John 20:17, Romans 12:5, Romans 15:6, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 2 Corinthians 11:31, Galatians 3:9, Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 1:20, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12, Philippians 2:11, Hebrews 8:5, Hebrews 9:23, 1 Peter 1:3,”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Ephesians 6:11 cross-references: Judges 3:2, Nehemiah 4:13, Mark 13:22, Luke 14:29, Romans 13:12, Romans 13:14, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 6:7, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Ephesians 4:14, Ephesians 4:24, Ephesians 6:13, Colossians 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Hebrews 7:25, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Peter 2:1, Jude 1:24, Revelation 2:24, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 13:11, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:2, Revelation 20:7”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Philippians 4:7 cross-references: Numbers 6:26, Nehemiah 8:10, Job 22:21, Job 34:29, Psalms 29:11, Psalms 85:8, Proverbs 2:11, Proverbs 4:6, Proverbs 6:22, Isaiah 26:3, Isaiah 26:12, Isaiah 45:7, Isaiah 48:18, Isaiah 48:22, Isaiah 55:11, Isaiah 57:19, Jeremiah 33:6, Luke 1:79, Luke 2:14, John 14:27, John 16:33, Romans 1:7, Romans 5:1, Romans 8:6, Romans 14:17, Romans 15:13, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 1:2, Philippians 4:9, Colossians 3:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 1:4, Jude 1:1, Revelation 1:4, Revelation 2:17”
- 1 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:20: Where--nowhere; for God "brings them to naught" (Co1 1:19). the wise--generally. the scribe--Jewish [ALFORD]. the disputer--Greek [ALFORD]. Compare the Jew and Greek of this world contrasted with the godly wise, Co1 1:22-23. VITRINGA thinks the reference is to the Jewish discourses in the synagogue, daraschoth, from a Hebrew root "to dispute." Compare "questions," Act 26:3; Tit 3:9. If so, "wise" refers to Greek wisdom (compare Co1 1:22). Paul applies Isa 33:18 here in a higher sense; there the primary reference was to temporal deliverance”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 13:9: about--rather, as oldest manuscripts read, "carried aside"; namely, compare Eph 4:14. divers--differing from the one faith in the one and the same Jesus Christ, as taught by them who had the rule over you (Heb 13:7). strange--foreign to the truth. doctrines--"teachings." established with grace; not with meats--not with observances of Jewish distinctions between clean and unclean meats, to which ascetic Judaizers added in Christian times the rejection of some meats, and the use of others: noticed also by Paul in Co1 8:8, Co1 8:13; Co1 6:13; Rom”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 3:20: And again,.... Not in the same place, nor in the same book, but in the Psalms, in Psa 94:11. This form of citing Scriptures answers to and moreover, used by the Jewish doctors when the matter does not so clearly appear from the first proof, and therefore they produce another (q): and so here the apostle, for the further confirmation and illustration of this point, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, to the testimony of Eliphaz, adds this of David, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain; in the Psalms it is, "the Lord ”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 11:3: we understand--We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact of the world's creation by God, though we see neither Him nor the act of creation as described in Gen. 1:1-31. The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when apprehended by faith (Rom 1:20). Adam is passed over in silence here as to his faith, perhaps as being the first who fell and brought sin on us all; though it does not follow that he did not repent and believe the promise. worlds--literally, "ages"; all that exists in tim”