「以经解经」﹐是正统信仰的基本信念﹐是一个不可轻易放弃的预设。（参﹕陈终道﹐《以经解经》。香港﹕金灯台出版社﹐1995。）
　　
　　
　　偏见三﹕我们只能找出原本处境中的意义
　　
　　释经上第三种偏见就是认为﹕查经只须要﹐甚至只可能找出《圣经》在当时（原来）作者对当时（原来）的听众/读者的信息是什么﹖当时读者们了解的意义是什么﹖目前很多所谓福音派的释经手册是循着这种进路写的﹐《读经的艺术》的观点﹐我们已经讨论过。这种对《圣经》的态度﹐无形中可能否认了﹕《圣经》从旧约到新约有一贯的教导﹐也可能否认﹕重生得救的信徒﹐在圣灵的光照之下﹐可以跨越历史的隔阂﹐可以认识到当时（原来） 处境中上帝的心意 （启示）﹐然后应用这真理到今天我们所处的处境中。更严重地﹐这里冲淡了一个信念﹕每一段《圣经》都有它的永恒﹐超历史的教导和意义。这原来是福音派（正统信仰）一直以来所相信﹐强调的﹗现在的福音派《圣经》学者们﹐是否认为上一代的《圣经》观不管用了﹐用杨牧谷的书名来说﹐已经是「坏鬼」﹐是烂掉不能吃的食物了呢﹖
　　
　　巴刻指出﹐现代的圣经研究学者﹐过份的强调《圣经》时代和我们今天的文化隔阂﹕
　　从现代《圣经》研究和当代神学的学术观点来看﹐他们 （指清教徒们）并没有（好像我们今天）同样的对我们（读者）的世界和古代近东世界之间文化隔阂的意识。… 他们没有我们…现代人对文化隔阂的意识。假如今天有一位清教徒在坐于我们中间﹐他会对我所说的点头﹐然后说﹕「不过你知道吗﹖这些对我们不很重要﹔这些并不很重要。」
　　当代《圣经》学者们中的一种谬论是﹐他们告诉我们 – 他们整天不停的告诉我们 – 这（文化差异）非常重要。其实我认为清教徒们是对的﹐就是说﹐事实上这（文化隔阂）不太重要。假如你能依靠圣灵与《圣经》里的敬虔人士有同感/同理﹐假如你能认同他们所面对的「信靠与顺服」 的挑战的话﹐你就成功了﹗你就在明白《圣经》了﹗《圣经》里伟大的救赎真理 – 道成肉身
　　﹐赎罪大工﹐称义﹐重生﹐基督的再来等 – 这些真理都不受我们世界与古代近东世界之间的文化差异影响﹗真正受文化差异影响的﹐不过是一些琐碎的小节﹐在伦理上的一些次要问题…。只当你下到那个层面﹐文化之间的差异纔开始重要起来。
　　
　　From the standpoint of modern Bible work (scholarship) and modern theology, they (the Puritans) did not have the same sense of cultural gaps between our world and ancient near eastern world/worlds… They didn’t have our modern sense, our modern awareness of the cultural gap.  But if there was a Puritan here, he would nod his head at my statement, and he would say, “But you know, it didn’t matter, and it doesn’t really matter.”
　　
　　One of the nuttiness-es of modern biblical work is that they tell us - they tell us ad nauseam – that it matters a great deal.  Actually I think that the Puritans were right, in saying that it doesn’t matter very much.  If you are capable of empathizing, through the Holy Spirit, with the godly men of Bible times... if you are capable of understanding the challenges of faith and obedience that came to them, … you are understanding the Bible!  The great truths of salvation – incarnation, atonement, justification, regeneration, Christ’s return – … aren’t affected by cultural differences between the ancient Near Eastern world and our own!  The only things, actually, that the cultural differences do affect, are some of the minutiae, some of the minor matters of ethics – whether in our culture we should greet each other with a holy kiss…; whether in our culture we should ask women to be covered in church … it is only when you get down to that level, that the differences between one culture and another begins to matter.
　　
　　关于主要的事﹐我们世界与古代近东之间的文化差异并没有起重要的影响。因此﹐清教徒没有我们的意识﹐他们并没有损失什么。让我直说﹕我认为﹐自从布特曼 (Rudolf Bultmann)以来﹐现代新约学者被一种假设辖制﹐就是﹕古代世界与我们的世界是那么不同﹐我们不可以按字面就相信《圣经》文献所说的﹐对我们是真的。至少﹐我们非经一场辩论不可﹐才能（接受《圣经》所说的）。我认为这个假设﹐这种（对《圣经》的）怀疑态度…对深入了解《圣经》的进展只有损害﹐没有帮助。… 它使人们对次要的（文化） 差异高度敏感﹐然后他们把精力放在… 那些需要一些伦理上的调整等次要文化课题上。
　　
　　For the major things…, the cultural differences between the ancient world and our own don’t matter.  So the Puritans didn’t lose out by not being as aware of those differences as we are. …
　　(To be) quite specific: I think that the supposition which has possessed modern New Testament exegetes and biblical theologians ever since Bultmann, namely, that the ancient worlds were so different from our own world, that we cannot take at face value, as truth for ourselves, anything that the Bible documents say – at least we cannot do it without argument – I think that suspicion, or assumption … has actually made against, and inhibited profound understanding of the Scriptures. …  It has made people super-aware of differences which are only of secondary importance, and then they major on … the minors of cultural differences that call for ethical adjustments in detail.