Private Interpretation Not Blind Interpretation By RC Sproul

Quoting RC Sproul . . .
The right of private interpretation is a special privilege we have today that we may easily take for granted, forgetting that the privilege was won through the blood of our ancestors, many of whom paid for it through their lives, even as those who dared to translate the Bible into the common language of the people. And we ought to be encouraged by this privilege, to be diligent in our own personal study of Scripture. But although the interpretation of the Scriptures may be something you do independently, and do so in private, I hope you don't do it privately in the sense that you never bother to see how others who perhaps are more experienced and who are more learned in the things of God than you are, have dealt with the text.
That's why, for example, I am constantly reading the best teachers that God has given to the church to help me understand the Scriptures. Not because I believe those interpretors are infallible, but because I believe they can check my instincts where I may be inclined to distort the Bible.
So let us be careful in enjoying this privilege of private interpretation, but let us not be guilty of distortion.
From:
Private Interpretation (10/31/07 Ligonier Podcast)