What I Would Do Differently
IV. Conclusion
that goes with understanding and application of the Scripture draws a person closer to God and propels the person to teach others what he/she learned from God’s Word. Therefore it enhances discipleship making within and outside the church, makes pastoral work easy for the leadership team; as well as, reduces the influence of false teachers in spreading heresies in the society (Matt 28:19-20).
Great Biblical and Interpretation Framework
Biblical interpretation is a broad framework (big picture). The framework is the biblical history of redemption. The Bible is one big story (true) of events, not individual book standing on its own. The particulars fill in the whole and whole helps to understand the particulars (individual books). The books are connected to explain the whole Scripture. Though the Bible was written by at least forty
authors over the span of more than 1500 years does not mean it is fragmented or haphazard. The sixty-six books of the Bible intertwine to tell a glorious story of God’s creation, the fall and sinful nature of man, the provision of God for the redemption of his people through Jesus Christ. God’s covenant with humanity is the spine that ties the storyline together.
After the disobedience of Adam and Eve, God set in motion plans to restore what the fall destroy according to Genesis 3:15. The Bible tells one story of the
fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 pointing to Christ incarnation in human form to pay the penalty of our sins through death on the cross in order to reconcile people to God. The reconciliation happens in the lives of those who have a relationship with Christ as the Lord and Savior. The biblical storyline ends with Christ’s victory over evil on earth and restoration of the Eden destroyed by sin with the New Heaven and New Earth. God points to the redemption of mankind through Jesus from Genesis to Revelation.
interpretation class, we shall by God’s grace next week, discuss the general principles of interpreting scriptures: literary context, historical-cultural background, word meanings, and grammatical relationship and principles of interpreting OT and NT narrative:
Genesis, Exodus, large portions of Deuteronomy, Numbers and the Prophets; Joshua to Esther, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.
Week 2 - The General Principles of Interpreting Scripture Introduction
The Bible writers communicated to their initial audience in a manner they understood using communication language and standard without any secret code except on a few occasions they deployed the use of parables, riddles, and symbols, to communicate to their audience. Truly, in ideal conversation, one understands the discourse without conscious efforts because of the wealth of experience in knowledge and words acquired.
However, when it comes to the Bible, it is difficult to understand it without conscious effort because it is written in a foreign language, to people who lived long ago at different places in the world with different ways of life. Therefore, what is automatically clear to the initial audience, will not be clear to us and what is easy for them to understand will require serious effort from us in order to understand it.9
Most importantly, the interpretation of the Bible is a task that needs the right tool for the job.
William Klein, Craig Blomberg, Robert Hubbard put it thus,
It is a simple fact of life; the right tools are necessary to do the right job. A hammer is fine for attaching something with nails but nearly useless for loosening a screw. A pipe wrench works great for removing a sink drain but not so well for removing a window panel! The same is true of tools of measurement. If recipe calls for a certain amount of flour and oil, the right tool is a measuring cup-not a voltmeter! In short, the nature of task determines what tools are appropriate. The same principle applies to the interpretation of the Bible. The nature of this task necessitates certain tools.10 Bible is literature written by human authors with human language, composed of prose and poetry in various sizes and shapes. To interpret it accurately, literary tools must be used because they empower the reader to understand the Scripture, sharpen its reasoning to uncover ideas and truth and to become literary competent. Literary competence is the
9William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Dallas: Word, 1993), 155-56.
10Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 259.
ability of the reader to discern each kind of literature with its reference frame, ground, rules, strategy, and purpose through the text and interpret it correctly. Every reader that knows the formulation and function of each literary type can boldly interpret the
Scripture correctly.11 The main goal of biblical interpretation is to discover the meaning of the biblical text. To understand the biblical meaning of the text begins with
distinguishing the principles necessary to achieve the purpose.
An interpreter/reader must be conversant with the following in order to interpret a text accurately: literary context, historical-cultural background, word meanings, and grammatical relationship because an acceptable meaning of a text reflects these four principles.