A Proper Hermeneutic
One of the most common errors that I have witnessed in Christians circles is an improper exegesis of the Scriptures. So many problems are alleviated when one properly examines the Scriptures from an historical, grammatical, and contextual interpretation. Here are Dr. James White's necessary questions to ask oneself when studying the Bible, and tips on how to interpret the Bible properly (taken from his lecture called, "How We Got the Bible" - #476):
1. What is the main theme of the book?
2. What is the author's purpose in writing the book?
3. What is this author's background? Who is this author?
4. What is the historical setting of the book (of the writing of the book)?
5. What kind of literature is it? parable? poetry? apocolyptic? teaching?
6. To whom was it written?
7. Usage of other scriptural concepts (are there quotations from the Old Testament -what is its context? How is it used?)
8. Read the passage in at least three different translations.
9. What immediately precedes and follows the passage?
10. What is the main argument of the entire chapter?
11. What is the main point of the passage itself?
12. What is the consistent understanding of the passage in this context? and in the broad context?
13. Does my interpretation make this passage contradictory with the author himself?other biblical passages? plain common sense?
14. What other passages in Scripture bear directly on the issues raised in this passage?
Keep in mind that the above steps all assume that the Bible is in inspired - or preferably "ex-pired" - by God. It is not merely inspiring.
Further Helps:
1. List the key terms of the passage. Are their meanings clear? How do the translations differ at this point?
2. Go to a concordance for the meanings of the words in the original languages (Greek or Hebrew Lexicon).
3. Examine the usage of the word in the original language by the author in this and other books (eg. How does Paul use the term, "To know"?).
4. If it's a New Testament passage, see how the terms were used in the Old Testament; if Old Testament, see how the concept is picked up in the New Testament.
5. Determine if the phrase in question is an idiom of the language (a common phrase that might have different meanings).
6. Go into word studies, tactical studies, textual studies, etc...
1. What is the main theme of the book?
2. What is the author's purpose in writing the book?
3. What is this author's background? Who is this author?
4. What is the historical setting of the book (of the writing of the book)?
5. What kind of literature is it? parable? poetry? apocolyptic? teaching?
6. To whom was it written?
7. Usage of other scriptural concepts (are there quotations from the Old Testament -what is its context? How is it used?)
8. Read the passage in at least three different translations.
9. What immediately precedes and follows the passage?
10. What is the main argument of the entire chapter?
11. What is the main point of the passage itself?
12. What is the consistent understanding of the passage in this context? and in the broad context?
13. Does my interpretation make this passage contradictory with the author himself?other biblical passages? plain common sense?
14. What other passages in Scripture bear directly on the issues raised in this passage?
Keep in mind that the above steps all assume that the Bible is in inspired - or preferably "ex-pired" - by God. It is not merely inspiring.
Further Helps:
1. List the key terms of the passage. Are their meanings clear? How do the translations differ at this point?
2. Go to a concordance for the meanings of the words in the original languages (Greek or Hebrew Lexicon).
3. Examine the usage of the word in the original language by the author in this and other books (eg. How does Paul use the term, "To know"?).
4. If it's a New Testament passage, see how the terms were used in the Old Testament; if Old Testament, see how the concept is picked up in the New Testament.
5. Determine if the phrase in question is an idiom of the language (a common phrase that might have different meanings).
6. Go into word studies, tactical studies, textual studies, etc...
posted by Austin | 7:50 PM
4 Comments:
Austin--
Sorry, I got a chuckle out of this post. It is very easy to claim the need for "proper" hermeneutics. However, the difficulty lies in articulating what such a hermeneutic would look like, or whether such a conception is even possible.
There is much more needed to hermeneutics that simply a historical/grammatical/contextual analysis, for all of these are themselves quite open to interpretation.
To begin, might I suggest the absolute necessity of placing interpretation in relation to the ecumenical creeds of the historic church? Such, in my opinion, would be the very first place to start.
Thank you!
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