How to Study the Bible week 3

01/17/18

1. Interpretation
   1. Acts 8:30
   2. What do we mean by interpretation?
      1. Moving out of the realm of the subjective into the objective
   3. How do we construct meaning?
      1. It starts with how well we observe.
      2. We must observe with a view to interpreting (and eventually applying) the Scripture.
   4. Roadblocks to interpretation
      1. Language barriers
      2. Cultural barriers
      3. Literary barriers (genres)
      4. Communication barriers

1. Hazards to avoid
   1. Misreading the text (pg. 212)
   2. Distorting the text (2 Peter 3:16)
   3. Contradicting the text (Genesis 3:1-4)
   4. Subjectivism (to me, it means)
   5. Relativism (Gen. 1-2; 1 Cor. 15)
   6. Overconfidence (1 Cor. 8:1)
   7. The right to disagree (2 Timothy 2:15)

1. Biblical Genres
   1. Exposition (Paul’s letters)
   2. Narrative and biography
      1. 3 things to pay attention to:
         1. Plot
         2. Characterization
         3. In what ways is this story true to life?

• Parables
  1. Fictional story that packs a punch
  2. Allegory

1. Poetry
   1. Parallelism
2. The Proverbs and wisdom literature
   1. A proverb contains a principle, not a promise. A proverb tells you: this is how life basically works.
3. Prophecy and apocalyptic
   1. More “forth-telling” than “fore-telling”
   2. Highly symbolic

• Chart on pages 224-226

1. What do we look at in interpretation? Five basic principles
   1. Content – observation of what is there in the text.
   2. Context – The Bible is 66 books but they are unified as a whole in the Bible. Scripture interprets Scripture.
      1. Types of context
         1. Literary context – before and after the text
         2. Historical context – when does this take place?
         3. Cultural context – what are the customs and practices of the people involved?
         4. Geographic context – lay of the land
         5. Theological context – progressive revelation
      2. Comparison
         1. Compare Scripture with Scripture
         2. How is a particular word used elsewhere?
         3. The value of a concordance

1. Culture
   1. The Last Supper and Leonardo da Vinci
   2. 1 Corinthians 8
2. Consultation – secondary sources
   1. Concordances
   2. Bible dictionaries

• Bible handbooks

1. Atlases
2. Bible commentaries
3. Additional resources
   1. blueletterbible.org
   2. biblegateway.com
   3. biblestudytools.com
   4. Olive Tree
   5. Accordance

• Coming to terms
  1. Using a concordance
     1. For a word study
     2. To study obscure words
  2. Using a Bible dictionary