Understanding Scripture

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UnderstandingScripture

• Excerpted from Fee StuartsHow to Read the
  Bible
• For All Its Worth
• Steve Badger

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Terminology
Fee Stuart distinguish between these two
terms   Exegesis and Hermeneutics
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Two Definitions
Exegesis careful, systematic study of the
Scripture to discover what the text meant to the
original recipients
Hermeneutics the task of hearing the same
meaning as the original readers heard seeking
the contemporary relevance of ancient texts
(The latter includes the former)
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1. Name of the writer2. Name of the recipient3.
Greeting4. Prayer wish or thanksgiving5. Body
of the letter6. Final greeting and farewell
Greco-Roman Epistolary Form
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.46-47
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General Characteristics ofThe New Testament
Letters
1. Not homogeneous group 2. Form of letters of
that day 3. Occasional documents 4. Not
theological treatises, though they contain
theology
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First things first
What is the very first thing a reader must
recognize/identify in order to correctly
understand any written text? Assuming the
reader knows the language, is able to read, etc.
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How to Understand a Text
1. First, recognize and understand the genre 2.
Reconstruct the situation (consult a Bible
dictionary or commentary introduction) 3. Read
the whole letter from multiple translations in
one sitting 4. Identify individual pericopes
continued next slide
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How to Understand a Text
5. Trace the development of the arguments within
the pericope 6. Note the part of the letter the
text is in 7. The interpretation should be
self-contained and coherent
Adapted from How to Read the Bible for All Its
Worth, p.46-58
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What makes a passage of Scripture a Problem
Passage?
  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.59
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Understanding Problem Passages
1. The meaning is obscure because the text was
not written to us. We have to be content with our
ignorance. 2. In spite of this, at times the
point of the passage is still within our grasp.
  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.59
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Understanding Problem Passages
3. We must learn to distinguish between our
knowledge and speculation. 4. A good commentary
will list and discuss the suggested meanings and
strengths and weaknesses of each.
  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.59
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The Big Issue
Christians committed to the Bible as God's Word
struggle with one Big Issue that of cultural
relativity What in the Word is culturally
bound and meant only for them/then/there?
And... What transcends culture and time and is
universally true and applicable (for
us/now/here)?
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.61-62
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The Big Issue
Consider 1 Corinthians 1433b-35 (NIV) As in all
the congregations of the saints, women should
remain silent in the churches. They are not
allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as
the Law says. If they want to inquire about
something, they should ask their own husbands at
home for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak
in the church.
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The Big Issue
Perhaps 1 Cor 115 sheds some light And every
woman who prays or prophesies with her head
uncovered dishonors her head. Does Paul
contradict himself here?
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The Big Issue
Perhaps another illustration Judge for
yourselves Is it proper for a woman to pray to
God with her head uncovered? Does not the very
nature of things teach you that if a man has long
hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a
woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long
hair is given to her as a covering.
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The Basic Rule
A text cannot mean what it never could have meant
to its author or his readers.
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The Second Rule
Whenever we share comparable particulars (i.e.,
similar specific life situations) with the
first-century setting, God's Word to us is the
same as His Word to them.
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p.65
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A Corollary
Otherwise, we search for an analogous situation.
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Some Problems
1. The problem of extended application
(p.66-67). 2. The problem of particulars that are
not comparable (p.67-70). 3. The problem of
cultural relativity (p.70-76). 4. The problem of
task theology (p.76-77).
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
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You can find this PowerPoint presentation at
www.evangel.edu/Personal/badgers/Web/ www.evange
l.edu/Personal/badgers/Web/PastEpistles.htm