Post by Cindy on Jun 1, 2020 10:54:34 GMT -5
I have this book in my Bible Library and I thought it might be helpful if I copied just their 7 keys and their explanation for us. So here they are.
Keys To The Bible’s Treasures By Robert A. French
1. Pray before and throughout your study of the Bible
Scripture contains spiritual truth. According to 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16, people need the help of the Holy Spirit to correctly understand spiritual truth. Consequently, it is important to prepare our hearts and to ask God for the Holy Spirit’s help so we can correctly understand God’s Word.
2. Explore the context
The principles of biblical hermeneutics (the study about how to study and interpret the Bible) teach us to study the context before studying the text. Why? Because the author of every Bible text intended to communicate a specific message to a particular group of first readers. We should not interpret Bible texts according to our own culture or according to our own personal experiences. In addition, we should never interpret a Bible text apart from its written context. Instead, we should always try to determine what the author intended each text to mean according to its context before applying it to our lives and culture. The more completely we study the entire context, the more accurately we will understand what the author intended the text to communicate. So the larger the context we study, the more accurate our understanding of the author’s intended message will be.
What is the context? The written context of any text is the larger body of material surrounding the text. For example:
Keys To The Bible’s Treasures By Robert A. French
1. Pray before and throughout your study of the Bible
Scripture contains spiritual truth. According to 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16, people need the help of the Holy Spirit to correctly understand spiritual truth. Consequently, it is important to prepare our hearts and to ask God for the Holy Spirit’s help so we can correctly understand God’s Word.
2. Explore the context
The principles of biblical hermeneutics (the study about how to study and interpret the Bible) teach us to study the context before studying the text. Why? Because the author of every Bible text intended to communicate a specific message to a particular group of first readers. We should not interpret Bible texts according to our own culture or according to our own personal experiences. In addition, we should never interpret a Bible text apart from its written context. Instead, we should always try to determine what the author intended each text to mean according to its context before applying it to our lives and culture. The more completely we study the entire context, the more accurately we will understand what the author intended the text to communicate. So the larger the context we study, the more accurate our understanding of the author’s intended message will be.
What is the context? The written context of any text is the larger body of material surrounding the text. For example:
• The context of a word is the sentence it appears in.
• The context of a sentence is the paragraph it appears in.
• The context of a paragraph is the topic it appears in.
• The context of a topic is the section it appears in.
• The context of a section is the division it appears in.
• The context of a division is the book it appears in.
• The context of a book is all that author wrote in the Bible.
• The context of all that an author wrote in the Bible is the part of the Old or New Testament his works appear in (e.g. historical books, poetic books, prophetic books, gospels, letters, etc.).
• The context of part of the Old or New Testament is the entire Old or New Testament.
• The context of the Old or New Testament is the whole Bible.
3. Investigate what the text says
First read the text. Then regardless of the method used, study the text carefully. Focus on what the text actually says, and write your observations. A famous author once wrote, “The pen is the crowbar of the mind.” Writing your thoughts will stimulate more ideas. There are six question words you may use to ask questions of every part of every text. They are: “Who,” “What,” “When,” “Where,” “Why,” and “How.” The following are some sample questions you can use to study most texts. You may also make your own study questions. Write your observations and answers based on what the text actually says.
• Who? Who are the participants, the author, and the intended first readers? If there is a command, who must obey it?
• What? What happened or will happen? If there is a command, what should be done? What does the text say about God, Jesus, people, Satan, angels, demons, etc.? What ideas are discussed, and what is said about them?
• When? When did (will) it happen? (Time lines may be found in the back of some Bibles.) If there is a command, when must it be done? If the text is a prophecy, has it been fulfilled?
• Where? Where did (will) it happen? (The maps in your Bible may be helpful.) If there is a command, where must it be performed?
• Why? Why was (is) this done? Why did (will) this happen? Why should it be done?
• How? How was (is) it done? How should it be done?
4. Determine what the text means in its context
The first goal of biblical hermeneutics is to determine what the author intended to communicate to the first readers. The following is a simple but powerful question that everyone can use to help reach this goal:
According to the context, what did the author intend the text to communicate to the first readers? For many texts, you may only need to study the immediate context to determine what the author intended to communicate. For some texts you may need to study a larger context to decide what the author meant the text to say.
5. Harmonize your understanding of the text’s message with the teaching of the whole Bible
The second major goal of biblical hermeneutics is to harmonize our understanding of each text with the teachings of the rest of the Bible so they do not contradict each other. To do that we should try to determine what the text means in light of the teaching of the entire Bible. If two or more texts appear to contradict each other, look for an interpretation that permits each text to remain faithful to its meaning in its own context without contradicting the other texts. There are a few simple questions that everyone can ask to use this key. A Bible with cross-references is all you need to use this key. A concordance or a topical Bible may also be used, especially if your Bible does not have cross-references. If your Bible does not have cross-references and you do not have a concordance or a topical Bible, you can still use this key by thinking of other texts that have something to say about your text or topic.
6. Compare what you have learned with other scholars (optional)
This key is very helpful and is highly recommended, especially for those who teach others. However, you may omit it. Why?
• It is possible to properly understand much of the Bible without the aid of other books. Many people without access to other books manage to rightly understand the Bible.
• People are frequently led astray because they rely on other books and people to interpret the Bible for them.
• According to the first principle of biblical hermeneutics, we should not give any doctrine, human, organization, or any other source more authority than the Bible to tell us the right way to think about what God has said in Scripture. The teaching of the whole Bible is the ultimate authority for determining the meaning of every Bible text. So we should use the Bible to determine the meaning of Bible texts instead of relying on other sources to interpret the Bible for us.
However, this key is still very helpful and has been included for the following reasons:
• The principles of biblical hermeneutics strongly warn against the wrong use of other sources, but they do not prohibit us from learning from other scholars and books.
• We can learn a great deal from what the Holy Spirit has taught other Bible scholars. Those who will not learn from others may make many unnecessary errors.
• Some books are often a big help in gaining a better understanding of the geography, language, culture, and the historical setting of the authors and first readers. Some discuss the meaning of the words and grammar in the original languages.
• When the meaning of a text is not clear, some books present several possible interpretations.
7. Apply God’s word to your life
James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (NIV). James 2:26 says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (NIV). We should not let our study of the Bible be merely an intellectual exercise. Whenever we study the Scriptures we should also determine what God is saying to us personally and put that into practice. To do that, you can ask God, “What do You want me to do as a result of my study of Your Word?” If you are preparing a message or a Bible study, ask God to show you what He wants to say to your group. But first ask Him to show you what He wants to say to you. While praying, make a practical plan to apply what you have learned from God’s Word to your life. The following questions can help you do that:
• What will I do?
• When will I do it?
• Where will I do it?
• How will I do it?
A Summary Of The Principles Of Hermeneutics
1. Use the Bible to determine the meaning of Bible texts instead of relying on other sources to interpret the Bible.
2. Interpret the passage in its immediate context before referring to other passages, such as cross-references and supporting verses.
3. Interpret each passage according to its ordinary meaning in its entire context.
4. The most accurate way to understand a text is according to its grammar and structure.
5. Interpret the passage according to the overall teaching of the book and the whole Bible.
6. If two or more texts appear to contradict each other, look for an interpretation that permits each text to remain faithful to its meaning in its own context without contradicting the other texts.
7. Use the clear teaching texts of the New Testament to interpret all other kinds of Bible texts
One of the things I find interesting about this is that if we gathered together a group of about 50 lay people who were truly saved and asked them how they study God's Word and how they'd teach a beginner to do so, most of them would include many of these keys and would tell us that they had never even heard the word Hermeneutics until reading something long after they began using these keys themselves. I say this because I've heard this from many others when they were telling me how they study. That is exciting to me because it's simply another testimony of what a great teacher the Holy Spirit is! I remember when I was first saved, I begged God to give me a human teacher, thinking I'd learn more that way. He did finally give me what I asked for and I soon learned that I was wrong; that I learned much more when I studied with Him then when I relied on others. I didn't have commentaries or other books for many years after I was saved. So when I studied the Bible, it was just me and Him and His Word. Years later when I got my Bible Library and could see what others said about scripture, I was shocked to see that they said the same things that the Lord had taught me! It didn't make me feel super knowledgeable, or smarter then average, because I knew I wasn't. It gave me yet another reason to praise the Lord for the wonderful ways in which He teaches us His Word. All we have to do is belong to Him and truly want to know His Word and understand and apply it, and He makes sure we do! He fulfills what He said here: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6.
!!
