Studying the Bible, if you're aiming for accuracy and truthfulness, is not easy. People taking the Bible out of context is just common practice nowadays, even in my own Church, there are so many instances of people just taking what other people say about the Bible for granted and not critically examining it for themselves! When you really dig into it, Bible interpretation is a complicated task that involves many different areas of study. Luckily, God has gifted us with scholars who dedicate their lives to this work. That doesn't mean w
e shouldn't try our best with what we have though.
My youth group is going through a series on Bible interpretation right now, and I'm tasked with teaching a lot of it. So this book has come to me at the right time! (I found it at a thrift store).
Overview
How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth is an introductory-level text that gives an overview of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. The writers begin by introducing elementary concepts of interpretation (such as translations, historical background, reading in context, etc).
For the vast majority of the book, the authors go through each of the literary categories of the Bible (for example, the Gospels, epistles, prophets, wisdom literature, poems, narratives, etc). For each category, the authors give their advice on how to properly interpret and apply the text. Each section has different principles. The sections also include some practical examples of how exegesis and hermeneutics may be performed on a given text.
At the end of the book, a brief discussion on what makes a good Bible commentary is given. The authors also give a list of recommended resources for the reader.
Why Read This?
The idea of divine inspiration has been taken too far. People just take the Bible as they see it and interpret it on the surface level because they trust the Spirit. If you use that logic, then anyone can say anything about the Bible. We need to know the proper interpretation. The Bible is our guide to life, and within it, there are verses that carry a lot of weight and terrible consequences if applied wrongly, so we must make sure we have a truthful interpretation lest we deceive ourselves.
This book is not hard to read, it is very accessible to the layman. The principles of interpretation found in this book are very valuable, and oftentimes Christians live an entire life without even thinking about them. The book is thorough and wide-reaching, talking about all the categories within the Bible. The practical examples are very helpful when some principles are hard to understand in theory.
Anyone who is interested in deeper Bible study would find this to be a great introductory text.
Potential Pitfalls
From what I gather, the authors of this book hold some views that some will not like (such as Egalitarianism). The reader would do well to move past that and still appreciate the principles that the authors offer. Of course, I don't agree with everything the authors wrote. In a book that addresses a such wide array of subjects, that is to be expected, read with discernment.
In some parts of the book, the authors seem to come to a conclusion about a text or a principle without backing it up with evidence. There are quite a few instances of this, but I am not a huge fan of that, especially when this is found in a book all about having a backup, context, and evidence.
Lastly, Bible interpretation, in all its areas, is still something of hot debate. It's not good to be totally dead set on one set of principles, rather, it's better to keep a humble mind and change according to new, truthful information. Being unreasonable is not a good testimony both to the world and to younger Christians.
Comments