Every book has a purpose, so in order to get the most out of it, it’s important to ask the right questions, such as who wrote it?, to whom was it written?, what’s the author’s purpose? These same questions and more are to be asked of The Bible, if we’re to make sense of it.
The task before the reader is therefore to employ the right framework and tools in understanding, interpreting and applying biblical truths respectively. Well of course, opening it up to read would be a good starting point!
Understanding – Check that you actually understand what the text says, starting with the basic level question ‘what does it say?’ You may need to paraphrase or summarise to further test for comprehension. As much as possible don’t overlook details, not even the seemingly insignificant ones.
Interpreting – The question answered by this step is ‘what does it mean?’ The Bible doesn’t necessarily have a mysterious meaning that is grasped by setting aside the plain grammatical, and historical sense surrounding it. As such, interpretation is to be done by considering some background details, such as the historical context, literary form, i.e is it poetry, history, a letter…?.
Another key aspect of the interpretation process is using Scripture to explain Scripture.
Also, because different parts of the Bible were written and addressed to specific audience, the modern day reader is expected to ask what a text meant to ‘them then’ (them referring to the first readers or recipients of the text) in order to rightly arrive at what it means to ‘us now’.
Applying – Having rightly understood and interpreted the text, we can now ask the ‘so what?’ question. Find out what it means for your life, by asking ‘how does this affect the way I speak, act, think and pray?’
Asking of a text ‘what it means to me?’ before asking ‘what it means?’ attempts to put the proverbial cart before the horse, albeit unwittingly.
No passage of the Bible stands in isolation; each one has a context within the larger gospel story. It is therefore important to seek an overall perspective on the Bible as a whole, in order for the significant relationships between its parts to become clearer.
Our next post will offer a panoramic view of the Bible to help us grasp that big picture.
In The Bible, God was, and is speaking to His people; hence the safest way to hear God is to read His Word. How well are you listening?
Thanks for reading!
‘Sike Osinuga