Getting Job-ed
When you come to read and study the Bible, how do you do it? What processes do you use to understand what is being spoken? Do you just go off of your own interpretation, based on your own cultural setting in a specific place in history? Or, when you have a question about life that needs to be answered, do you close your eyes and flip through the Bible hoping whatever verse you land on God will somehow answer your issue that’s at hand? Aren’t we all guilty of these? In this two-part study, we’re going to briefly look at some tips to help us study and understand what Scripture is saying (a simple definition of Biblical Hermeneutics), which will help us better apply Scripture to our setting today. Much more can be said on this topic, but this would be a good intro for someone looking for techniques in studying.
* Also, as a note, the resources used in the Bibliography are great and can really be of much benefit to anyone that’s wanting to take the process of studying Scripture to a new level! Also, there is a lot of technical jargon used in this paper, try to see past the technical word to understand what it actually means.
The following is a paper (with added content) written by Austin Rankin for Belhaven University in 2022. This is part 1 of 2:
Just like anything we do in life, there is a process in which we take to achieve tasks in all walks of life. The study of hermeneutics could be stated as a process or methodology that is taken to interpret the Bible. (1) The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance and necessity of the hermeneutical process of preparation, investigation, and application as discussed in the Third Millenium Course and in He Gave Us Stories by Richard Pratt Jr.
Preparation
The preparation phase in the hermeneutical process is an often neglected aspect of interpreting Scripture, but one that is of high importance. We must have a method when approaching Scripture, or else we are in danger of approaching the Bible in a way being a blank canvas, in which, we can paint any meaning that we want to move our agendas forward. (2) As we will discuss in the investigation phase of our process, Scripture only has one meaning but also has many applications in life. (3) So with this in view, we have to approach Scripture in a mindset that there is an authority that governs the interpretation of the text.
While preparing to interpret Scripture, we must be cognizant of our internal biases that may cloud our vision of what the text is actually intended to say. (4) Our upbringing, theological positions, situations in life, past understandings of Scripture, churches, social groups, and already-known hermeneutical processes play a role in our current approaches to Scripture. These are not in and of themselves negative but can be a hindrance to seeing the text for what the text is saying versus us imputing our own meaning into the text. (5)
The Subjectivism Model states that each individual is entitled to their own meaning with Scripture and holds the individual’s interpretation as equal to the authority of Scripture. (6) The Objectivism Model states that we are to “let the Scripture speak for themselves” and ignore that we inevitably bring our preconceived notions to the text. (7) With Objectivism and Subjectivism, we are in danger of elevating our final analysis of the text as being equal to the authority of the text itself. Yet, as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, Scripture is the highest authority on all matters. Therefore, the Authority-Dialogue Model keeps the reader as the “servant of the text” and Scripture as the Teacher and the authority on the matter. (8) The Authority-Dialogue Model shows that learning from Scripture is much like a dialog with an expert teacher: we ask questions, the expert teaches on the matter, and so on. (9) Preparing our hearts and minds to submit to the authority of Scripture by the Spirit is absolutely necessary for the process of hermeneutics.
Investigation: Original Meaning
Much of the investigation process in hermeneutics is focused on discovering the original meaning of the text. Original meaning could be defined as, “the concepts, behaviors, and emotions that the divine and human writers jointly intended the document to communicate to its first audience.” (10) This is to seek what the original author’s message was to the original audience, in the original context and situation in time.
Three factors control the original meaning: the document, the writer, and the audience. (11) We have to be able to understand the document type (historical, laws, poetry, etc.) and then also the language used between the writer and audience. This would involve syntagmatic (use of words and their value in relation to sentence structure) and pragmatic (language used in the specific situation it is used) contexts. (12) No matter what the document type, the author that is writing the document uses selectivity (using a selective amount of information or content) in order to best convey their message to the original audience. (13) All of this is to promote the biblical interpreter’s exegesis (pulling out the meaning of something) of the text and avoid the pitfalls of eisegesis (putting our meaning into something) of the text. (14)
In the next article, we’ll move forward in the concept of the application of Scripture to our lives. To responsibly apply Scripture to our lives, we have to gain an understanding of what the original meaning was from the author to the audience.
-Austin
Footnotes
1. Richard Pratt Jr., He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, (Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1990), 1.
2. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 25.
3. R.C. Sproul, “Knowing Scripture: Private Interpretation,” Ligonier Ministries, accessed April 5,
2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBZXN7Vul9I&list=PLWi0qX
4. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 7.
5. Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Preparation for
Interpretation,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/153
6. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 36.
7. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 29.
8. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 33.
9. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 33.
10. Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Investigating
Scripture,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/154
11. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 117.
12. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 121-122.
13. Pratt, He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, 134-136.
14. Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Introduction to
Biblical Hermeneutics,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/152
Bibliography
R.C. Sproul, “Knowing Scripture: Private Interpretation,” Ligonier Ministries, accessed April 5,
2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBZXN7Vul9I&list=PLWi0qX
EimM4a6N-4xWS1DNV-EFk7ZDt4l&index=2
R.C. Sproul, “Knowing Scripture: Literal Interpretation,” Ligonier Ministries, accessed April 8,
2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vzMEHtexQ&list=PLWi0qXEimM4a6N-
4xWS1DNV-EFk7ZDt4l&index=4
Richard Pratt Jr., He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament
Narratives, (Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1990).
Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Applying
Scripture,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/158
Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Introduction to
Biblical Hermeneutics,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/
lesson.asp/vid/152
Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Investigating
Scripture,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/154
Third Millenium Ministries, “He Gave Us Stories: Foundations for Interpretation: Preparation for
Interpretation,” accessed April 6, 2022, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/153
