How to correctly interpret the Bible

4 books to help you understand the Bible's meaning

To regularly receive deals on Zondervan Academic books, subscribe here. The Need to Interpret An excerpt from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart...   Every so often we meet someone who says with great feeling, "You don't have to interpret the Bible; just read it and do what it says." Usually, such a remark reflects the layperson's protest against the "professional" scholar, pastor, teacher, or Sunday school teacher, who by "interpreting" seems to be taking the Bible away from the common person. It is their way of saying that the Bible is not an obscure book. "After all," it is argued, "anyone with half a brain can read it and understand it. The problem with too many preachers and teachers is that they dig around so much they tend to muddy the waters. What was clear to us when we read it isn't so clear anymore."   There is a lot of truth in this protest. We agree that Christians should learn to read, believe, and obey the Bible. And we especially agree that the Bible need not be an obscure book if read and studied properly. In fact we are convinced that the single most serious problem people have with the Bible is not with a lack of understanding but with the fact that they understand many things too well! For example, with such a text as "Do everything without grumbling or arguing" (Phil 2:14), the problem is not understanding it but obeying it — putting it into practice.   We are also agreed that the preacher or teacher is all too often prone to dig first and look later, and thereby at times to cover up the plain meaning of the text, which often lies on the surface. Let it be said at the outset — and repeated throughout — that the aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before. Correct interpretation, therefore, brings relief to the mind as well as a prick or prod to the heart. Interpretation that aims at, or thrives on, uniqueness can usually be attributed to pride (an attempt to "outclever" the rest of the world), a false understanding of spirituality (wherein the Bible is full of deeply buried truths waiting to be mined by the spiritually sensitive person with special insight), or vested interests (the need to support a theological bias, especially in dealing with texts that seem to go against that bias). Unique interpretations are usually wrong. This is not to say that the correct understanding of a passage may not often seem unique to someone who hears it for the first time. But it is to say that uniqueness is not the aim of our task.   The aim of good interpretation is simple: to get at the "plain meaning of the text," the author's intended meaning. And the most important ingredient one brings to this task is an enlightened common sense. The test of good interpretation is that it makes good sense of what is written. Correct interpretation, therefore, brings relief to the mind as well as a prick or prod to the heart.   Read More. Learn how to correctly interpret the Bible and truly understand its meaning with these four books, each 50% off right now: $24.99 SALE PRICE: $12.50 $22.99 SALE PRICE: $11.50      $19.99 SALE PRICE: $10.00   $22.99 SALE PRICE: $11.50   SHOP OUR SEMI-ANNUAL SALE For more deals like this, subscribe to our Academic Deals Email. You received this email because you elected to receive Academic Update emails from Zondervan. You can unsubscribe at any time. © 2024 HarperCollins Christian Publishing. All Rights Reserved. 501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214, USA Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

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