While I wait for something classicly funny to occur to me to write, I thought I would post some of my studies on various books of the Bible. If you don't like them, please standby for the comedy
First things First:
First things First:
Hermeneutics: The science that provides the true principles of Biblical Interpretation.
Basic Principles:
1. The Bible is authoritative. (Inerrant in the original manuscripts)
2. The Bible contains its own hermeneutical laws that are capable of giving meaning, and sufficient when properly understood and followed. (The Bible is the best commentary on the Bible)
3. The primary aim of interpretation is the apprehension of the meaning of the author. (What did he mean when he wrote it?)
4. Language is capable of communicating spiritual truth.
5. The literal rather than the allegorical interpretation is the correct approach to the Bible. (The Bible means what it says, unless it says something else)
6. No Scripture can have more than one meaning. (Lot’s of applications but only one true meaning)
Four basic steps in the study of Scripture:
Observation: “What do I see?” Student approaches the text as a detective. No detail is unimportant.
Interpretation: “What does it mean?” Primarily to the people the author wrote to.
Application: “What does it mean to me?” This is the student’s ultimate goal of observation and interpretation. Observation, interpretation without application is meaningless. Revelation by its nature demands a response.
Correlation: “How does this contribute to the mainstream of biblical revelation?” The goal of any study is the development of an accurate biblical theology that results in a vital Christian life. The student accomplishes this by coordinating his/her findings in studied passages with other studied passages.
HERMENEUTICS IS THE SCIENCE THAT ESTABLISHES THE GROUND RULES FOR THESE FOUR STEPS
General Principles
1. The interpreter works from the presupposition that the Bible is authoritative.
2. The Bible is its own interpreter. Scripture explains Scripture.
3. The Scriptures can only be properly understood and interpreted by saving faith and the Holy Spirit.
4. Experience must be interpreted in light of Scripture and not Scripture in light of experience.
5. Scriptural examples are not authoritative unless supported by a command.
6. The Scriptures are given primarily not to increase knowledge but to change lives.
7. Every individual has the right and responsibility to investigate and interpret the Word of God for himself.
8. Church history is essential but not decisive in the interpretation of Scripture.
9. The promises of God throughout the Bible are available to all the Holy Spirit for the believers of every generation.
Grammatical Principles
1. Scripture has but a single meaning and is, therefore, to be considered literal and subject to a scientific investigation.
2. Words should be interpreted in harmony with their meaning in the time of the author.
3. A word should be interpreted in the light of its sentence and context.
4. A passage should be interpreted in the light of its context.
Historical Principles
1. Scripture originated in an historical way and can be understood only in the light of biblical history.
2. Though God’s special revelation in the Scriptures is progressive, both the Old and New Testaments for essential parts of this revelation and constitute a unit.
3. Historical facts or events may serve as symbols of spiritual truth only if the Scriptures use them as such
Theological Principles
1. The Scriptures must be understood grammatically before they can be understood theologically.
2. A doctrine cannot be considered biblical until it sums up and includes all that the Scriptures say about it.
3. A statement may be considered figurative if an inanimate object is used to describe an animate being.
4. A statement may be considered figurative if its expression is out of character with the thing described.
5. The principle parts and figures of a parable designate realities that correspond to these figures, and only the principle parts should be taken into account when drawing conclusions.
6. The words of the prophets should be interpreted in their usual literal and historical sense, unless the context or manner in which are fulfilled clearly indicates that they have a symbolic meaning. Their fulfillment may be by installments – each fulfillment being a pledge of that which is to follow.
7. When Scripture leads to the establishment of two doctrines that appear contradictory, both doctrines should be accepted as scriptural in the confident belief that they resolve themselves into a higher unity.
8. Implied teachings of Scripture may be considered biblical when the deduction made from a comparison of related passages supports the same implied teaching.
WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that this is a lot to take in. But by setting down all of these principles, it will help us to resolve and understand verses and questions that we are going to have, a whole lot easier, faster and better.
With all of this said, let me say one more thing. I tend to believe that God can do whatever he wants. I believe that there is nothing in the Bible that is there by accident. I believe that salvation and the Christian Life is basically simple. It has to be. God would not make it complicated. He knows what idiots we can be. So this leads me to the following statement:
SIMPLE RULES
INTRODUCTION
A. Who wrote it?
Not known for sure (Paul, Apollos, Barnabas, Silas)
1. Writer and reader known to each other (6:9; 13:18,19, 23)
2. Writer and readers both know Timothy (13:23)
3. Because of the subject of the book, writer was very well aquatinted with the Levitical Ritual system.
4. Writer received the gospel second hand, not from the Lord Jesus himself (2:3)
B. Who was it written to?
1. Title means toward or to the Hebrews (From the original Greek Manuscripts) pros hebraious
2. First readers should have been mature enough to be teachers by now (5:11 - 6:3)
3. Continuing on this thought, because of the authors intent on proving the superiority of Jesus to every aspect of the Levitical system the readers of necessity would have to know or would be expected to understand the subtleties of such proof. (4:7-9; 5:1-4; 5:8-10; etc........)
4. Because of 2 and 3 above it has been suggested that the book of Hebrews was written first of all to a group of unbelieving, leaning towards believing, priests such as mentioned in Acts 6:7
5. This group of people seems to be assembled in Rome (13:24) hoi apo tes Italias "Christians from Italy who living outside of Italy, send greetings to their friends in Italy".
6. Hebrews as the epistle of Romans addresses erroneous teachings on food laws (Heb 13:9, Rom 14:14)
7. First traces of Book were found in the work of Clement of Rome in AD 96.
8. History of Church in Rome matches the background of church in Hebrews 6:10; 10:32-34 .
C. When was it written?
1. Used by Clement of Rome in AD 96
2. Present tense verbs used throughout to indicate that the Levitical system was still in use in the temple of Jerusalem. Temple was destroyed in 68, 69 AD by Titus of Rome. Note: even if the tense of the verbs is unimportant, surely the author would have mentioned the destruction of the Temple since it helps prove his point of it just being a type. (5:1-3; 7:23,27; 8:3-5; 9:6-9, 13, 25; 10:1, 3, 4, 8, 11; 13:10-11)
3. Written after ascension of Lord around 33 AD (1:3)
4. Readers are second generation and some of their leaders were already dead (2:3; 13:7)
5. If readers are the Roman church or a group of Jewish leaders at this church the dates and patterns match.
A. Heb 10:32-34, 12:4. Roman Emperor Claudius ordered extradition of Christians and repossession of property in 49 A. D.
B. Nero's persecution 66 -68 A. D. actual martyrdom of Christians.
A date of around 65 A. D. would be sufficiently removed from 49 AD to make sense of the author saying "former days" and 65 AD would also put it before the destruction of the temple and Nerodian persecution.
D. What is its purpose? (Purposes influenced by circumstances and spiritual condition)
1. To encourage growth (5:11,12)
a. Blinded to the trued nature and value of Christianity
2. To encourage a break from Judaism
3. To encourage them through their tribulations 13:7 – 13:25
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