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Lesson OneWhat is Biblical Interpretation?4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoA Short History of Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeBasic Principles of Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourInterpreting Narratives or Stories4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveInterpreting Poetry and Wisdom4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixInterpreting Prophecy4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenThe New Testament Use of the Old Testament4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightThe Theological Use of the Bible: Putting it All Together4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineContemporary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenInterpreting the Cultural Aspects of the Bible4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ElevenWhen the Bible Doesn’t Address Our Questions4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwelveInterpreting the Bible Devotionally4 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 203
Discussion Questions
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Do you agree with the lecturer that a person must be a born-again Christian in order to understand the Bible? Give reasons for your answer.
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Yes, I believe that one must be a born again beliver to understand the Bible. The mind of the natural man is limited. The natural man cannot know God or His word (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Holy Spirit dwells in the born-again Chrisitan (Ephesians 1:13,14). The Holy Spirit, which a born again believer has, teaches the believer (John 14:25,26).
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Absolutely. Scripture requires the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to understand It’s meaning.
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Yes, I do. I don’t think it’s possible to discern things that were inspired by the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit. I believe 1 Corinthians 2:12 speaks to this.
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Yes. The things of God are spiritually discerned. The natural man cannot receive the things of the word of God. They are foolish to them. Paul said God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise of this world.
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Yes, I do agree with that statement. I agree that the Scriptures are spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit interprets to us what the mind of God is as we study. He does not dwell within the unbeliever but those who have accepted Christ as Savior.
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If we all come to the biblical text with bias and previous conditioning, how can we expect to arrive at an interpretation that resembles the authoritative Word of God?
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We may arrive at an interpretation that is lead from outside the word of God or the biblical text. It is not lead from the biblical text. Therefore, the interpretation is not Spiritually discerned and may be way off, or far from what the author intended for it to mean.
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Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 “and my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive human words (bias and previous conditioning) but in the demonstration of the Spirt (Holy spirit teaches all things) and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” We can’t expect to interpret accurately without the help of the Holy Spirit.
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We can only do this by being on one accord with the truth from God’s word not our own
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First of all, we have lost so much through the passing of time. We have many different cultural standards and social norms. What was once known and believed (myths also), is now forgotten. With that we can interpret in the English something very different than what was originally said. We have to use the various tools (concordance, bible dictionary, and commentaries, etc) to ensure proper interpretation. We must also rely upon the Holy Spirit (Prov 2) to grant us the wisdom in what He would have us to understand. And as in all things, we must be humble enough to listen and obey in submission to our Lord.
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First, becoming aware of these linguistic and cultural biases will help us to check for their influence on our interpretation. Then, we need to intentionally pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our study rather than try to lead the way and affirm our predisposed beliefs. A careful grammatico-historical exegesis will help us to approach Scripture at each level to fully interpret the meaning in context, testing our interpretation against the central truths of the Bible as the unified Word of God to see if it aligns with what we know foundationally. In all steps our thinking must be led by the Holy Spirit in submission to the Lord.
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When believers interpret a passage differently (either within a church or across denominations), how should they relate to each other in a way that promotes unity in the Body of Christ and yet continues to minister God’s Word with conviction?
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They should be willing to listen to how each other explains his interpretation, instead of reacting emotionally. They should be open-minded like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) to search the Scriptures for themselves to check on the interpretation, even their own. In searching the Scriptures, they should try their best to discern what the original meaning of the author to his readers was. Once they have come to a conclusion, they can share it gently, respecting others’ opinions and patiently understanding that they too may need time to search the Scriptures to check out his interpretation. Just like his own convictions, their convictions cannot come overnight without a process.
#Interpretation
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That’s a good question. Well with the help of the holy spirit we can discern what should be said and not. 1 COR 2:14 ESV
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When a brother or sister construe a passage of scripture differently, it’s important that we discuss the matter. And as others have mention, we do it in a loving, kind, and respectful way, and we do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to be our guide through the word of God. And we can do this by comparing scripture with scripture or even doing a word study to get the proper exegesis of the text.
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It's always important to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in Biblical interpretation and to help you have patience and kindness when discussing interpretations with other believers. I believe that if you lovingly communicate what you believe to be the meaning behind the passage, but are also willing to listen to what someone else’s thoughts are on the meaning, you can have a fruitful discussion without tearing each other down. The goal should be learning, encouragement, and challenging each other to grow closer to Jesus through discussing interpretations of Scripture.
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We need to interact with humility and respect and gentleness, but appeal to the classical historical grammatical approach to understanding what the scripture writer meant and how the reader in that day would have understood it.