What is your method on interpreting the Bible?

Question

When it can be taken literally, I do so. But when it can't I take it metaphorically. What do you do to interpret it & why? I hope to broaden my interpreting skills, and would like to hear some NEW ways others do this.

Answer 1

You must always let the Bible interpret itself, through the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will "guide you into all Truth". But you cannot enter a study of the Bible with a skeptical heart, or read the Bible to find what you believe. That's the wrong way. You must read the Bible and believe what you find there. Anything the Bible says concerning historical records can be taken literally, including the book of Genesis. If you have questions about this, I would suggest going to www.drdino.com - almost all your questions should be answered there. Things that are to be taken metaphorically are dreams, Jesus' parables, and the symbols and imagery of the book of Revelation, whose definitions and explanations are found in the book of Daniel. Too many Christian churches build an entire doctrine upon a single line of text that they interpreted themselves, when what they really should be doing is comparing line upon line, precept upon precept. They should compare every line of Scripture in the Bible that talks about the subject they are looking for, and the answer will become clear.

Answer 2

First you have to know what type of passage you are reading. Is it a historical narrative, a prophetic revelation, poetry? Historical narratives can for the most part be taken literally. Prophetic and poetic passages often use types and symbols to convey their message. Here are some basic guidelines for interpreting literal passages correctly.

Who wrote/spoke the passage and to whom was it addressed?
What does the passage say?
Are there any words or phrases in the passage that need to be examined?
What is the immediate context?
What is the broader context in the chapter and book?
What are the related verses to the passage’s subject and how do they affect the understanding of this passage?
What is the historical and cultural background?
What do I conclude about the passage?
Do my conclusions agree or disagree with related areas of scripture and others who have studied the passage?
What have I learned and what must I apply to my life?

Answer 3

I gave that rather some idea 30 years in the past. placing apart the literal from the allegory. took a sabbatical from church and commenced to income the parables of the Christ. He reported you've been with me see you later and nonetheless do not realize. because there become no new testomony at the same time as Jesus walked and because he interpreted his personal parables . This become an chance for me to locate the solutions interior the former testomony. i become waiting to attempt this having the solutions. I utilized a similar symbolism to at least something else of the Bible loved tremendous fulfillment

Answer 4

There are two important elemants in Biblical interpretaion; one is context, the other is original language.

When reading the Bible we must strive to determine what the author is saying to those people at that time and then seek the Lord's wisdom for application. Now we know that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of all scripture, but God in His soverignty chose specific authors to write and address specific issues. That's number one who is writing, who is he writing to, why is he writing.

Secondly, it is important to study the original langauges, either with a Strong's concordance or a work that I employ frequntly The Complete Word Study NT/OT by Spiros Zodhiates (I may have misspelled his name), but it is a good work because he has gone through and placed the Strong's number over the English word in the text itself, I highly recomend it. Nevertheless, the original languge is important because there are certain nuances that are expressed in Greek or Hebrew that do not come through when translated into English. Also, be cautious when reading some modern translations, many of the versinos we have today are not faithful to the original manuscripts versions like the KJV and NKJV are realiable.

These two keys should help you as you study to show thyself approved, but ultimately it is not how much we can dig out of the Scripture but rather how much God will reveal to us from the Scripture. As Charles Spurgeon said, "Application comes from God alone."

God bless in the name of Christ

Answer 5

I listen to it being proclaimed. I listen to the teachings of others. I mull over what other people reknown for holiness have said about scripture, trusting that they too have come to understand the scriptures by the help of the grace of God and the Holy Spirit. I reflect on the word and on the teachings of the Church so that I can discern whether what I come to understand in my personal reflection on the word is in harmony with and not in any anyway at odds with what the Body of Christ, the Church as a whole has come to understand. Plus, because I believe that the Spirit has given the Body teachers and other offices at the service of the Body as a whole, I make sure my understanding of scripture is in harmony with what those whom God has given as spiritual leaders have said on scripture (because no scripture is a personal interpretation).

Answer 6

When I read the Bible, I try to put myself in the place of the person writing it. What time period what it written in, and what was life like in those days? I try to take it literally whenever possible, because I believe the Bible was intended to be interpreted literally.

Answer 7

interpreting would mean you know the language forward and backwards and could define almost every word spoken.the bible is no different.get a good cross referance bible or a good translation like the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
and test every inspired expression to see if its found in the bible.

Answer 8

Genesis-history of the universe
Exodus-2major sections-(departures)
Leviticus-laws of Israel
Numbers-contains census numbers
Deuteronamy-song of moses,moses death
Joshua-military victories over kings
Judges-leaders of israel
Ruth--wedding ceremonies
Samuel-100 yrs of history from samuels birth thru king david's reign
Kings--covers a 400 yr span ending with captivity of Israel by Assyrian and capitivity of judah by babylon

Answer 9

Look at all the verses in a chapter together...most misinterpretations come from just taking one verse and trying to understand by itself...

Answer 10

What I don't understand, I ask the Holy Spirit to explain for me.