Sunday, March 6, 2011 - MCOC · 2018. 10. 28. · HERMENEUTICS • Take what was written “then...

Sunday, March 6, 2011

How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth

27 Feb 2011 Sydney, Australia


Ma#hew 13Parable of the Sower

• v.23 “But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty Dmes what was sown.”


2nd Timothy 2:15

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”


Overview

• EXEGESIS VS. EISEGESIS• HERMENEUTICS• EXEGETICAL METHOD

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WHAT IS EXEGESIS?


WHAT IS EXEGESIS AND WHY IS IT NECESSARY?

• ANCIENT GREEK WORD• “EX” MEANS “OUT OF”

• “EGESIS” MEANS “TO LEAD” EX-‐EGESIS MEANS “TO LEAD OUT FROM” THE BIBLICAL TEXT


GOAL OF EXEGESIS

• “WHAT DID THE AUTHOR INTEND FOR HIS ORIGINAL READERS TO UNDERSTAND?”• What did he say? (Content)

• Why did he say it then and there? (Context)


THE OPPOSITE APPROACH

• “EISEGESIS”, – where “EIS” means “Into”… thus

– Eisegesis is leading our own preconcepWons into the Text

• BE AWARE, HOWEVER, THAT NONE OF US IS A BLANK SLATE!– Conscious observers or subconscious vicWms


MORE ABOUT EXEGESIS• EXEGESIS MAY BE DEFINED AS THE CAREFUL HISTORICAL, LITERARY, AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A BIBLICAL TEXT

• IT’S AN INVESTIGATION…. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?• What situaWon seems to have been the occasion for the wriWng of this text?

• What kind of literature is this text, and what are its literary aims?

• What great theological quesWon or issue does this text engage, and what claims on the reader does it make?

• IT’S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE


DO YOU INTERPRET?• “We don’t interpret the Bible, we just do what it says”

• “We simply let the bible interpret itself”• When we do take the Ome to carefully interpret, we strive too much for the “unique” insights

• We all bring preconcepOons to the text• Exegesis recognizes and controls our preconcepOons, biases and world views


HERMENEUTICS

• Take what was written “then and there” (exegesis) and apply it to the “here and now (hermeneutics).”

• All sound hermeneutics begins with good exegesis, because a passage cannot mean something to us that it never meant to them.

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Why do we need to learn?• Matthew 25:14-30 Talents• Luke 18:18-30 Eye of the Needle• Romans 10:9-13 Call on the Lord• Philemon 6 Share your Faith• 3 John 2 Health & Wealth• Revelation 3:20 Invite Jesus in

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YOU CAN DO THIS!!!• ALL YOU NEED FOR EFFECTIVE EXEGESIS:

• Prayerful Spirit

• Reverent Awe

• Good Bible TranslaWons

• Bible DicWonary

• InquisiWve Mind

• Common Sense

• A licle imaginaWon

• And some hard work


THE EXEGETICAL METHOD


1. Survey the Text


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the

Context


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the

Context 3. Fine Tune the

Genre


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the


Genre

4. Detail the

Content


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the


Genre

4. Detail the

Content

5. Synthesize

the Findings


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the


Genre

4. Detail the

Content

5. Synthesize

the Findings

6. Apply It


1. Survey the Text

2. InvesOgate the


Genre

4. Detail the

Content

5. Synthesize

the Findings

6. Apply It

Biblical Exegesis Workflow


SURVEY THE TEXT• Read• Re-Read (Multiple Translations)

• Repeat• Take Notes• Craft a Preliminary

Thesis or Big Idea or Topic

• Read a Brief Intro to the Book


HOW TO READ

“Think of yourself as a detecWve looking for clues to a text’s general theme or idea, alert for anything that will make it clearer”

-‐ How to Read a Book. Page 36


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NET


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JB


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGE


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV

NLT


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV

NLT

LB


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV

NLT

LB

RSV


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV

NLT

LB

RSV

ESV


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

KJV

NIV

NETNASB

JBGNB

MESSAGETNIV

NLT

LB

RSV

ESVNRSV


INVESTIGATE THE CONTEXT

• Historical Context Notes:– "In what historical, social, and cultural situaWon was the passage wricen?"

• Literary Context Notes:– "How does the passage relate to what precedes and follows it, and to the document as a whole?"

– “Why THIS and why HERE?”

– “What is this text trying to DO to its original readers?”


CONTEXT IS KING

• A Proof Text without a Context is a Pretext

• A lack of context is the chief cause of most heresy

• A text cannot mean what it never meant

• Do not allow the implicit to define the explicit


DANGER OF IGNORING CONTEXT

• THIEF ON THE CROSS

• PRAY JESUS INTO YOUR HEART

• CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH

• PROSPERITY GOSPEL


PRETEXT FOR A TEXT

"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is wriaen, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”


PRETEXT FOR A TEXT

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” -‐William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is wriaen, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”


FINE TUNE FOR GENRE


FINE TUNE THE GENRE

• What is the literary Genre of this text? What are the general principles for exegesis of this genre?

• What kind of structure does this genre employ – repeWWon, contrast, parallelism, inclusion, chiasm, classic rhetorical argument, comedic or tragic narraWve? Why would the author choose this form for his intended affect?

• How does the text “move” from beginning to end?


BIBLICAL GENRES• EPISTLES

• NARRATIVES

• PARABLES

• LAWS

• PROPHECY

• PSALMS

• WISDOM

• REVELATION


DIG INTO THE CONTENT


INVESTIGATE THE DETAILS OF THE CONTENT

“It is not in the interest of extravagant ambiWon that we trouble ourselves with this detailed exposiWon, but we hope through such painstaking interpretaWon to train you in the importance of not passing over even one slight word or syllable in the Sacred Scriptures. For they are not ordinary ucerances, but the very expression of the Holy Spirit, and for this reason it is possible to find great treasure even in a single syllable.”

-‐ John Chrysostom 4th Century AD


INVESTIGATE THE DETAILS OF THE CONTENT

• What does the text communicate and how?• What are the key terms and images? Are these terms or images consistent in the major exegeWcal translaWons? What do they mean?

• Are there any key terms or ideas whose meaning may be explained by looking elsewhere in the book?

• Are there any literary or rhetorical devices (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personificaWon, repeWWon, irony, parWcularizaWon etc.) and if so, what is their effect?


CONTENT DETAILS

• How does each Part contribute to the whole?

• How does my emerging understanding of the whole affect the meaning of the parts?

• Does the author use any technical terms?

• If I enter the narraWve world of this text, what do I see and hear and feel?


CONTENT DETAILS

• If I join the community that is receiving this lecer, what am I being urged to do?

• If I join the psalmist in prayer/song, what are we imagining about God?

• If I am among this crowd encountering Jesus, how do I view Him?


SYNTHESIZE IT ALL


We shall not cease from exploraWon,

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first Wme.

-‐ T. S. ELLIOT, FOUR QUARTETS

SYNTHESIZE YOUR FINDINGS


SYNTHESIZE YOUR FINDINGS• What is the main point of each part of the text?• Why do you think the passage was included in this biblical book? For what main funcWon?

• What claims did the text make upon its original hearers or readers? What response might the author have desired from the readers?

• What is the main idea that the author talking about? (Subject)

• What is he saying about what he is talking about? (Complements)

• What is the big idea of this passage – stated in a single sentence?


APPLY IT


IT’S NOT OVER UNTILYOU APPLY IT

“Search the Scriptures, not as though thou wouldst make a concordance but an applicaWon

-‐ John Donne


PROBLEM PASSAGES• Be content with our lack of understanding; therefore, be less dogmaWc

• Even without certainty of details, we can sWll know the point of the whole passage (“bapWzing for the dead” passage of 1 Cor 15 addresses resurrecWon issues rather than bapWsm issues)

• SWll ask “What can be said for certain”• Consult a good, balanced commentary• Admit when you are only guessing


HERMENEUTICS

• WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US?

• ALL “DO” HERMENEUTICS, EVEN WITHOUT EXEGESIS AS WE BRING AN ENLIGHTENED COMMON SENSE TO THE TEXT

• THE BIG ISSUE: CULTURAL RELATIVITY


CULTURAL RELATIVITY


CULTURAL RELATIVITY

Cultural2 Tim 4:13


CULTURAL RELATIVITY

Cultural2 Tim 4:13

Eternal2 Tim 2:3


HERMENEUTIC RULES• THE BASIC RULE

• A text can’t now mean what it never could have meant!

• THE SECOND RULE• When we share comparable life situaWons with the 1st century seqng, God’s word is the same for us, too


HERMENEUTIC PROBLEM

•OUR PROBLEMS WITH THE SECOND RULE:

•Extended ApplicaWon•Not Comparable Life SituaWons•Cultural RelaWvity•Task Theology
