Vitaliy Greben
MT500A, Winter 2016
Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. 2003. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
INTRODUCTION In the How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth book the authors provide common-sense guidelines on studying and understanding the Bible. They address the common issues and misconceptions that readers might be dealing with regarding the original meaning of the text and interpreting it in the contemporary context. The writers indicate that we have two tasks when reading the Bible: first, “to find out what the text originally meant” (exegesis), and second, to derive “that same meaning in the variety of new or different context of our own day” (hermeneutics) (12). Indeed, biblical books need to be understood in their …show more content…
What approach do the authors offer for understanding and good interpretation of the Bible that can be useful for a contemporary reader?
• Rationale: Because the Bible contains different types of literature and it was written in the different times and cultures, we need to have guidelines for proper interpretation. The authors demonstrate that good interpretation should be based on common-sense guidelines, including two tasks: exegesis and hermeneutics. The first task, exegesis, is to find out what was the original intent of the word of the Bible. It can be done by asking the right questions of the text, those that can relate to context and those that can refer to content; where context is about time, culture, and the occasion of the book, while content is to do with the meaning of words and their grammatical relationship in sentences. The second task, hermeneutics, covers “here and now” meaning, or the contemporary relevance of biblical texts (28). Also, because the books of the Bible were originally written in three different languages that contemporary reader might not acquired with, the authors point out of the importance of using a good translation when studying the
MT500A, Winter 2016
Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. 2003. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
INTRODUCTION In the How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth book the authors provide common-sense guidelines on studying and understanding the Bible. They address the common issues and misconceptions that readers might be dealing with regarding the original meaning of the text and interpreting it in the contemporary context. The writers indicate that we have two tasks when reading the Bible: first, “to find out what the text originally meant” (exegesis), and second, to derive “that same meaning in the variety of new or different context of our own day” (hermeneutics) (12). Indeed, biblical books need to be understood in their …show more content…
What approach do the authors offer for understanding and good interpretation of the Bible that can be useful for a contemporary reader?
• Rationale: Because the Bible contains different types of literature and it was written in the different times and cultures, we need to have guidelines for proper interpretation. The authors demonstrate that good interpretation should be based on common-sense guidelines, including two tasks: exegesis and hermeneutics. The first task, exegesis, is to find out what was the original intent of the word of the Bible. It can be done by asking the right questions of the text, those that can relate to context and those that can refer to content; where context is about time, culture, and the occasion of the book, while content is to do with the meaning of words and their grammatical relationship in sentences. The second task, hermeneutics, covers “here and now” meaning, or the contemporary relevance of biblical texts (28). Also, because the books of the Bible were originally written in three different languages that contemporary reader might not acquired with, the authors point out of the importance of using a good translation when studying the