If you want to check it out, go to http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/freesamples.html

While it is not comprehensive in the sections or types of scripture covered, this Bible Study does specifically look into The Law (Exodus), The Prophets (Isaiah), and two Gospel accounts (a parable in Luke and eschatological scripture in Matthew) to show the biblical consistency across scriptural genre and Old and New Testaments.

I hope this is a good starting point!

See Full Text of Study Here.

One good opener question would be to ask students, “When was the last time you went an entire day without buying anything?”

The “Story of Stuff” is humorous, engaging, provocative, and full of information…

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

“I enjoy helping others get the most from their Bible study,” says Lance. “Learning how to deal with figurative language is a step in that process.”

Language is God’s handiwork.Those He inspired to write the Scriptures—from Moses and the prophets to Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John—became language masters. Often, God led them to use literary techniques to communicate His Word. One of the most common of these techniques is figures of speech. Found in all literature, figures of speech have been called the “ornaments of language.” They allow the author to transform a simple literal idea into a clearer, more graphic image for the reader. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently used figures of speech in the Bible.

Figures of Comparison
Simile: A comparison in which something is said to be “like” or “as” another thing.
Example: ”As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1).

Metaphor: A comparison in which it is said that something “is” another thing.

Example: ”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps. 119:105).

How to interpret: Similes and metaphors force us to stop and consider how one thing compares with another. How is the longing of our souls like the longings of a deer? In what ways is God’s Word a lamp and a light? Once we see what they share in common, we will understand what God is saying to us.

We must be careful not to press the comparisons too far, beyond what they could have meant to the original audience. It would be wrong to conclude from Rev. 16:15 that Jesus is a thief! When He said, “Behold, I come like a thief,” the point of comparison is that of unexpectedness, not questionable character. In comparing Christians to salt in Mt. 5:13, Jesus did not have every contemporary use of salt in mind. In ancient times, salt was not used to de-ice roads! Thus it would be incorrect to say that one meaning is that Christians are to melt people’s cold-heartedness toward God.

As with all interpretation, immediate context is our surest safeguard. Notice that Rev. 16:15 is in a context of alertness and readiness in the midst of turmoil. Knowing that Jesus could come any moment, as unexpectedly as a thief, believers are never to relax their faithfulness. The salt metaphor, like its corollary of light, comes on the heels of the beatitudes, which describe the countercultural attitudes of believers. However, we are not to step out of our culture but to be change agents within our culture, preserving what is good and demonstrating by our lives the reality of God.

Figures that Intensify
Hyperbole: An intentional exaggeration or overstatement designed to achieve an emotional effect.
Examples: ”If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26).

“So the Pharisees said to one another, ?See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’” (Jn. 12:19).

How to interpret: The use of hyperbole is more common than you may think. We have all said something like, “I wrote until my hand fell off!” or, “I danced until I dropped!” While hands do not fall off and rarely do people drop from dancing, hyperbole is a way of expressing the emotional truth about something…the way it feels to us. It is also a way of abruptly getting another’s attention. The examples above illustrate both purposes.

Jesus’ words in Lk. 14:26 seem extreme. That should alert us to the use of hyperbole. If we took these words literally, they would contradict the abundant biblical teaching on honoring one’s parents and loving all people (even enemies), not to mention the teachings against hate (see 1 Jn. 4:20). This is an example of Jesus driving home a point in a way that forces us to take note of it. With further reflection, we realize that Jesus is saying that love for Him should take precedence over all other affections and allegiances, making them seem like “hate” by comparison.
The Pharisees in Jn. 12:19 show us hyperbole to express a strong feeling…that of exasperation. It would be nice if the whole world was going after Jesus, but this has never been the case either then or now. But if we were Pharisees in 30 AD watching crowds flocking around Jesus, it might have felt like everyone was abandoning us in favor of Jesus. The Pharisees were frustrated at the loss of their influence over the people.

The key to interpreting hyperbole is never to take it literally but to look for the ways in which it is either expressing what is emotionally true or serving to grab our attention. But before we tame a saying too much, we should wrestle with how radical Jesus’ teachings really are.

Figures of Contrast
Irony: Intentionally saying the opposite of what is meant.
Examples: ”As for you O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you!” (Ezk. 20:39).

“Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!” (1 Cor. 4:8).

How to interpret: Here is another figure of speech that should be familiar to us. You might be asked, “How was the meeting with your boss?” and answer sarcastically, “Can’t wait till the next one!” This is irony. It is easy to pick up on in a conversation because intonation tips us off. But we must be more alert to catch it in the written text. Irony is used not to hide meaning, but to add greater force and vividness. I’m not likely to mistake your meaning as wanting to meet with your boss again, but using irony says it more vividly.

In Ezk. 20:39, God is surely not commanding His people to break the second commandment and worship other gods. Rather, as the context points out, Israel is already doing this. God really wants them to worship Him. He is allowing Israel to go on their chosen path, promising the discipline of judgment. He works in the same way today.

In a similar way, Paul uses irony to address spiritual pride in Corinth, saying the opposite of what he really thinks to be true. Far from being a commendation, 1 Cor. 4:8 condemns the Corinthians’ false self-perceptions. They thought they had arrived spiritually! By using irony, Paul portrays their folly more vividly and forcefully. He knows that neither he nor they, nor any of us this side of eternity, can claim perfection. There is no place for spiritual pride in our lives.

In the Bible, irony is usually found in situations of rebuke or ridicule. Often there is an intent to censure or criticize concealed in an ironic statement. As the context will always show, irony cannot be true if taken at face value. It is the opposite meaning that the author wants to convey.

Figures of Association
Metonymy: Substituting one thing for another closely related to it.
Example: ”Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own” (2 Sam. 12:10).

Synecdoche: A part is substituted for the whole or the whole for a part.

Examples: ”They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2:4).

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach” (Phil. 3:19).

How to interpret: While the names may be unfamiliar, these too are figures we use fairly often. We might say, “I don’t agree with anything the White House is doing,” referring to the President and his staff. Or we may speak of a friend being ruined by “the bottle,” by which we mean drunkenness. These are both examples of metonymy. Similarly, we might read that the city imposed a curfew on children under 18. Here, “city” refers to the government, not the entire town.

When we come across metonymy, we should pause to ask ourselves why the writer chose to say things this way. What do the images suggest? Don’t make the mistake of interpreting too narrowly or literally.

In 2 Sam. 12:10, the prophet Nathan was not telling David that he would always have a sword in his house. Rather, “sword” is associated with violence and “house” refers to David’s family. Because he had sown seeds of violence against the innocent Uriah, violence would plague David and his family. However, the word ”sword” conjures up a more vivid image, and the use of “house” indicates the pervasive consequences of David’s sin. How wide a circle the influence of one person’s sin can become!

Coming to our examples of synecdoche, Isaiah was not reducing the Israelites to fighting with slingshots and bows and arrows. By mentioning a part—swords and spears—he was using synecdoche to refer to all instruments of war. There was coming a day of total disarmament.

In Phil. 3:19, Paul refers to the enemies of Christianity as those whose god is their stomach. Do they really worship their stomachs? As a use of synecdoche, we must look for an association. We typically associate the stomach with appetite. Paul intends this to represent all the fruitless appetites of a life lived in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Consider, though, how readily we can all identify through the word “stomach” with a vivid image of cravings.

The Bible is indeed the inspired Word of God. We can more fully appreciate its meaning because God chose so many ornaments—figures of speech—by which to communicate His truth. The Bible is not dry but uses language that causes vivid images to pop into our minds. The more we contemplate the meaning of these images, the greater will be our appreciation of God’s Word, and the better prepared we will be to apply it to our lives.

This study was evangelistic in nature, and was used to identify the level of faith of freshman women students on my residence hall floor. Other purposes of the study were to help these women get to know each other better and to set the stage for longer-term relationships between me and these women. In this case, all of the women turned out to have some sort of Christian faith commitment.

What developed from this study is now a three-year-long discipleship group with most of these same women. I have found that the “basics” taught here were a good foundation for future studies of The Transforming Vision, Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World, semester-long studies on doing evangelism and other topics.

Please keep in mind that this study was given several years ago; my teaching style and level of learning have changed, and so if used again I would update the studies as well as the handouts. The participatory exercises vary according to your audience: I was working with ten freshman women, and so these exercises worked with them—and they remember many of the exercises due to their often silly nature. Use this information only as a guide to help you in condensing CFR information into a six-week format. Let me know if I can fill in the details for you.

Finally, you should know that the major “visual” that I used was an old, ugly, crusty chair that I found in the trash. Throughout the study, we used this chair to demonstrate CFR. You could also re-do a rocking chair or some other item, showing how value can be found where no value was seen before. You will note references to this chair throughout the study.

Week One: Introduction

Week Two: Worldviews

Week Three: Creation

Week Four: Fall

Week Five: Redemption

Week Six: Putting it all Together

The author, Denis Haack, has written two charts to cover the last step, Application. He did this so that the Biblical reader could consider how the texts applies to both the community of faith and the world around us.

Survey
Observation
Interpretation
Application I
Application II

Follow these simple guidelines to help better grasp what God’s Word is saying.

Everyone who reads the Bible interprets the text. Unfortunately, however, the Bible is not always easy to understand. Even when the text seems straightforward, we may feel uncertain that our interpretation is right. All of us want to treat the Word of God with the respect it deserves, and we certainly don’t want to read into it things that are not there. For these reasons, we need to apply the basic principles of hermeneutics—the science of interpretation—as we read the text.

Many believers already apply these principles just by using common sense. Indeed, they are simply principles of good reading. Though the Bible is a unique book in many ways, many of the rules for interpreting the Bible are rules for interpreting any book.

The goal of our Bible reading and study is to find out what it means. These seven principles can help us understand what God is saying to us through Scripture.

Principle 1
Look for the author’s intended meaning. Notice that this principle acknowledges that there is a meaning to the text! In an age of relativism, this point is important. Many nonChristian interpreters of the Bible suggest that the Bible has no set meaning, and we may read into it whatever we want. On the contrary, we must realize that when we interpret the Bible we are looking for the author’s original meaning, not imposing our own meaning on a text. When the reader’s interpretation conflicts with the author’s, then the reader is wrong.

Each biblical passage has a set meaning intended by its author. The interpreter’s task is to discover that meaning. This principle seems clear enough, but we must come to grips with a couple of issues.

First, who is the author and how do we uncover his intention? This question is more complex than it might first appear. Even when we know the name of the human author (Moses, Paul, etc.), we have no independent access to him. We can’t ask Paul whether he was describing Christians or nonChristians in Ro. 7:21-25. We can only answer such questions by placing ourselves in the time period when the authors first wrote and asking what they meant to tell us (see Principle 4).

A second issue has to do with the unique character of the Bible as the Word of God. As 2 Pet. 1:21 states, “Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” God is the ultimate Author of the Bible, and this important truth has implications for how we understand it.

Let’s look at an example,
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son. —Hosea 11:1

Who is the author of this passage? According to the first verse of Hosea it is the prophet by that name. But how can we know what his intention is in the passage? First, we know approximately when he lived. We also have the broader context of the whole book (see Principle 2), which gives us a fuller idea of what Hosea intended to say in this one verse. When we study his text in the context of his entire book, we find that Hosea is referring to the Exodus described in the book of Exodus.

But later we may be reading Matthew 2 and come across verse 15. Here the writer applies Hosea 11:1 to Jesus as a youth returning to Judea from Egypt. This reference does not seem in keeping with the intention of Hosea. It is here we must remember where the meaning of a text ultimately resides—in the intention of its Author, God Himself. And as we read the Scripture in the context of the Bible as a whole, we see that He has made an analogy between Israel, God’s son, being freed from Egypt, and Jesus, God’s Son, coming up from Egypt, a pattern that runs throughout Matthew’s gospel.

Principle 2
Read a passage in context. With the Bible, as with all good literature, we must get a grasp of the whole in order to appreciate and understand the parts. This principle doesn’t stop us from turning to the middle of the book of Romans to read a section on sin, but we should only do so with an understanding of where Paul’s teaching on sin fits in with the message of the whole book.

When we do read little bits and pieces of Scripture, we must exercise great caution. Imagine reading Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 7:27: “Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife.” Without taking into account the context, especially Paul’s advice in verse 9, we might conclude that the Bible commands celibacy.

Context is an ever-expanding concept when applied to a passage of Scripture. For example, take Gen. 50:20, where Joseph says, ”You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” If we look at the immediate context, we will see that he is speaking to his brothers right after his father died. To understand what he is referring to, we need to read the entire Joseph story (Gen. 37:1-50:26). Here we see that his brothers tried to get rid of him by selling him to Midianite traders, who took him to Egypt. We also observe how God used their evil actions to place him in a position of power from which he could save his family.

But even further, we have to read Gen. 50:20 in the light of the whole book of Genesis. Genesis describes the promise that God gave Abraham about numerous descendants and land. Joseph’s statement at the end of the book shows his awareness that God is overruling the evil of his brother’s intentions in order to preserve the family line and fulfill His promise to Abraham.

And we are still not done. The ultimate context of any Bible passage is the whole Bible. As we read the Bible we see many parallels to Joseph’s statement, but none so vivid as the words of Peter as he describes Jesus’ death. In Acts 2:22-24 Peter says that Jesus was killed by men who only intended to kill him, but God used those very actions to save many from their sins.

How do we learn to read in context? Avoid only reading little snippets of Scripture. Read whole books. If you can sit down for two or three hours to read a novel, try the same with Isaiah or Acts. Whenever you do read a short passage, do it with an outline of the whole book in your mind or with the help of a good commentary.

Of course, the exact nature of the context may differ from biblical book to biblical book. The context of the historical books is provided by the flow of events of the story; in the letters, one idea comes from another. Proverbs 10-31 has a looser context as one pithy proverb—on laziness, for example—is followed by two on the tongue and then another on laziness. Still, in all books we should have a sense of the whole book as we study any part of it. Ask yourself, how does this passage fit into the message of the whole book, even the whole Bible?

Your ability to read the Scriptures in their ever-expanding context will increase the more you spend time reading God’s Word.

Principle 3
Identify the genre of the passage you are reading. One evening I opened a new book and was jarred by this opening sentence: “As Gregor Samsa awoke from an uneasy sleep, he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.” It was a striking sentence, but it didn’t shake me. The book was Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, a fictional story in which human beings can turn into bugs without raising the reader’s disbelief.

The Bible is a literal cornucopia of literary types. As we read from Genesis to Revelation, we encounter history, poetry, prophecy, proverb, gospel, parable, epistles, and apocalypse. Knowing the type, or genre, of literature you are reading is essential to understanding it. Different genres evoke different expectations and interpretive strategies.

Let’s take as a classic example a book of the Bible that has been misinterpreted because its genre was misidentified. For a long time, the Song of Songs was interpreted as an allegory of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church. When early interpreter Cyril of Alexandria read Song of Songs 1:13, “My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts,” he thought the two breasts represented the Old and New Testaments. The sachet was Christ, who spanned both!

Most people today recognize that the Song is a love poem. Its primary message concerns the intimacy of human love. Of course, since human love reflects Christ’s love for the Church (Eph. 5:22-32), the older interpreters were not entirely wrong. But they did miss the most obvious meaning of the text.

A very helpful handbook for recognizing the different genres is The Bible Study Tool Kit (IVP). On a more advanced level, try A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible (Zondervan). Old Testament Introduction (Zondervan) by T. Longman III and R. B. Dillard discusses the genre and style of each book in the Old Testament.

Principle 4
Consider the historical and cultural background of the Bible. The Bible was written in a time far distant from ours, and in cultures quite strange to us. So as we try to discover the author’s meaning, we must learn to read his writing as one of his contemporaries would. We must transport ourselves by means of our informed imagination back to the time of Moses, David, Solomon, or Paul.

But how do we do this? For most Bible readers, it means turning to commentaries and other helps. These books can give us insight into the cultural and historical backgrounds to the biblical books.

For instance, the Bible often depicts the Lord as riding a cloud (Ps. 18:7-15, 68:4, 104:3; Nahum 1:3). We might learn from a commentary that Israel’s neighbors frequently pictured the god Baal riding a cloud chariot into battle. As we place the biblical image in the light of the ancient Near East, we realize that God’s cloud is a chariot that He rides into war. When we turn to the New Testament and see that Jesus also is a cloud rider (Mt. 24:30, Rev. 1:7), we understand that this is not a white, fluffy cloud, but a storm cloud that He rides into judgment. Furthermore, we now sense that the use of the image was an appeal to those Israelites who worshipped the wrong god, Baal, to come back and worship the true cloud rider, the Lord.

But what about a passage like Psalm 23? Can’t we understand the imagery of a shepherd without recourse to the ancient world? We know what a shepherd does. He protects, guides, and takes care of his sheep.

The answer is yes, and no. Shepherds in biblical times acted like shepherds in modern times in all these ways. However, unless we are aware of the use of the shepherd image in the ancient Near East, we will miss an important aspect of the psalm. The great kings of the Near East often referred to themselves as the “shepherds” of their people. Thus, as we read Psalm 23 in the light of its ancient background, we recover an important teaching of Psalm 23: the Lord is a royal shepherd.

Principle 5
Consider the grammar and structure within the passage. In a word, we must read our passage closely in all its detail.

Look for things like connectors, verb tenses, and modifiers to nouns. Connectors (words like but, and, therefore), for instance, help give the reader the logical connection between words. Remember, though, that the meaning of the Bible is not in the isolated words but in the context, namely, in sentences.

Let’s look at the conjunctions, tense, adjectives, and other indications of the relationship between words and clauses in Psalm 131.

Our example comes from a poem that has a special kind of structural feature, parallelism, in which the clauses echo each other. The first clause makes a statement, which is then expanded upon in the following related clauses. When reading a poem, reflect on how the parallelism contributes to the meaning of the psalm.

The parallel structure (both in the meaning of the words and the grammar) links the first three clauses of verse one together:

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
…my eyes are not haughty;
do not concern myself with great matters
…or things too wonderful for me.

Careful attention to the structural relationship between the three clauses shows that David distances himself from pride in three distinct areas: his core personality (heart), his external demeanor (eyes), and his actions.

The “but” that begins the second verse draws a strong contrast between the pride described in the first verse and the attitude expressed in the second.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
…like a weaned child with its mother
…like a weaned child is my soul within me.

The English translation of the Hebrew verbs (”have stilled” and ”have quieted”) indicate that his confidence is rooted in the past and continues in the present.

He then illustrates his present disposition by using the word like. Note that David does not use a generic term for child, but the word for a weaned child. When we reflect on the word choice, we may realize that a weaned child, one that does not need its mother’s milk, is especially calm in its mother’s lap. It is not grasping for the source of its sustenance, but resting quietly in its mother’s arms.

The final verse of the psalm uses imperatives in order to drive home the application of the truths presented in the first two verses:

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
… both now and forevermore.

Most Bible readers do not have access to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or the Greek of the New Testament. Serious grammatical and syntactical study must be based on the original languages. For that reason, it is helpful to have a copy of a very literal translation like the NASB around for serious study. Indeed, the best way to get a feel for the original text is to compare a number of different translations. A good commentary based on the Hebrew or Greek text is invaluable for insight into the grammatical and structural relationships.

Principle 6
Interpret experience in light of Scripture, not Scripture in the light of experience. All too often, we distort Scripture by allowing our experience to shape our understanding of Scripture rather than the other way around.

One way we let experience dictate our interpretation is by imposing our desires upon it. Many believers find a passage out of context to support their desire, ignore the rest of the Bible’s teaching (thus violating Principle 7), and argue that their desire is the same as biblical truth.

For instance, if sharing my faith made me uncomfortable, I might build an excuse for not doing evangelism around scriptures about God’s love. I could quote 1 Corinthians 13 and a host of other passages to show that God and love are nearly synonymous. Then I might reason: “If God is love, how could He condemn anybody?” In this way, I would be “off the hook” for telling people about Jesus despite all the clear teaching about sin, judgment and hell.

Another way that experience can warp our interpretation of Scripture is through our cultural makeup. We can unconsciously make the Bible a Western, even American, text as we read into it the values that come naturally to us due to our upbringing. Capitalism is nowhere taught as such in Scripture; socialism isn’t either. But American right-wing Christians and Latin American proponents of liberation theology both will use the Bible to promote their agendas. The antidote to such lopsided readings is to point to biblical passages that undermine both capitalism and socialism in the Bible. Our experience of capitalism as good and socialism as bad should not compute into considering the former biblical and the latter unbiblical.

Perhaps one of the most hotly debated issues in evangelical circles today is whether the gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy and tongues, continue today. Arguments on both sides of this debate often appeal to experience over biblical teaching. If someone speaks in tongues, then he will be predisposed to believe the Bible justifies the experience. On the other hand, if someone else observes that these gifts add chaos to worship, then he might be more likely to find evidence to refute their practice.

Principle 7
Always seek the full counsel of Scripture. We should never read Scripture in isolation from the whole Bible. While many human authors contributed to the Bible, God is the Ultimate Author of the whole. While the Bible is an anthology of many books, it is also One Book. While it has many stories to tell, they all contribute to a Single Story.

This principle has many important implications. First, we should never base doctrine or moral teaching of Scripture on an obscure passage. The most important ideas in the Bible are stated more than once. When a text teaches something obscure or difficult and we can find no other passage to support it, we must not attach too much significance to it.

Second, if one passage seems to teach something, but another passage clearly teaches something else, we must understand the former in terms of the latter. That is, we must determine the meaning of the unclear verse by examining the clear teaching of Scripture.

Last year I was asked to debate a popular radio teacher on the subject of Christ’s return. The teacher had just published a lengthy book arguing that Jesus was going to come again in 1994.

The debate never would have happened if he and his supporters had simply applied this principle. You see, they had all kinds of convoluted mathematical arguments based on obscure interpretations of Scripture that led them to believe that Christ would return in1994. But the clear teaching of Scripture refutes the teacher’s arguments. Take a look at Mk. 13:32: “No one knows about that day or hour.” Just reading that clear verse should have stopped all the stretching and manipulating of passages to reach a conclusion.

In order to grasp the full counsel of Scripture, we need to study the themes and analogies that stretch from Genesis to Revelation. Then, when we read any one passage, we will be able to understand its place in the unfolding history of salvation.

This principle is particularly important as we read the Old Testament. After all, Jesus Himself told us that the whole Old Testament, not just a handful of messianic prophecies, looks forward to His coming (Lk. 24:25-27, 44).

Take as an example Mt. 4:1-11, which describes Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. If we keep the whole of Scripture in mind as we read, we may pick up signals when we read that Jesus, the Son of God, spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. This reference may remind us of the Israelites’ 40-year trek in the wilderness. But the comparison goes beyond the number 40. The Israelites also were tempted in the wilderness in the same three areas in which Jesus was tempted: (1) hunger and thirst, (2) testing God, and (3) worshiping false gods. Jesus, however, shows Himself to be the obedient Son of God where the Israelites were disobedient. Indeed, Jesus responded to the temptations by quoting Deuteronomy, the sermon that Moses gave the Israelites at the end of their 40-year sojourn.

Reading Scripture in the light of the whole message, the whole counsel of God not only prevents erroneous interpretations, it gives us deeper insight into the Word of God.

Conclusion
It is impossible to approach the Bible in a completely objective way. We all come to the Bible with questions, issues, troubles, and joys. Each of us also approaches the Bible from different cultural and social experiences. This truth contains great benefit and danger.

The benefit is that the Bible is relevant for every life. The danger, of course, is that we will warp God’s Word in a way that it was never intended to be read.

There are three ways to avoid the danger while maximizing the benefits. The first is to follow the seven principles for understanding Scripture. These can keep you from reading your own thoughts into the Bible and help you discover the intention of the Author himself.

The second is to read the Bible in community. That is, don’t be a lone ranger in your Bible interpretation. Talk to others about what the Bible means to them and be open to their reading of the text. Read books by Christians from other walks of life and different cultural backgrounds.

Finally, bathe your Scripture reading in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the truth found in the Word. Without the Spirit, we cannot understand God’s Word (2 Cor. 2:6-16).

Understanding Scripture does not have to be a daunting task. After all, the God who gave us His Word longs for us to understand it even more than we do.

What literary form does the text have?
What words, images or symbols appear?
What characters appear, and what are their relationships?
What action takes place?
What is the process of thought?
Into what smaller units can the passage be divided?
How does the form contribute to the expressing the content?
What is the characteristic style of the passage?
What is the mood of the passage?
What is the theme or main point of the passage?
What laws of composition are used?
What crucial words or phrases need explanation?
Are conjunctions used in a significant way?
Are outside sources quoted in the passage?
What led up to the passage?
What follows the passage?
For whom was the passage written and why?
How does the passage fit into the history of redemption?
Questions to ask narratives:

How does the passage fit into Israel’s history?
How does the passage contribute to an understanding of redemptive history?
Is there evidence of syncretism?
Is a moral teaching stated implicitly? Explicitly?
Does this passage:
a) simply record a historical event?
b) establish a historical precedent by mandating a normative model to be followed?
c) establish a repeatable pattern, but not necessarily a normative model?
What does the passage teach about God’s character?
Questions to ask the law:

To whom does this law apply?
What does the law illustrate about God’s character?
What social conventions are described?
What is the purpose of the law? (Ritual, purity, health, government or cult administration, avoidance of syncretism, etc.?)
How does the law contribute to our understanding of God’s covenant?
Is there a specific reward for keeping the law, or curse for not keeping it?
Does the law function as a paradigm?
Questions to ask poetry:

What characterizes the passage as poetry?
What kind of parallelism is used? (Synonymous, antithetical, or synthetic?)
What does the poetry tell us about the author and his character?
What does the poetry illustrate about God’s character?
Questions to ask the psalms:

What kind of psalm is it? (Lament, thanksgiving, psalm, hymn of praise, salvation history, celebration and affirmation, wisdom, song of trust, imprecatory?)
What is the psalm’s place in Israel’s history?
How did the psalm function liturgically?
Questions to ask wisdom literature:

Is the passage in the form of poetry? If so, what questions about biblical poetry are applicable?
Does the passage describe the wisdom of God, or the “wisdom” of the world?
What advice is given, and what is its function?
Is the author’s intention to be taken literally or to affirm a general truth?
What is the point behind the author’s specific instruction?
Questions to ask prophetic literature:

What is the prophet’s background?
Who is the prophet addressing?
For what is the nation being commended or rebuked?
What aspect of the covenant is the prophet enforcing?
What does the prophet promise as the consequence of the nation’s behavior?
In what way is the nation commanded to change its behavior?
If it is a predictive prophecy, has it been fulfilled? If so, how?
How does this passage fit into the prophet’s overall message?
What does the passage tell us about God’s dealings with Israel?
Questions to ask the gospels:

What special emphasis does the evangelist have?
How does the passage contribute to the evangelist’s theological outlook?
What does the passage tell us about the evangelist’s community?
What are parallels in the other gospels?
Is the evangelist quoting an earlier source?
If so, how have they used the source?
What is the significance of the passage’s placement in the gospel?
If it is a teaching of Jesus, who is his audience?
What forms (hyperbole, parable, etc.) are used, and how were they understood by original listeners?
Questions to ask the parables:

What are the points of reference?
What were the expectations of the listeners?
What is the point of the parable?
What would have been the reaction of the listeners?
What is the significance of the parable in the Gospel?
Why was this parable preserved by the early church?
What does this parable tell us about the kingdom of God?
Questions to ask Acts:

How does the passage fit into the development of the early Church?
How does the passage contribute to our understanding of the geographical expansion of the church?
What role does the Holy Spirit play in the passage?
Why was this particular passage included? How does it function theologically?
Does the passage
a) simply record a historical event?
b) establish a historical precedent by mandating a normative model to be strictly followed?
c) Establish a repeatable pattern, but not necessarily a normative model?
Questions to ask the epistles:

By whom was the letter written?
To whom was the letter written?
What is the author’s prior relationship with the recipients?
What is the author’s attitude toward the recipients?
What is the cultural/historical context of the author and the recipients?
What does the letter tell us about the recipients?
What concerns does the letter respond to?
What is the progress of thought in the author’s arguments?
What are the logical divisions of the letter?
Questions to ask Revelation:

What is the genre of the passage? (Jewish apocalyptic, epistle, or prophesy?)
If the passage if prophecy, has the prophecy been fulfilled historically?
What imagery is used? Does the author explain its meaning?
Is the passage intended as an allegory? If so, does the author reveal the interpretation?
What was the political and historical context of the author and the recipients?
How does the passage fit into the author’s vision of the eschaton?
How does the passage fit into the pattern of redemptive history?

Symptom: Member won’t participate

What to do: Devote some time to the member outside the group. Find out about his/her special interests. Listen with interest when the member takes part in the group discussion, and make a special note of it: “That’s a good point, Joe. We haven’t been hearing enough from you. Thanks for you input.” Ask direct, open-ended questions that only he or she can answer. Do not ask questions that he or she will be unable to answer for lack of information.

Symptom: Member is a joker and life of the party

What to do: Encourage the member when tensions need to be released. Laugh and compliment his or her wit, but ignore it when it is time to go to work after tensions are relieved. Her or his role is to productively release tension, not to waste time joking when the group should be discussing.

Symptom: Member monopolizes discussion

What to do:
A) Encourage the member if she or he is contending for a role that will benefit the group the most. In general, encourage the group to keep him or her in check.
B) Don’t embarrass the group member or be sarcastic, but don’t let him or her monopolize or give long speeches. Interrupt politely and throw the ball to another member with a question.

Symptom: Member is argumentative and obstinate

What to do:
A) Keep your temper. Don’t let the group get tense and excited. Antagonism breeds further antagonism. Remember: the group can be partly responsible for the behavior. What can the group do to change it?
B) Examine her or his position carefully. Find merit in it if possible. Do not close your mind to ideas just because they are expressed in an opinionated way. The group must examine all sides. In an emergency, tell the member that time is short and you will be glad to talk privately before the next meeting. Explain that his or her view is important and the group will consider it, but that it is necessary to guard the group’s effectiveness.