05/30/2014
How do we interpret the Bible?
There are two specific things that one must do in order to interpret the Bible effectively. One is by discovering the Literary Context of the passages themselves and the other is what I want to focus on for a moment which is the Historical-Cultural Context. But what is Historical-Cultural Context and why is it important? By historical-cultural context we are referring to information about the biblical writer, the biblical audience, and any other historical-cultural elements touched on by the passage itself. Historical-cultural context relates to just about anything outside the text that will help you understand the text itself (e.g., what life was like for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert, what the Pharisees believed about the Sabbath, where Paul was when he wrote Philippians). Literary context, by contrast, relates to the context within the book (e.g., the form a passage takes, the flow of argument within the book, and the meaning of the words and sentences that surround the passage you are studying). One thing that I do caution is for you to not let yourself slowly evolve into nothing more than a walking database of ancient facts. Don't lose your interpretive heart in your quest for information to deepen your understanding of the text. Keep your study of the background of the Bible in proper perspective. We study the historical-cultural context not as an end in itself, but as a tool to help us grasp and apply the meaning of the biblical context.
