Grasping God's Word
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GRASPING GOD’S WORD The process of interpreting and grasping the Bible is similar to embarking on a journey that consists in a series of steps. The journey begins in the world of the Bible and the original audience of the passage being studied and ends in our world and our life as we apply the message. Step 1: Grasping the Text in Their Town Question: What did the text mean to the biblical audience? Read carefully and observe to see as much as possible in the text. Try to summarise what the passage meant to the original audience in one or two sentences. Step 2: Measuring the Width of the River to Cross Question: What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? Some of the differences to consider will be: time, language, culture, situation and whether in the Old Testament (covenant) or New Testament (covenant). Look at this stage to find rather than minimize differences. Remember for some passages, the river will be wider than for others. Step 3: Crossing the Principlizing Bridge Question: What is the theological principle in this text? This is most difficult step. Find the theological principle or principles in the text. These principles should be generated from the text and not be brought to the text by us. What is the message of the passage that comes across the river of time, culture, situation etc? Hint: The principle will be related to the meaning found in Step 1. In what ways are we the same as the original audience? The principle should be: reflected in the text timeless not tied to the specific situtation not culturally bound in line with the rest of Scripture relevant to the original and present-day audience Step 4: Grasping the Text in Our Town Question: How should individual Christians today apply the theological principle in their lives? This step is about exploring how the principle(s) we have identified apply to the church and our lives today.
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A one-page summary of a useful Bible study method
Transcript of Grasping God's Word
GRASPING GOD’S WORD The process of interpreting and grasping the Bible is similar to embarking on a journey that consists in a series of steps. The journey begins in the world of the Bible and the original audience of the passage being studied and ends in our world and our life as we apply the message. Step 1: Grasping the Text in Their Town Question: What did the text mean to the biblical audience? Read carefully and observe to see as much as possible in the text. Try to summarise what the passage meant to the original audience in one or two sentences. Step 2: Measuring the Width of the River to Cross Question: What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? Some of the differences to consider will be: time, language, culture, situation and whether in the Old Testament (covenant) or New Testament (covenant). Look at this stage to find rather than minimize differences. Remember for some passages, the river will be wider than for others. Step 3: Crossing the Principlizing Bridge Question: What is the theological principle in this text? This is most difficult step. Find the theological principle or principles in the text. These principles should be generated from the text and not be brought to the text by us. What is the message of the passage that comes across the river of time, culture, situation etc? Hint: The principle will be related to the meaning found in Step 1. In what ways are we the same as the original audience? The principle should be: reflected in the text
timeless not tied to the specific situtation not culturally bound in line with the rest of Scripture relevant to the original and present-day audience
Step 4: Grasping the Text in Our Town Question: How should individual Christians today apply the theological principle in their lives? This step is about exploring how the principle(s) we have identified apply to the church and our lives today.
