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HERMENEUTICS ECS Course by David Reid

HERMENEUTICS Comes from a Greek word meaning “to interpret”

The science and art of biblical interpretation HERMENEUTICS

2 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.”

THE GOAL OF HERMENEUTICS To obtain the author / Author’s intended meaning Not to come up with your meaning

THREE STATEMENTS The Bible is the inerrant Word of God There is one correct interpretation Most Scripture is easy to interpret

JOHN 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “

2 PETER 3:16 “Our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. “

THE FUNCTION OF HERMENEUTICS Like drawing water out of a well. The water symbolises the Word of God. We draw out water from a well by using a rope and bucket. We draw out the meaning of Scriptures by a process called exegesis and applying the principles of hermeneutics.

WATER IS THE PURE WORD OF GOD The Word of God written in the words of man in history and culture. The Bible is not the words of man about God. It is the words of God to man.

MATTHEW 4:4 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

WALLS OF PROTECTION Inspiration Canonisation Textual Criticism

INSPIRATION The process by which the Holy Spirit oversees the writers and writings of Scripture.

2 TIMOTHY 3:16 “All scripture is God breathed, it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

2 PETER 1:20-21 “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

CANONISATION The process by which the people of God recognised the Scriptures as the Word of God.

ROMANS 3:2 “To begin with the Jews were entrusted with oracles of God.”

TEXTUAL CRITICISM The method used to ensure that our texts of Scripture are as close to the original manuscripts as possible by examining all the manuscripts available.

EXEGESIS Ex means “out from” Determining or drawing out the meaning of a Biblical text in its original setting. Opposite of eisegesis (eis means “into”) which would be reading your own meaning into Scripture.

PRINCIPLES OF HERMENEUTICS A many stranded rope draws the bucket with the water out of the well The many principles of hermeneutics draw the meaning of various texts out of the well of Scripture. There are thirty principles in the course.

INDUCTIVE METHOD Used to arrive at a conclusion after studying the specific Scriptures.

DEDUCTIVE METHOD Starting with a premise or an idea and then find scriptures to support it. That is eisegesis, and bad hermeneutics.

RATIONAL BASE Inductive method is supported by a Rational Base. That is the inductive method is based on reasons and laws of logic. We do not use irrational or illogical methods to understand God’s Word.

SPIRITUAL HANDLE Non Christians can practice the proper principles of hermeneutics, but they don’t have the advantage of the spiritual handle. Christians have the spiritual handle because the Holy Spirit helps us understand the texts we are studying.

JOHN 16:13-15 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine, therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

1 CORINTHIANS 2:14-16 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

DON’T TAKE SOMEONE ELSE’S WORD FOR IT Be like the Bereans Acts 17:11 “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

PRINCIPLE 1 Meditate, Pray, Obey, and Be Open

MEDITATE, PRAY, OBEY, AND BE OPEN Biblical meditation is not subjective, like eastern meditation Biblical meditation is objective. Focusing on the Word of God; not on your inner – self or your feelings.

PRACTICE Read a scripture in the morning and meditate on it throughout the day.

PRAY In addition to meditating on Scripture, we must pray.

PSALM 119:144 “The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live.”

PRAYER God delights to answer a prayer that asks for help in understanding His Word.

PRINCIPLE 2 Assume the Clarity of Scripture

ASSUME THE CLARITY OF SCRIPTURE We accept that God meant it to be clearly and easily understood. It is the common-sense principle of biblical interpretation. It assumes human authors were not trying to hide the real meaning of a passage behind an apparent meaning.

ASSUME THE CLARITY OF SCRIPTURE Always go with the simple, straightforward, ordinary, plain, direct, normal, natural meaning unless there is a very good reason not to do so. The very good reason must come from other Scripture.

EXODUS 20:-11 “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.”

PRINCIPLE 3 Stress the Priority of the Original Languages

STRESS THE PRIORITY OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES Old Testament written in Hebrew with a few sections in Arabic. New Testament was written in Greek.

Study the words, and grammar of the languages. STRESS THE PRIORITY OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES

PSALM 16:10 (ACTS 2:27) “For you will not abandon my soul to Shell, or let your holy one see corruption.”

MEANING Sheol, hades, is not hell Gehenna is the word used in the New Testament.