Bible Students

A reflection based on “Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible” by Henrichsen (chapter 14) and “Living by the Book” by Hendricks (chapters 27-29)

Living by the Book

What is the insight?

This insight comes from chapter 29, which discusses the importance of knowing the literature type of the Scripture read. This means understanding of the Scripture read is Law, narrative, poetry, apocalyptic, or any other kind of literature in the Bible. The literature’s type determines the way the Scripture is to be interpreted. 

Why is it insightful over the other topics? 

This insight was the most helpful because without understanding the literature of the Scripture read, the interpreter would be completely lost. Literature is the key to understanding how a Scripture must be read. If someone were to attempt to interpret poetry (figurative writing) the same as a command (literal writing), the individual could come away with a wildly unbiblical understanding. 

What is the application in ministry? 

Congregations in and out of a sermon must be able to tell what kind of literature they are in when reading the Bible. There are two ways a pastor can make this incredibly simple. First, the pastor while preaching a sermon can give a short explanation of what to expect in the certain type of literature. If preaching from poetry, the pastor can say, “today we will be learning from biblical poetry in the Psalms. One should expect figurative language in this section, so we will aim to interpret it that way.” By doing this, the pastor gives the audience a heads up on how they should expect the passage to read. Second, the pastor outside of preaching a sermon can give out Bible-study pamphlets, which give a short breakdown of the books of the Bible for personal study. They can have a short context of the book, including the literary type, which will aid in helping the sheep to understand the Scriptures on their own with proper interpretation. 

Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible

What is the insight?

The insight from this section comes from rule 12, which is about context. Apart from prayer and the Spirit, context is the most important part of Bible study. Context determines the very ideas being developed in any particular passage, which colors the entire interpretation process. 

Why is it insightful over the other topics? 

As mentioned before, context is only second to prayer and the Spirit (communication with and reliance on God). Apart from context, a verse or phrase can have a wildly different meaning than what the author intended. When looking at a book like Romans, context completely rules in the interpretation. Context determines what argument is being developed, and how it is being developed. Apart from context, Romans would be near impossible to understand if each verse was separated. 

What is the application in ministry? 

The application in ministry is simple. Pastors must give their sheep both the context for their messages in the sermons, as well as the tools to discover context for verses outside of sermons. This can be done in two ways. First, the pastor can make mention of the preceding chapters or verses to their section preached. That way, the congregation is caught up to speed on the direction of the book’s movement, which is incredibly important for understanding the message. Second, pastors outside of preaching can supply their congregation with the tools to access context outside of sermons. Pastors can encourage Bible-study leaders to go through exegetically, rather than doing topical studies, and encourage them to encourage their attenders as well.