Bible Students

A reflection based on “Toward an Exegetical Theology” by Kaiser (chapters 7-10)

This week’s reading covered chapters seven through ten of Toward an Exegetical Theology. Chapter seven speaks about the way theologians need to take the application out of each text. Theologians need to be able to turn their work into a sermon that affects people. Truth must be planted in to the hearers by the preacher. The interpreter of the biblical text must be able to understand the text in a few sentences. If they can not, then they do not truly understand their text. They must be able to explain what the whole biblical text is about. The whole of the biblical text must be understood by the parts. Without understanding the parts, one can not understand how the parts fit together to make a whole. The biblical text has an emphasis from the original writers, and so this emphasis must be understood and emphasized in the preaching. Topical sentences should be able to make an outline of the whole text. Each paragraph should be able to be summarized into a sentence, and these sentences should be able to make an outline. Avoid using names in topic sentences, since these can not be universally applied. There really should only be one topic sentence per paragraph, otherwise there is not a clear understanding of the text. 

Chapter eight furthers these ideas. The preacher should drive home the comfort the text brings, in order that the audience would want to go home later and reread it. Otherwise, talking about the text is only for show. One should desire for the listener to find great comfort in the text. The biblical text is helpful for today, even if it is written to an older time. The audience needs to know that the text is useful for today. The biblical text is useful for many things, and it is the job of the biblical interpreter to bring this use to the surface and present it to the listener in a way that causes a desire to revisit the passage. Meaning should be derived from what the biblical author wants the text to say, not from what the modern audience wants to see in the text. Additionally, preachers should not overemphasize the introductions. The introduction is only the way to break the ice into the text. The time used for the introduction should be moved to the conclusion. The conclusion, drawing the audience to understand the applications of the biblical text, is far more important than the introduction. 

Chapter nine is mostly about the prophetic voice of the biblical text. To speak prophetically is to reject the institutions and evil of the day courageously. The historical books are really prophetic books. They are known as prophetic books in Jewish circles, but Christians often do not view them as being prophetic. One should not directly apply prophetic characters to today. Instead, the sins of the time should be denounced apart from drawing direct character parallels to today. What context shapes the way the text applies to today’s context? Where is the divine proclamation and gospel note? Preachers must be able to understand what the character of God is in the biblical text they are expositing. A prophetic parable can be translated to today’s culture by understanding the original meaning and then translating the implications. Preaching prophecy means you have to understand what the author was meaning in his original context. 

Finally, chapter ten discusses how to deal with biblical narrative. One should not spiritualize the stories of the Bible. In the story of Elijah, oil is poured into containers and then sold. Some preachers have turned this into an allegory about the overflow of the Spirit. However, this does not make sense with the original context. Understanding the spiritual meaning of the text should not be detached from the original meaning. The point of the text must be actually taken from the text! Scripture must be treated how it demands to be treated. Preachers must set the example of how to interpret the Scriptures. If you teach a right truth from the wrong passage you rob the passage of its power. Stress the theological message the author had in mind. The intention of the author is what should be put forward for the listener. The message should be contextually limited. 

Overall, this week’s reading has helped give context to how to handle some of the more challenging parts of the biblical text. One of the most emphasized ideas is that the emphasis of the text must be the emphasis of the message. The preacher can not take their own message and put it into the biblical text, but take the text on its own terms.