How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition

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Its discussion of translations and the translation process is good (though biased because both of them are on the NIV translation board and so, unsurprisingly, they applaud the NIV and downplay its major competitors like the ESV). However, this rule, particularly in the OT books, violates how the NT interprets the old and what Jesus Himself says to us about Himself in the OT in Luke 24:27: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. But in a truer sense, such an argument is both naive and unrealistic because of two factors: the nature of the reader and the nature of Scripture.

Discussion of the various translations was perhaps one of the more turbid and opinion laced elements of this work. It may very well be that directing the study of Scripture can’t be done without directing some of the outcomes.Additionally, they avoid theological interludes in favor of focusing on the methodology of interpreting apocalyptic works.

p. 77) I know what they are trying to guard against with this rule, and I agree in general with that precaution. An awareness of the intention and influence the law had on ancient Israel will only enhance the understanding of the Biblical narrative; a position which Fee and Stuart repeatedly asseverate. Even the appendix is so thorough that its commentary recommendations take into consideration what may be better for the general reader in comparison to the advanced student, which is so helpful when trying to figure out which books may be over my head, or just right for me.I knew to read in context, and that many people take a single verse for their purposes without considering what’s around it for interpretation, but yet I was guilty of shallow examination of verses I thought I knew—the “easy” ones that seemed pretty clear-cut.

Formulating an understanding of the complexity and sheer number of religious laws outlined in the Torah is difficult and elusive to most believers.These authors go to some pretty extreme lengths to argue that women should be allowed to be leaders in church. For some, the Bible "plainly teaches" believers' baptism by immersion; others believe they can make a biblical case for infant baptism. A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your 21st-century life. They offhandedly reject the King James, the New King James, the ESV, the NLT, and the Klingon Bibles. I can see myself coming back to it again and again to get a refresher on how to properly approach specific genres.

And, of course, it makes sense that their rule would be too restrictive because the Holy Spirit is the true author of all of Scripture. This book is a high recommendation for anyone who wants to read the Bible in the way it was meant to be read and interpreted on your own. They are best understood as a collective outpouring of communication with God much akin to that found in a diary. My grounding was too limited when I first started (re)exploring Christianity and the book was too dense for me at that stage. Such reading of the Bible is what leads many, many preachers to make the OT stories simply moral examples and not gospel-centered.Let it be said at the outset—and repeated throughout—that the aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before. Unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not function in a normative (i.