Interpreting the Bible Pt. 4 – the Contextual Principle

Published July 17, 2010 | By kluttz

This entry is part 4 of 14 in the series Interpreting the Bible (Vlog)

(This is a continuation of the “Interpreting The Bible” video blog series. This post assumes the prerequisite watching of earlier videos in the series. Click the link above to watch the entire series up to this week’s installment.)

This week’s video blog post (from the FBCN Biblical Hermeneutics class) begins with some class discussion concerning the reading assignment which is difficult to hear on camera. The actual course work for today begins at 11:50, if you wish to jump to that point.

This week’s topic is one of supreme importance, as it is concerned with what is probably the single most abused interpretive principle. The topic in question is that of “context.” Ignorance of context is the means of all manners of false doctrines, for without context one may simply cherry pick phrases from scripture and re-weave them together in any manner desired, thus creating just about any message imaginable. As such, proper understanding of such interpretive principles offers great protection from deception by many false teachers who engage in such behaviors.

Without proper context it is nearly impossible to interpret any form of communication; especially in a document the size of the Bible. Every sentence is related to the sentences before and after it. Every paragraph is related to those before and after them. And, each chapter hinges on the development that preceded it while setting the stage for those which follow.

This week’s classwork overviews this principle. More detailed training on contextual work will follow in part two of the course.