Case Study 1
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Western Governors University *
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515
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Religion
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Apr 3, 2024
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docx
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I think, Daniel, that in order to properly apply the Bible to our lives today we have to have an understanding of the original context in which the writer lived. While the meaning of the
passage, as it applies to us today, may not be completely interpreted through this lens, we cannot assume that the “authorial meaning is dispensable and secondary.”
1
The particulars of culture, language, geography, and even time must be taken into account to ensure that we are gaining a proper interpretation of the meaning of the Bible.
2
The Bible was not written as a book of generalities. It is the inspired Word of God written
by particular people in particular times with the New Testament being written in the 1
st
century. As Dr. Stacy explained, “if you’re going to understand the New Testament, you’re going to have to enter the New Testament’s particular world, and that is the world of 1
st
century Judaism.”
3
The lives of the people who wrote, and first heard, the letters and Gospel which are the New Testament were vastly different than those of modern-day Christians. Terms and phrases which we use today may not have been common in that time and terms common then may be considered anachronistic today. We also have to be willing to look beyond our own presuppositions when interpreting the meaning of the Bible. As expressed by Elwell and Yarbrough, “We all stand in danger of seeing in the Bible only those things that our prior experiences of convictions dispose us to see.”
4
To apply the teachings of the Bible to our lives today, we must be cautious and not impose our own experiences over the original text.
Paul writes, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15, New International Version). A proper handling of the Bible includes an interpretation from a 1
Kaiser and Silva, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, 291.
2
Stacy, “Negotiating Distances in Biblical Interpretation,” 1:08.
3
Stacy, “The Scandal of Particularity.” 2:28.
4
Elwell and Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: a Historical and Theological Survey
, 13.
historical-theological perspective. Elwell and Yarbrough explain that “understanding the earthly and human components (history) is essential to realizing its theological meaning.”
5
When we take this approach, understanding what the writer of the text was saying in their time, culture, place, and language first and then applying it to our lives today, we are properly interpreting the Scripture.
5
Ibid., 15.
Bibliography
Elwell, Walter A., and Robert W. Yarbrough. Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2013.
Silva, Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moises. Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics.
Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Academic, 2007.
Stacy, Robert Wayne. "The Scandal of Particularity." Lecture in NBST 515 at Liberty University,
Lynchburg, VA, March 19, 2024.
Stacy, Robert Wayne. "Negotiating Distances in Biblical Interpretation." Lecture in NBST 515 at
Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, March 19, 2024.
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