Bible Study 2: Choose a Text
How, then, should we read and study the Scriptures?
Start with this: it takes time and effort to really study the Scriptures.
I am not an expert in hermeneutics. I am an average person who has spent years studying philosophy and theology, including taking several courses and reading a range of books on the topic of hermeneutics. I can describe the process I use to study the Scriptures, but I cannot claim to have created the ultimate “best possible process” for understanding the Scriptures.
I call what I describe here a virtue hermeneutic. This is not something I made up—I learned the rough outline of this method of studying the Scriptures from my hermeneutics professor in seminary. My version of this hermeneutic, however, is adapted from his.
There are not, as far as I know, any books describing precisely the process I use. Writers advocating a literal-grammatical-historical(LGH) hermeneutic will be extremely close. The virtue hermeneutic, as I understand it, couches the LGH hermeneutic in why?
It is easier to explain this hermeneutic in a set of questions and answers.
What is the goal of studying the Scriptures?
To seek the good of “the other,” showing our love for God by learning about him. By learning about God, I can increase the breadth and depth of my relationship with him and conform my life more closely to his design and will for me. There are, of course, other goals. If I seek to maximize God’s glory, then I am inclined to find some way to read every passage, so it increases God’s glory. If I seek to find Christ in every passage, I will find him.
The virtue hermeneutic supersedes these goals by asking: what does God want me to know by reading this passage? Sometimes God might want me to know about his glory, and others he might want me to know about Christ. Since God can walk and chew gum at the same time, he might be saying many different things within a single truth—there may be different aspects to a passage, even though there is only one truth.
I want to seek the truth rather than anything else. I do not want to prove a theological point, or learn how to manage my finances, or learn how to build a big church. The truth might lead me to a theological point, or it might lead me to manage my finances better, or … but I should put first things first and second things second.
What is the best way to achieve this goal?
By seeking the author’s intent or meaning.
In the case of the Scriptures, there are at least two authors, God and a human. We do not need to clearly separate these, but we do need to recognize God’s truth will be embedded in the culture and language of a human author.
What is the best way to seek the author’s meaning?
By reading the author’s words literally within their historical, cultural, and grammatical context, and assuming the words of Scripture are without error.
By seeking the author’s intent, we can limit fanciful interpretations that arise even when using the traditional LGH hermeneutic system.
Mark out a section of text
The first step in studying the Scriptures is to mark out a section of test to study. The name for an identifiable section of text containing a single unit of thought is a pericope.
Do not start with the chapter and verse markings.
These were added long after the text was written. I sometimes wonder how strong the beer was at the monastery that created these markings. Treat chapter and verse numbers like you would a page number—a good way to easily find what you are looking for, but they are not good for marking out sections of the Scriptures.
There are several ways to find and mark out a section of Scripture, such as:
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Start from a single interesting passage. Work backward and forward from this point until you find what seems to be a natural point in the text.
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Start where there is a clear topical break or break in time and move forward until you find the next clear break.
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Start with a clear text formula indicating a break. For instance, “these are the generations of” is repeated multiple times in Genesis; these are good initial break points.
There isn’t always just one way to set out a section of the text, so don’t worry too much about “getting it right the first time.” Studying the Scriptures is a lifetime affair rather than “once and done;” you will have many chances to find and study different sections of the text.