Basic Bible Interpretation

I just finished reading this excellent book by Roy B. Zuck, and I highly recommend it. There are a few places where I disagree with him when he discusses what was culturally contextual versus contextual for all time, but those places were insignificant.

That being said, let me share with you an outline from his chapter on “Whose View Is Valid?” While he has paragraphs for all these sections, I’m just going to cite the outline headings because that will be enough to pique your interest.

Axiom One: The Bible Is a Human Book
1. Each biblical writing - that is, each word, sentence, and book - was recorded in a written language and followed normal, grammatical meanings, including figurative language.

2. Each biblical writing was written by someone to specific hearers or readers in a specific historical, geographical situation for a specific purpose.

3. The Bible is affected and influenced by the cultural environment from which each human writer wrote.

4. Each biblical writing was accepted or understood in the light of its context. Here Dr. Zuck also cited Myles Coverdale as saying, “It shall greatly helpe ye to understande Scripture, if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom, and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what extent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth.”

5. Each biblical writing took on the nature of a specific literary form.

6. Each biblical writing was understood by its initial readers in accord with the basic principles of logic and communication.

Axiom Two: The Bible Is a Divine Book
1. The Bible, being a divine book, is inerrant.
2. The Bible, being a divine book, is authoritative.
3. The Bible, being a divine book, has unity.
4. The Bible, being a divine book, has mystery.

In the chapter on “Figures of Speech,” Zuck has the following guidelines for answering the question, How Do You Know If an Expression Is Figurative or Literal? (Again, he fills out a paragraph, but I’m just citing the guideline itself.)

1. Always take a passage in its literal sense unless there is good reason for doing otherwise.

2. The figurative sense is intended if the literal would involve an impossibility.

3. The figurative is intended if the literal meaning is an absurdity, as in trees clapping their hands.

4. Take the figurative sense if the literal would demand immoral action.

5. Note whether a figurative expression is followed by an explanatory literal statement.

6. Sometimes a figure is marked by a qualifying adjective, as in “Heavenly Father”… “the true Bread”… “living stone”… Or sometimes a prepositional phrase hints that the preceding noun is not to be understood literally.

This book doesn’t have much I haven’t read or heard before, but it is great to have it all in one place, and, besides, it was great refresher training. Zuck discusses the history of Bible interpretation and how the Reformation brought back more literal interpretation from the long centuries of primarily allegorical interpretations. He teaches about figures of speech, cultural contexts, grammatical structures, idioms, literary genres, and symbolism. He also discusses how to understand Jesus’ parables, interpreting prophecy, the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, and the need to apply the Word to one’s life.

So go out an get a copy!