Beginnings of Hermeneutics (1)

     Being true to my former post, I am going to try to give some beginnings/basics of theology. Or perhaps it would be better said, "Deeper study, in small pieces." I do not want to water down truth in an attempt to make it shorter, but I don't like reading long blog posts anymore than you do ;) That being said, here is a little bit that I learned about HERMENEUTICS.

     Hermeneutics is the interpretation of Scripture. It is the study of the biblical grammar plus syntax in order to come up with the proper translation AND asking a series of questions to best understand the translation AS THE WRITER INTENDED.

     Hermeneutics is a SCIENCE. Just like any other science, hermeneutics operates under a list of fixed rules -- the same way the study of any literary or historical document is to be taken seriously. Scripture therefore has ONE true interpretation (there may be several or many applications but ONLY ONE correct interpretation.) If you think about it, that's the whole point of good communication. For example, if we're in the military, and the general gives his troops a list of commands, what good does it do if there are multiple interpretations of the commands? How will the troops ever know what the general really wanted if he was not clear in his orders? Why should it be any different with God and man? After all, there is a war going on and the troops need clear instructions from their Leader.

     The question, "What does this verse mean to me?" has nothing to do with what it actually means. If one cannot rightly divide scripture they will stand before God ashamed. (Scarey thought! But this emphasizes why digging deep into scripture and theology is so important!) Misinterpretation is not believing what the Bible says because one believes what is does NOT say. (Wrap your mind around that one! It sure blew mine!)

     There are two words that we will probably be using a lot -- if not they're still good words for any aspiring biblical scholar to know ;P -- so let's get those out of the way...
     Exegesis : this comes from the Greek root exe which means out of (think like the word exit). Exegesis means to pull the meaning out of the text. Keep in mind, this means the meaning being taken OUT of the text must be IN the text in the first place.
     Isogesis : this comes from the Greek root iso which means into. Isogesis means to put meaning from the outside into the text. This will result in poor or false interpretation of the text.

     That seems like a good start for now. I'll follow up with some more posts on errors to avoid and principals of interpretation.

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2)

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)