HERMENEUTICS
Narrative, History and Epistles
Guidelines for Interpreting Narrative and History
History and Narrative is actually the simplest form of Biblical literature to interpret. It is straight forward because it is usually the description, and sometimes commentary, on Classical events in the Bible.
The rules apply consistently. Know the author's context (history, geography, culture), know his purpose for writing the book (for example John 20:30-31 clearly states the author's purpose in writing the Gospel), analyze the thought structure (chapters, paragraphs, sentences, grammar, words) and seek the unity of the passage with its surrounding context.
Avoid quick judgments upon the meaning and prayerfully consider all the evidence before confirming the passages' interpretation.
Seek the ordinary meaning of the language, unless absurd to do so.
Identify the literary style of the language.
Seek the single intended meaning by the author.
Guidelines for Interpreting Epistles
1. Pray for Wisdom.
2. Know the author's history, context and circumstances. Know the audience.
3. Study the grammar.
4. Identify the issue(s) that the author is addressing. (e.g. 1 Corinthians is written to address a variety of topics brought to Paul by Chloe's people 1 Corinthians 1:11, and Paul's answers are delineated by "Now concerning..." as he begins certain sections of the epistle.)
5. Identify the single intended meaning of the author. Write it down.
6. Ponder this for a while.
Go back to step #1