Hermeneutics Session 1: The Plain Meaning

We had a great first night at NSU. A lot of people showed up for all of the five classes. I had a blast in our Hermeneutics class. I was originally anticipating about 30 people to show up, but we had 155 people there tonight! It showed that all of you really want to understand the Bible better. That’s fantastic! You guys listened so great through the beginning foundational stuff and it was just a good atmosphere. I am praying that God takes us on a journey to understand the Bible better so that we can apply it better in order to love God better (John 14:21).

Remember: the text cannot mean what it never meant.

And as you read the Bible this week, I encourage you to do the four steps of the Interpretive Journey:

  1. Grasp the Text in Their Town: What did the text mean to the biblical audience?
  2. Measure the Width of the River to Cross: What are the differences between us and the biblical audience?
  3. Cross the Connecting Bridge: What is the theological principle in the text?
  4. Grasp the Text in Our Town: How can we as individual Christians apply the text today?

I mentioned a service that you could listen to that gives the overall picture of the Bible in one hour that we did at Fusion last year. The service paints the whole picture of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. If you have never heard the Bible as one comprehensive unit, versus tiny sections, this audio may help you grasp the whole picture of the Bible. It is on a podcast, so if you have iTunes, you can click the following link and download the entire service. I hope that it helps you get a full picture of the story of the Bible.

The Bible in One Hour.

 

Next week, we will be looking at the Epistles (the New Testament letters) and studying to see how we can better interpret these books of the Bible.

Throughout the week, I will also be posting some different Bible reading helps on this blog, so feel free to come back and visit often.

I heard from some people who were unable to come tonight that they were planning on coming next week. Come by the church office this week to pick up your workbook or you can get it next Sunday. For those that weren’t there or if you missed any notes, you can get all the presentation stuff from this video:

I want your feedback. What did you learn this week? What surprised you? Anything challenge you? Any questions you have? Any comments you want to provide? All you have to do is click the comment tab underneath this post and you can type something in. I would love to hear from you on what you are learning and how you are better understanding the Bible. It will also be a huge encouragement to everyone else in the class.