Take Up and Read Consider the Lil

 

The Bible is not just whatsoever volume. It is God'due south Discussion to united states, given using a number of literary genres, through the stories of a cast of rotating characters, and over the span of a few grand years.

So how practise nosotros read such a book?

This question is important when picking upwardly any document, from paperback to paper. Yous wouldn't read a historical novel on WWII the same way you would a nonfiction historical business relationship of the same time. And nosotros read the newspaper's front page differently than the opinion-editorials (or at least, nosotros ought to read them differently).

How, then, should we read the Bible? It starts with context.

InChrist from First to End, authors Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum outline six dissimilar contexts—three specific, three general—to help you read the Bible well. For Hunter and Wellum, understanding these 6 contexts is like reading the directions before playing a board game:

If you know the rules, the game will make sense and you might even enjoy it. But learning the rules tin be a bit tedious and frustrating until you start to see how they fit into the larger game. (41)

The same is true for the Bible. Grasping these rules will help yous read the Bible in context and therefore assistance y'all amend study the Bible.

ane. Consider the Historical Context

"Every passage of Scripture emerges in the course of history" (47). Which is whyin order to read the Bible in context, we need to read information technology in its historical context—beginning with the author and the original audience.

"When thinking about the original audition," Hunter and Wellum explain, "nosotros should distinguish the original characters in the story from the original readers, those who were reading Scripture about those characters" (47). For instance, nosotros read about Abraham and his journey from Moses' point-of-view equally he led Israel through the wilderness on the manner to the promised country. An important question to inquire, then, is: "What is Moses teaching the Israelites virtually Abraham and the Patriarchs?" (47).

The Gospels serve as another example:

[I]n his Gospel account, John tells his mail service-resurrection readers about events that weren't fully understood until after the resurrection, not simply preserving historical accuracy but as well reminding the states that the original audience was reading the Gospel after Christ'south resurrection. (47)

As with the V Books of Moses, the Gospels illustrate the principle that the historical context of the Bible is informed both by the original authors and the original audition.

2. Consider the Cultural Context

Coinciding with historical context is the cultural context of a biblical book. This includes the original cultural circumstances that gave rise to the book, as well every bit the cultural features of the time.

Consider Revelation 3:xiv–22, where John wrote to 7 churches addressing specific circumstances."Nosotros should not forget that these were existent churches with real locations in the first century" (47).

And in Revelation 3:xv–16, the Laodicean church is described equally neither "hot" nor "cold"—reflecting the cultural features of two nearby cities: Hierapolis had hot springs that were of medicinal value, while Colossae had cold springs that brought nourishment and refreshment; Laodicea's h2o was lukewarm, tasteless, and useless. The cultural features of Laodicea inform the historical circumstances: "the spiritual life of the church building had go like her urban center'south water supply— lukewarm and useless" (47–48).

Remember that there were real-life circumstances that gave rise to the Bible'due south narrative books and poetry, the Gospels and the letters. Hunter and Wellum help readers understanding these circumstances forth with the cultural features of the fourth dimension, helping us read the Bible in context.

3. Consider the Literary Context

"Reading a text in its literary context involves interpreting information technology in light of its flow of words and the form the words have" (45).

Get-go, because the texts literary period involves reading a text in terms of the words around it. "Words hateful something in the sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books in which they are used" (45). That's why nosotros don't starting time reading a novel in the heart, considering each word, paragraph, and chapter all add upwardly to something important. And yet this is often how we approach the Bible, by starting in the eye with little regard to the literary flow that adds upwards to specific meaning. Hunter and Wellum explain:

Since it'southward a long book and pastors preach out of different sections each calendar week, nosotros get used to entering and exiting portions of Scripture without because the context of the books in which they are found, let lone their location in the rest of the Bible'southward storyline… But this practice can also reinforce our tendency to read passages in isolation. (45–46)

The authors offer a solution: "if you take the time to read and reverberate on a book every bit a whole, then every office of that book will start to make more than sense" (46).

Second, properly reading the Bible in its literary context means because the literary course the author chose in writing. "The Bible's words are written in the form of minimally three different kinds of texts: discourse, narrative, and poetry" (46):

• " Discourse texts are simply words spoken or written from i person to another" (46)
• " Narrative texts are words that tell a story" (46)
• " Poetic texts …[convey their] meaning through images, and [these texts are] structured" formally; consider English poetry's rhyming lines (46)

While these 3 are oft combined, forming other genres, "learning to spot the form or the kind of text the author writes will profoundly aid you in your personal Bible reading" (46).

SWITCHING GEARS

That concludes a summary of the 3 specific contexts for understanding a biblical text. The summary only scratches the surface of what Hunter and Wellum hash out in their book.

At present we transition to a summary of 3 general contexts:

4. Look Down at the Close Context

"When we look downward at the page, nosotros seek to understand the words in their immediate context. The shut context takes into business relationship the divine inspiration and man character of the words written" (42–43). This general kind of context includes the chosen words, communicated ideas, and the specific book we're reading, understood inside its historical setting. It's everything we meet when we read the folio in front of us, both the divine and human being aspects of the volume.

Scripture every bit a divine volume means it is unified, from one Author, coherent, sufficient, perfect, and urgent. These truths conduct several implications for how we read the Bible:

• "We should read information technology with creaturely humility because these words are from our Creator and Lord"
• "We are to read with expectation"
• "We should also read with caution, recognizing that we are inclined to misunderstand what God has written"
• "We should read the Bible patiently to accurately discern what God has said"
• "We don't stand up over Scripture; we stand nether information technology in submission to God" (44–45)

Since the Bible is also a human book, nosotros need to pay attending to its human aspects. Nosotros must not focus on the Bible's divine character to the extent nosotros neglect its human ones. Hunter and Wellum remind us that "God speaks to us through what the authors wrote, which demands difficult work from usa to discern what the authors intended to say. Reading a given text in its close context means reading it in its literary and historical context" (45).

Hunter and Wellum remind the states to "have seriously every word and read them in keeping with their divine and human intent" (48).

5. Look Back at the Continuing Context

Since the Bible was written over time and spanning several centuries, "we must look back in the story to find how a given passage relates to what preceded information technology" (49). We need to discern the deeper shape and menses of the story, agreement the movements of characters and events and how they relate to the underlying structure of the Bible.

But how? One way is just to work through the Bible, starting at the start with Genesis. Merely this has limitations considering the Bible isn't necessarily compiled chronologically as we often think of books. Instead, Hunter and Wellum propose we concentrate on tracing ii of the Bible'south major divisions: its plot movements and covenants.

Offset, the Bible's story can be outlined in four major plot movements, which explains the story of reality: creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. "These 4 plot movements are helpful because they follow the Bible's own plot and assistance us think almost the Bible'south unique worldview against other worldviews" (51–52), which answers four major questions:

• Where did we come up from? (Cosmos)
• What went wrong? (Fall)
• What is the solution to our trouble? (Redemption)
• Where is history ultimately going? (New Creation)

2nd, the Bible'south covenants bring society, direction, and focus to God's story. What is a covenant? "A covenant is a chosen relationship between two parties ordered according to specific promises" (55). In our case, God's relationship to humanity and his promises to united states of america. Hunter and Wellum place 5 important covenants that define the contours of the Bible's story:

• God's covenant with creation through Adam and Noah
• God'due south covenant with Abraham and his children
• God's covenant with Israel through Moses
• God'southward covenant with David and his sons
• God's new covenant in Christ

"As we read the Bible's story, we are always asking ourselves, How does this covenant reveal the God who saves and the Savior he sends?" (62) Hunter and Wellum help you explore this question and make sense of the covenants.

6. Await Alee to the Consummate Context

"The complete context—what we tin also call the canonical context—is where we look ahead to discover the fullness of God's intent in light of the fullness of Scripture's message" (63). There are at least two ways Scripture connects the details of the Bible's big motion-picture show.

The starting time mode is the promise-fulfillment theme, which centers on Christ. "There is continuity between the promises God makes and the fulfillment he brings. Promise and fulfillment glue the Bible'south diverse phases together. Knowing this helps united states discern how a given part of Scripture relates to the Christ of Scripture" (64). The Old-New Testament distinction best reveals the promise-fulfillment structure of Scripture. It reminds us how God's promises are at present fulfilled in Christ. In other words: "the Old Testament is the story of God's hope and the New Testament is God's fulfillment of all he has promised" (64).

The second way is the unfolding of typology through the biblical covenants. Typology is the way in which certain thematic patterns are traced through the covenants every bit the Bible's story unfolds. These types or patterns "assist u.s. see how the revelatory features of God'southward unfolding plan in the by relate to his new revelation in Christ" (65). There are three full general categories of these types: people, events, and institutions. One case is how Moses points to Christ every bit a greater prophet than himself. They also outline several characteristics these types share:

• Types are patterns rooted in history . "Types are not merely imaginative ideas; they are real people, events, and institutions that signify something greater to come" (67)
• Types are designed past God . "Types are non random; they are purposeful in God's plan" (68)
• Types involve progression toward fulfillment in Christ . "As types are unpacked through the covenants, they move from lesser to greater in scope and significance for God'southward purposes, especially as they come up to final fulfillment in Christ" (68)

Why We Need to Report the Bible (Not Just Read It)

"If you've been puzzling over the Bible for a few years, y'all might be in a place where you're familiar with its many parts simply are unsure of how they fit together" (27–28). This is why we need to take the time to study the Bible, with all of its various components and pieces—and not just read it. As the authors explain:

Like a puzzle, the pieces of the Bible—the diverse books, letters, characters, and stories—do fit together. The Bible contains mysteries, just its meaning is not intended to be mysterious or hidden from us, especially in its central pedagogy. God does not effort to hide truth from united states of america; he reveals it. The Bible reveals more than a picture for u.s. to relish. It reveals a person for united states to know. (28)

And, like whatsoever puzzle, we need to put the pieces of the Bible together in social club to get a clear understanding of the Bible's unity and central message. When nosotros do, we volition become more competent in reading the Bible for ourselves—all in order to practice as Paul says: comprehend "how broad and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that yous may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18–19).

Justin Taylor says of Christ from Start to End, "In this book you lot'll acquire what Scripture is, how to read it, and how information technology all hangs together. Who wouldn't want to pick up a book similar that?"

Selection up your re-create today to meliorate empathise how every role of Scripture fits together to reveal the glory of Christ Jesus, and read the Bible in its many contexts.

You May too Like These Articles

What Is the New Covenant

seven Places Nosotros Find Jesus in the Sometime Testament

How Does Archeology Contribute to Biblical Studies?

mccormickofat1999.blogspot.com

Source: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/bible-context

Share this post