Those of us who want to deepen and enliven our faith, we love to read the Bible. But how, you may ask, do we read our Bible better? This study series will look at ways to improve our methods and practice of reading the Bible.
Read the Bible Better: Week 1
“Hermeneutics” is a long word, and some may make the argument that it is unnecessary to explore such detail about our methods of reading the scriptures. Can’t we simply read the Bible? The answer is yes, and no. Whether you recognize it or not, everyone employs some sort of principles of interpretation to help discover the meaning and intention of the Bible.
Who Needs a Hermeneutic? Week 2
Who needs a hermeneutic? YOU DO. And you already have one!! Everyone is doing some sort of interpretation when encountering the Word of God in the Bible. This is our opportunity to step back and see the principles that we already use and take time to ask the question… is this the best way to read the Bible?
What is Your Bible? Week 3
Do you know what Bible you are reading? Why are there so many different versions of God’s Word? Is one better than another? Even though the words are different, are they all right? We should consider some questions about WHAT our Bible is, to know how to read it better.
Words with Many Meanings? Week 4
Without even thinking, we all give MEANING to the words we read and hear. But especially in the Bible, it may be very important to understand the intended meaning of a word so that we can understand how to read the Bible better.
Meaning, Referent, and Matrix: Week 5
Biblical hermeneutics slows us down to ask proper questions, not only about a word’s MEANING, but also about a word’s REFERENT. Most of the time, to make sense of the sentence, we have imagined already to the real-life representation of what each word is referring to.
Your Bible is Not a Cookbook: Week 6
When you read a cookbook you already know what to expect to get out of that literature. You use it as a reference to guide you in making a cake. But you would not open your cookbook to find a story to tell your daughter. The cookbook is not meant for that. The Bible is not a cookbook. But it is made up of different genres of writings. So when we encounter different kind of literature in the Bible, we should read each in it’s proper way.
Cindy Koch 