Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the technical name for interpreting the Bible properly. It is a subject far more vast than I can explain fully in a blog. But, there are key components which are vital when understanding what the Scriptures are teaching. Often, we begin with where we are, rather than where the writer and original hearer were. It's like starting a book in the middle, with no thought of who the key characters are and what the plot line is. In order to understand what has been written and how it applies to us today, some background information is needed first. Who wrote the book, to whom and why? What was the historical situation which necessitated the book to be written? Without first understanding this, it becomes very easy to apply the book to our own lives without first knowing what the author intended. If you write an e-mail to your spouse, for example, and someone reads that e-mail and applies the things that you wrote to themselves, you would charge them with misinterpreting your note. Yet, we do that with the Scriptures quite frequently. There is a place for application, but it comes after we understand what the author's intentions were for the original recipients, not before. A good study Bible will give the necessary background information, as well as commentaries. They are worth investing in.