Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible

by Daniel M. Doriani

In many fellowships, Bible study consists of reading a passage of Scripture and asking, “What does this passage say to me?” In other words, “When I read this text, what thoughts or feelings does it stir up in me?” Putting the question in that subjective form allows people to “find” almost any idea they like in a text.

Christians are thus encouraged to seize upon a snippet of truth—a moralism or a proof text for a favorite doctrine—while ignoring everything else. When we observe this practice in others (it’s hard to catch ourselves at it), we notice that the Bible tends to “say” safe, trendy, or self-serving things.

Yes, believers should expect to hear God’s voice through their Bible study. Yes, all believers are priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 5:10) and have direct access to God and his Word without the intervention of priests or experts. Yes, God is the ultimate teacher of everyone who knows him (Jer. 31:33–34). His anointing leads us into the truth (1 John 2:27)...

Because we believe in the authority of the Bible, we need an objective method for determining, as best we can, what the Bible orig...

In their opinion, all women were dangerously seductive. Unless we are aware of such attitudes, we cannot appreciate that Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman was bold and risked condemnation.

we need to know about Jewish life and religion to get the most from reading the Bible. In fact, the issue of cultural distance had already arisen by the time the New Testament was written.

single proof texts rarely answer questions that stem from new, contemporary situations. “Thou shalt not kill” does not solve every ethical quandary that comes up in a hospital. We need to search the whole Bible to find relevant principles, and training will help the search go faster.

successful interpretation depends on sound methods of interpretation. Yet we must add that it also depends upon sound interpreters.

State of the Heart: What About the Interpreter? Serious inquirers must use proper methods, but the mastery of methods does not, by itself, guarantee that God will bless their labors.

Only when we join skillful methods to a receptive heart can we expect Bible study to bear fruit in the lives of individuals and the church.

Personal receptivity is vital because the proper goal of interpret...

A disciple demonstrates an understanding of the principle of speaking the truth in love when he or she expresses a difficult truth without hurting anyone.

Skeptics can understand the grammar and terminology of the Bible perfectly well. Investigators can temporarily enter the biblical world to gain information.5 But unless God grants a willingness to submit to biblical authority, they can read all day and profit nothing.

The believer’s advantage lies in his willingness to apply the Bible. That is no small advantage, if, as we said, the goal of interpretation is application. Skeptics may misconstrue the Bible for many reasons, but surely their unwillingness to submit to the God who gave Scripture counts most in the end.

With biblical interpretation, as with prayer, three elements are necessary: proper methods, proper heart conditions, and proper goals.

Methods without devotion can breed pride or a quest for selfish advantage.

“The proper goal of the study of hermeneutics,” says D. A. Carson, is not the accumulation of elite knowledge, but “the better understandi...

Insensitivity resembles immaturity, but stems more from laziness or a stubborn trust in false ideas than from pure ignorance or rebellion.

the main principles for interpretation in a single word, the acronym CAPTOR: C = Context A = Analysis P = Problems T = Themes O = Obligations R = Reflection

There are two aspects of context (chaps. 3 and 4). The historical context is the culture and circumstances in which a book or passage was written. The literary context of a passage is the text before and after

In analysis we study the flow of events in a story or the flow of ideas in a te...

Our problems are the words, customs, phrases, or names that we may not understan...

Themes are the major ideas of a passage—which may run through the w...

Obligations are the things our passage requires us to do ...

In reflections we attempt to discover the main point and application of our pas...

The fundamental skill for biblical interpretation, as in much of life, is observation. All other skills depend upon it.

Principle 1: Beware of preconceptions. Observe what biblical texts actually say.

Principle 2: Observe the text first, then explain it. As explanation proceeds, be sure it fits your observations.

Principle 3: Resist reshaping your observations so that they support your preferred theology.

If we “know” what a passage must say, and allow that to overrule our observations, how can we learn what it does say? If we are too committed to a certain theology, it becomes impossible to correct any flaws in the system. It becomes harder and harder to learn anything new. Eventually, if we refuse to let the Bible speak for itself, our theological system can become a tradition whose authority supersedes that of the Bible itself.

Of course, we must listen to theologians of the past. To act as if we were the first insightful or unbiased readers of Scripture would be sheer arrogance. Even if past teachers erred or perceived only part of the truth, they had enormous wisdom and, at a minimum, interesting reasons for views we may reject. Unfortunately, by the time the wisdom of past teachers reaches the average Christian, it has often been tamed, systematized, and simplified. It may seem stale if it addresses the hot topics of a distant generation. Therefore, although we respect past scholars, nothing can substitute for fresh interpretation of the...

That means reading it as if for the first time—slowly, attending to the exact terms, phrasing, and details. Read it with pen and paper (or computer) at hand, jotting down everything noteworthy or mysterious.

Principle 4: Make note of any details that are for any reason especially striking.

Attend to all unexpected details. Notice details that appear to be unimportant at first. Remember anything that reveals the motives and feelings of people. Observe figures of speech and unusual words or grammatical forms, such as pronouns and verb tenses. Take the time to consider the importance of details.

Pronouns also help to interpret the encounter between Samuel and Saul in 1 Samuel 15.

I learned to pay close attention to pronouns when I was a pastor. I knew visitors had made a decision to join our church, at least informally, when they stopped saying “your church” and began to say “our church.”

Humility teaches us to admit the limits of our perception. We always miss a great deal of a text’s message because our ability to observe is limited by our culture and our tradition.

traditions are dangerous if (1) we immediately reject anything that appears to be contrary to them, (2) we quickly reinterpret new ideas to make them fit our tradition, or (3) we are so immersed in our traditions that we cannot see them.

1. Remember the distance between your culture and biblical cultures. There is both continuity and discontinuity between the two.

2. Try to understand biblical writers on their own terms. Enter their culture, their way of thinking, their tradition.

3. Look beyond your comfortable certainties—the things we repeat over and over—in order to expand your range of vision. The goal is not to abandon your tradition but to let it grow as it encounters new ideas, accepting some and developing a response to others.17

The first condition, which we have not argued, but assumed on the basis of the biblical doctrine of inspiration, is a belief that the authors of Scripture were skilled, inspired men.

The second condition is an attitude of diligence and attentiveness. The opposite attitudes, laziness and pride, undermine everything.

Diligence means reading slowly, observing small details and precise choices of wording. The lazy man reads rapidly, thinking he already knows it all.

“What does this passage say against me—against my preconceptions and prejudices? What does it say, not strictly to me, but to everyone who diligently observes its every word?”

Certain Christians opposed radio in its early days. They believed it was Satanic, and they found a text to prove their case: “Satan is the prince of the power of the air.”

The literary context consists of the sentences and paragraphs before and after the text you are studying.

Literary context is the words, sentences, paragraphs, or chapters that surround and relate to a text.

The study of literary context (1) describes how a paragraph or some other unit fits into a larger section of the text, even the whole work. It (2) gains access to literary context by reading the original document attentively. The study of literary context can go on, even if we know nothing about the writer and his times, and nothing about the original readers and their concerns. (3) To exaggerate slightly, literary context allows us to ignore the author and the audience and to study the words of the text by themselves.

The study of historical context (1) describes how a portion of the Bible fits into its world.