Read each passage in light of Scripture as a whole.

Read each passage in light of Scripture as a whole.

• If you could only give someone three chapters of the Bible, what would they be?

  • What we’re doing in this class is hardly new!

  • And virtually every “hermeneutical handbook” includes this principle.

• General Rules:

  • Interpret unclear texts in light of clear ones.

  • Don’t ignore or disregard some texts to protect your misinterpretation of others.

• Question 1: What else does the Bible say about this?

  • Two kinds of “parallel passages” –

    • When an author quotes or alludes to another text.

    • When two texts talk about the same thing.

  • How to find them:

    • Cross-Reference Bibles or Websites

    • Concordance (search individual words)

    • Nave’s Topical Bible (search topics or themes)

• Question 2: How do the two texts relate?

  • Harmony or tension?

  • If tension, how does it resolve?

• Question 3: How does this text point to Jesus?

  • The whole Bible is about Jesus.

    • Matthew 5

    • John 5.38-39

    • Luke 24.25-27, 44

    • Hebrews 1.1-2

  • We’re not looking for Jesus instead of the original meaning of the text.

  • Whatever is true, Jesus is . . .Whatever is good, Jesus is . . .Whatever is broken, Jesus came to…

  • Ask how your text points to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

    • Jesus as Savior / receiving grace –

    • Jesus as Lord / living as disciples –