PREFACE: SOME EXPLANATIONS

Welcome. You are embarking on an exciting journey!

If you look at the index page and start worrying what you are getting into, relax! This is not a course for professionals, it is for everyday followers of Jesus who would like to equip themselves to "correctly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). We have tried to keep it practical: we explained the theory of each approach as needed, but the aim was to present a practical course, to help you do the exciting work of interpreting Scripture. We have also tried to steer clear of technical terms and theological jargon wherever possible, to be understandable without neglecting essential information. I hope we have succeeded!

In short, we wanted to give you tools, and teach you how to use them to get to the meaning of Scripture in a responsible, Bible-(and God-)honouring manner, for yourself. Too many times we modern believers are like the rabbis and scribes of Jesus' day who quoted the work of other rabbi's, not their own insights. That's the easy way, and we have more material for quoting than we will use in many lifetimes — but quoting somebody doesn't come near the excitement and satisfaction, and heart-transformation, of getting to the heart of a passage through your own meditation, prayer, insight given by the Holy Spirit, and struggle to stay true to Scripture.

A word of caution: you will never understand everything in the Bible. Anyone who says they do are lying: the greatest men of God in history were all stumped by unanswered questions and difficult passages of Scripture, and the realisation that His ways are not our ways, and are actually far above our ways! This course will teach you to wrestle with Scripture in responsible ways, until you understand what God wants to say to you through His Word. Yes, share what you discover, but first and foremost we study Scripture to hear what God says to us personally, and then we go out and live it!

The course follows a simple outline.

First an introductory chapter on the need for Bible interpretation, and the challenges of responsible interpretation, some common pitfalls to avoid, the goal of interpretation, and the role of the Holy Spirit in interpretation. Then follows a quick overview of where we're going, a few questions for further self-study (or group-study if you work with a friend or group), and a multiple-choice self-test to test your understanding of the chapter.

After completing the test, click the "CHECK ANSWERS" button. You will immediately get your score out of 10 or 15, with your correct answers highlighted in light green.
You now have two options: Go back over the test and re-answer where your responses were wrong, and click the "CHECK ANSWERS" button again, to get your updated score. You can do this repeatedly, until you have all the correct answers. Or, if you click "SHOW ANSWERS", all the answers will be highlighted in light green.
If you want to redo the test, simply click the "RESET" button, and repeat the test.

The next ten chapters each looks at one method of interpretation, starting with learning goals: what should you be able to do after finishing the chapter. Then follows a description of the method, and reasons why it is important. Then the key questions to ask when using the approach, and tools to help you in the process. Thereafter we do a detailed example to show you how to apply the principles, and then we give you a passage to do yourself — with a few questions to help you in the right direction. Finally we look at strengths and weaknesses of the method, a few more practical tips, and then a final paragraph or two to tie it all together. Some chapters also include a section examining the differences between the current method and a previous method.
Finally, as in the first chapter, a few self-study questions and a self-test.

Chapter 12 is a revision chapter, briefly recapping each method, and chapter 13 is a multiple-choice self-test covering the whole course. (Instructions are given at the top.) You don't have to do this test, but it will give you a good indication of your mastery of the course material. Unfortunately you won't get a certificate or anything to hang on your wall, but we hope the satisfaction of engaging in informed Bible interpretation will make up for that!

You probably won't ever employ all 10 methods on one portion of Scripture, but at the end of the course you will realise that you have a lot of different tools to employ in different situations. Like screwdrivers for screws and different spanners for different nuts, apply them as needed.

And a secret to end off with: one method is almost a template for combining all the other methods in various ways into a unified approach. See if you can find it...

If you have problems or some feedback to offer, please e-mail us at .