ENGAGING WITH SCRIPTURE

Determining the original meaning of the text.

Authorial intent vs. Reader-response.

- Authorial Intent: discovering the author’s message.

- Reader-response: discover the audience’s response.

Cataloging the “then and now,” differences.

- Covenant: Old covenant vs. New covenant

- Situation

 - Culture & language

 - Governance & politics

Cataloging the “then and now,” similarities.

 - Covenant

 - Situation

Discovering the spiritual principle or the Spirit of the text.

 - Use “then & now” similarities to determine the spiritual principle.

 - Apply the parts-whole spiral [reflect back & forth between the teaching of the text and the teachings of the whole Bible].

Applying the principle in our lives or “walking the spirit” of the text.  

 - Scripture is meant to be lived out.

 - A text generally has one spiritual principle but many applications.

 - Wrong application of a spiritual principle can be very harmful.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Grasping God’s Word [by J. Scott Duvall & J. Daniel Hays]