Bible Study Method

Quote of the Day

Byhenry January 10, 2013

From David Alan Black:

… hermeneutics is simply the prelude to obedience.

It should cause one to think.

Bible Study | Bible Study Method

The Danger of Serious Bible Study

Byhenry January 22, 2025

I believe it’s important to study the Bible. Many approaches are useful in this, and I’ve discussed them elsewhere. But the idea of serious Bible study can become a problem. I’m sure some readers are scratching their heads. How can it possibly be a problem to study the Bible seriously? Isn’t that obviously the right…

Bible Study Method

Talk about the Method

Byhenry October 13, 2009

When I teach Sunday School classes, as I often do, there is nothing more likely to lull people to sleep than a discussion of hermeneutics. I get a great deal of attention talking about history. People are very interested as I explore some different interpretations of a particular Biblical passage and where and when those…

Bible Books | Bible Study Method | Christianity | Religion | Revelation

Reflections on Teaching Revelation

Byhenry February 1, 2014

This past Sunday I completed teaching a four week series on Revelation for one of the Sunday School classes at Chumuckla Community Church. It’s always interesting to try to teach a short series on the book of Revelation. There is so much there, and so much background information is needed. It’s difficult to be effective….

Bible Study Method

Literal and Figurative in Genesis 3

Byhenry October 8, 2009

I have been reminded several times recently in private conversations of just how inadequate the literal to figurative continuum is in discussing how we understand scripture. Bruce Alderman has written an interesting article on the number of things we take as figurative in Genesis 3, and then asks: Why is it that so many Christians…

Bible Study Method

Rightly Dividing or Slicing and Dicing – Jeremiah 4:23

Byhenry September 17, 2007

In debates on creation and evolution I have occasionally encountered the ruin and restoration theory. This view allows an old earth, but does so in a different way. Genesis 1:1 is viewed as an original creation, and then the word in 1:2 normally translated “was” is instead translated “became.” I discuss the details in the…

Bible Passages | Bible Study Method | Christianity

Need for Moderate/Liberal Hermeneutics

Byhenry February 15, 2008

It is sometimes difficult to discuss scriptural issues involved in many modern debates simply because there is so little explicit liberal hermeneutic. It’s not that there is no liberal hermeneutic; it’s simply that so few people are aware of such a thing, and it’s so badly communicated to people in the pews. Moderates have succeeded…