Hermeneutics

This is an outline I put together to teach Hermeneutics to our Sunday School class. Since it's about interpretation of writing, I thought it would appropriate to share it in this forum. I figured some of you might enjoy it and it might spark some discussion. This is by no means the "definitive" hermeneutics lesson - just something by little ol' me.

NOTE: This looked good in MS Word, but AW lost the outline formatting. Let me know if you'd like a copy in Word.

Hermeneutics

1. Introduction
a. Scripture is living and active. It is a virus that’s intended to get into your bloodstream and infect your life. When you skim scripture lightly or just hear someone else’s interpretation of scripture, it’s like looking at the virus in a bottle. Scripture is meant to be digested. Hermeneutics is like a syringe for injecting scripture directly into the bloodstream.
b. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
c. II Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2. OIA – Observe, Interpret, Apply
a. Hermeneutics is like crime-scene forensics. There has been a murder in a room. You are the crime scene investigator. What steps do you take? Do you just look at the body?
b. Think of opening the Bible like coming into a crime scene. You don’t immediately go out and drag someone to court. First, you observe everything you can about the scene. Secondly, you interpret what you have observed. Lastly, you take action based on those interpretations. If you’re lazy in your observations, you miss the clues.
c. Observe – Observe EVERYTHING. The only “bad” observation is the one you don’t make. You’re looking for the clues. You don’t care what the clues mean yet. Write down as many observations as possible in a journal. (Example 2 Tim 4:6-8 – write as many observations as you can.)
d. Interpret – Interpret all your observations. This is where you apply the scientific and logical rules of hermeneutics.
e. Apply – Apply what you’ve learned. Knowledge is worthless unless it has a result in your life.
3. Authorial Intent
a. The main goal of hermeneutics is to discover Authorial Intent.
i. What did the author mean to say?
ii. How did he expect his readers to interpret what he was saying?
iii. What was he expecting them to do as a result?
iv. Example – It is the year 2100. You uncover a text message that is a century old. It reads: “Dude, need 2 rap w/ u @ church 2nite.” How many different ways could you interpret this message?
v. There are many possible meanings, but only one intended meaning. The intended meaning will have the most powerful impact on your life.
vi. Why is the author writing? What is their desired impact on their reader?
vii. Always remember – when you read the Bible, you’re reading someone else’s mail. Make sure it applies to you before you apply it!
4. Exegesis vs. Isogesis
a. Isogesis – I believe a certain way, so the passage must mean XXX. For example: I don’t believe in predestination, so 2 Tim 1:9 can’t be talking about predestination. Isogesis is a big no-no.
b. Exegesis – The passage says XXX, so I should believe a certain way based on it.
5. Background
a. Always familiarize yourself with the background of a book before studying it. This is where it’s okay to use other sources as your primary source of information. It’s NOT okay to rely on footnotes in scripture itself. Only refer to them on your 2nd pass through the Observe / Interpret process.
b. Who is the author? What do we know about the author?
c. Who is the audience? What do we know about the audience?
d. What is the historical setting?
6. Circle Of Context
a. When interpreting a verse or a word, interpret it within the context of its surroundings; don’t interpret it in light of “what you already know”. In other words – let the verse be true to itself. Interpret it in the following order:
i. Verse
ii. Passage
iii. Book
iv. Author
v. Scripture
vi. Church Doctrine
vii. What You Think
7. Keyword identification and definition
a. Identify the key word(s) in the passage.
i. Example: 2 Tim 3:16 – keyword “God-Breathed”. Greek word is “theopneustos” from “theos” for God and “Pneuma” for breath or spirit. Similar to Genesis where God breathed life into man. How you interpret a key word will dramatically impact the meaning of the entire verse.
b. Original language – what was the original word in Hebrew or Greek and what was the common definition? Literal interpretation of words from other languages. Some good references are:
i. Strong’s
ii. Vine’s
iii. Bible software / Bibles online
c. Historical meaning – Were there historical facts which influenced the interpretation of the word?
d. Authorial use – How does the author use the word within the book? How does the author use the word within his other writings? Warning: different authors use the same words in different ways!
e. Scriptural reference – Is the author using the word as a quotation or reference to another part of scripture?
f. Note, different versions of the Bible use different words, so it’s good to cross-reference different versions. KJV, NIV, NASB, The Message, etc.
i. Example: KJV translates theopneustos as “inspired by God”.
8. Type of writing
a. Different books of the Bible were written for different purposes and therefore should be interpreted and applied differently. Scripture can be more than one type.
i. Didactic – specifically meant to tell the reader what to do.
ii. Narrative – tells a specific story.
iii. Poetic – poetic in nature.
iv. Historical – tells historical facts.
v. Wisdom – expounds wise advice.
vi. Prophetic – prophesies future events.
vii. Apocalyptic – prophesies end-time events.
viii. Parable – tells a story that is representative of something else.
ix. Typical – relates events or people to future or more perfect events or people.
9. Literality
a. Always interpret a passage as literal unless there’s contextual reason to believe otherwise – especially if it’s referred to as literal later in scripture.
10. Types of language
a. Hyperbole – an exaggerated example or story meant to have a big impact
b. Simile – a comparison using “like” or “as”
c. Contrast – a comparison meant to emphasize differences
d. Metaphor – using an example to make a point
e. Anthropomorphism – assigning human characteristics to God
f. Eastern Poetry – point and counterpoint
11. Timeframe
a. Always observe the verb tense the author uses. You might be waiting for something that already happened.
i. Past
ii. Present
iii. Future
iv. Ongoing
12. Argument and Scope
a. Is the author:
i. Arguing from culture or from nature?
ii. Talking to a specific group or to individuals or to everyone?
iii. Making a hypothetical argument or a literal argument?
13. Dispensation
a. Does the passage apply specifically to a dispensational time or is it eternal?
14. Numerology
a. Scripture often uses numbers in a symbolic or allegorical sense. Make sure you study the meanings of numbers before relying on them. There is incredible poetic numerology in the Bible.
15. Western vs. Eastern Logic
a. Western logic is very linear and makes sense to us (A = B, B = C, therefore A = C). Paul used mostly Western logic.
b. Eastern logic is very circular and re-emphasizes the important points, but doesn’t always make sense to us. John used mostly Eastern logic.

Rather than multi-quoting, let me just reply:

Yes, this is for an adult Sunday School class (I had to laugh at the idea of trying to teach a bunch of 7-year-olds hermeneutics - that would be chaos!) I usually teach it as a 4 - 6 week course, but ideally it would be closer to 10 - 12 weeks.

Anyone can use this material in any way they want - that's why I posted it, so it can be a tool for you.

This is just an outline, so by neccessity it's sketchy. When I teach this subject, we go into much more detail about each point and discuss examples and do lots of exercises in small groups. Typically, when people do "Observation" for the first time it's a real eye-opener. The idea of "only one intended meaning" is also huge for many people.

I totally agree about Midrash and your examples, Kev. I should probably add a section about prophesy in general because it can be such a complicated topic. I do kind of address it in the "typical" section by using examples such as "Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac was typal of God's sacrifice of his son" and "the desecration of the temple in 70 AD is typal of its ultimate desecration during the Tribluation".

About the virus analogy - I see what you mean about the possible negative interpretation, but when I actually teach, I explain how a virus works - that it's a living thing that gets inside you and changes you in a way that you couldn't change yourself. In general, people tend to underestimate the potency and power of Scripture. They don't understand how Scripture is really a living thing that infects you and changes you - they think they need to work hard and be good to be changed. If we can raise their esteem for Scripture, we've done them a great service.

Anyway, thanks for all the great comments. I dig this stuff. I'd love for this to be an ongoing discussion!