Building a Bridge of Truth

Synopsis of Steps 1 and 2

Step 1: Answer the question, “What did this text mean to the original audience?”

Historical Context - What is the culture and historical situation which brought about the writing of the text:

Who is the audience?

Who is the author?

What is going on in their historical situation:

Who are the major characters?

What does the world stage look like?

Literary Context - What form of writing did the author use to communicate?

What is the genre of literary?

What kind of literary style does the author portray?

Step 2: Answer the question, “What are the differences between us and them?”

Time to cross the river of differences

Remember the goal for interpreting the word of God.

The goal is not an intellectual pursuit.

The goal is not an authorial pursuit.

The goal is to properly apply the word of God in our lives and our church.

It is not enough for us to simply answer the question of what did it mean to them.

However, through this process we have answered this question.

EX: Joshua 1:1-9 - God commanded Joshua and the Israelites to be victorious as they conquered the Promise Land by His word through obedience and fidelity to Him!

By analyzing the above sentence, what are some differences between us and the original audience?

What are some similarities?

So, we have our original meaning, and we recognize the river of differences we have to cross in order to bring the text into our lives.

Principles of Truth

The question we have to answer is: “What is the eternal truth in this text?”

It must be demonstrated in the text

It must be timeless.

It cannot be bound by culture.

It must correspond with the rest of Scripture.

It should be just as relevant to the original audience as it is to us.