BBI part One

Starting a new thread today: Basics of Biblical Interpretation.  Although most other writers call it Bible Interpretation, I prefer biblical interpretation.  Bible is a noun  so either they mean the Bible interprets or interpretation of the Bible.  Biblical is the adjective so it describes what kind of interpretation will be pursued.  On to part one. . .

Part One:  This could also be called stage one, step one, rule one, guideline one, but I will go with Part one, as in there is no whole without all the parts.  Part One: READ


When I say "read" I find it interesting that self proclaimed students of the Bible will propose to study the Bible by reading a single verse or even clause. They will start with Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (NAS95) and stop reading. They will then study the prepositional phrase, "in the beginning" and try to determine what that might mean.  It is no wonder (satire moment) that Twitter has become so popular with the modern world.  All that needs to be said can be said in 140 characters or less!!!!! (more satire).

These same individuals will sit through an entire movie, or even 6 Star Wars Episodes or 8 Potter episodes at a single time, but when asked to "read the Bible" they will stop after a mere 10 words in the English language (also in the LXX if one counts the articles, 7 in the Hebrew).

So when I say "read" that is what I mean!  Read, read, read and read until you have read (past tense sounds like dead which never rhymes with read in the present).  Read again until you have nearly memorized what comes before, after, and even in the middle.  Read again and again.

The failure of this culture to value reading is demonstrated by the host of video productions released nearly every weekend.  The overproduction of reading materials (including blogs) leads to a devaluing of the reading experience.  Quora tells me that in 2007 27% of Americans did not read a single book and 27% read more than 15 books.  The mean was 6.5 books in a year!!!!! http://www.quora.com/How-many-books-does-the-average-American-read-per-year

So, what is the first part for biblical interpretation, it is reading. See Spot run!