Tag Archives: hermeneutics

Close Reading: Reading From Different Perspectives

It is possible to read a text from a perspective that seems unnatural to the text. In doing so what we actually do is critique ourselves as readers and force ourselves to see new things in the text. There are productive and unproductive ways to do this, but it can be useful for Bible study.

Principles of Bible Reading: How Else Could It Be Said?

An important assumption of close reading, whether or not the text at hand is Scripture, is that every detail matters. Every detail can and should be subjected to scrutiny. One way we can subject details to scrutiny is by asking, “How else could it be said?” By asking this question we attempt to replicate the thinking that constructed the text.

Focusing on the Problem Spots

Part of teaching the Church to love Bible Study is teaching them how to read the Bible closely. In that spirit, this is something I wrote a few months ago for my church’s blog: As I have been teaching Romans and Galatians on Sunday mornings these last several months, I have also had occasion toContinue reading “Focusing on the Problem Spots”

Book Review – Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Eryl W. Davies

Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Eryl W. Davies, is an introduction to four of the most prominent and representative post-modernist hermeneutical methods used in biblical studies.