ways to read scripture

Question 1

What is Exegesis?

Answer 1

Exegesis is critical interpretation of the Bible to discover it’s meaning

Question 2

What are the 2 Senses of Scripture?

Answer 2

Literal and Spiritual

Question 3

What does the Literal Sense of Scripture mean?

Answer 3

~refers to the meaning of the words THEMSELVES. what is expressed by the human authors. (It considers metaphors, imagery, figurative language, which are still not spiritual. just descriptive ways to convey WORDS.)

Question 4

What does the Spiritual Sense of Scripture mean?

Answer 4

~refers to when what is signified by words or text ALSO has a further. deeper meaning. It looks PAST the text itself.

Question 5

Allegorical Sense

Answer 5

~an allegory is a metaphor.
*question it asks: what does it have to do with Jesus?
*it looks at text in the context of it’s fulfillment in Christ

Question 6

Anagogical Sense

Answer 6

~considers events in the light of their eternal significance, meaning in the journey to HEAVEN
*question it asks: how does this passage point to the final judgment?

Question 7

Moral Sense

Answer 7

~when the text teaches to live good lives and to act justly through God’s word.
*question it asks: in the light of this passage, how shall we live?

Question 8

Fundamentalism

Answer 8

The Christian belief that there is no higher authority than scripture. The only interpretations they make are 100% LITERAL. (if the scripture says “it;s raining cats and dogs,” a fundamentalist would say that there are cats and dogs plummeting to their deaths outside.)