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A literalistic reading of the aforementioned passage in Mathew teaches that under a certain circumstance, namely "your eye causes you to sin," one most poke out his or her own eye. A literary (non-literal) reading of the passage sees the usage of hyperbole and a vivid visual image to communicate the horrifying and traumatic nature of sin. The former reading ...

First, let's fix up some of your terminology. The thing you are calling "chapters" are generally referred to as "books". The Bible is composed of many different books written at different times at the hands of several human authors (although all inspired). Each book is then divided up into chapters and verses for easy reference. Secondly the "first few" ...

My answer might not be in line with the question if you only mean technical methods. However there is the obvious notion of prayer and reliance upon the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to what He has written to us. After all if the Spirit is the true author and men only the medium, we have more advantage in understanding the words by the Spirit than we would if ...

Disclosure: This represents an Eastern Christian perspective (yet its applicability is not confined solely to Eastern Christians). I've met many very intellectually gifted Protestants who share their hermeneutical approach to scripture and yet come up with widely varying positions on the interpretation of various passages. Hence 23,000+ Protestant ...

I would suggest that propitiation, expiation and mercy seat are all viable options. My reasoning is based on theological and linguistic insights. I subscribe to the linguistic theory of signs and signification. Words are considered signs and their meaning is derived (signified) by the real word entities they point to. When we communicate using the word ...

"Propitiation" is the preferred choice of the two since it addresses both the context and the theology of the act. The meaning of propitiation is actually more forceful than how it is normally translated, as "appeasing." Instead, it's more in line with specifically being the object of the direct wrath of the deity in question (in the Greek mind) for ...

I was taught in seminary 2 foundational rules to remember before all others. Pay attention to the text. Pay attention to the context. While you won't see these rules stated verbatim in Scripture, you will certainly see them applied. Notice throughout the NT how the phrase, "It is written" and similar phrases appear. These are always used with quotes of ...

I find this to be a little bit of a loaded question; it makes a broad assumption that I don't fully agree with. But let me illustrate: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may ...

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. An orthodox Christian site says: "A Biblical Christian is the one who, wherever he looks, on every page of Scripture, finds everywhere Christ." The fundamental rule is that all the scriptures speak of Christ, and until you see him in ...

Yes, I would suggest pay a lot of attention to the context, start basically when Jesus started, the exegetical rules of His time. One of the major hermeneutic approach of His time descends from the principles that Rab. Hillel recorded. The Seven Rules of Hillel: They are as follows: Ḳal (ḳol) wa-ḥomer: "Argumentum a minori ad majus" or "a majori ...

The answer is in verse 13:11, "In all this, remember how critical the moment is...". That generation lived in a state of heightened Messianic expectation, of final judgement, a kind of unscheduled Yom Kippur. Paul's exhortations are in this context. He is telling people to "put their houses in order" as Tacitus would say, square their books, avoid ...

That chapter is a rather miscellaneous compendium of law. You might equally ask what the law about rape has to do with the law about returning lost property. "Treat marriage in a respectful way" is an awfully cleaned-up formulation for the law that concerns violations of the marriage contract, with potentially fatal consequences. Anyway, if you skip the ...

Establishing the most foundational rule of hermeneutics is a bit like choosing your favorite child. The reality is that exegesis is a combination of methods to arrive at the best exposition of the true meaning of a passage. These methods include a variety of principles or rules, some of which are justified by the internal claims of the Bible itself, and some ...

Content of the Galatian False Gospel The main feature of this other gospel in Galatians is a compulsion to be circumcised. More generically, though, it can be expressed as a requirement to adhere to Jewish customs. In other words, there was an insistence that Christians live and act as Jews in order to share in the blessings given to Abraham. More ...

I went over this with some pastors. They have the idea that the atonement in both Old and New Testaments do both, propitiate and expiate. But there is a problem here. Why are both done when only one is necessary? That is, if the purpose of atonement is to expiate (cover, cancel out, remove sin) then WHY would God still be angry? So, why did God provide ...

Hermeneutics: Scripture has two "senses": a literal (historical) and a spiritual (the message God is trying to get across to us). (See here for further explanation of this.) The Bible is completely true in both senses. Literal: Jesus literally said that "if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away." This statement should be taken as an ...