Interpreting Scripture 2

Historical-Cultural Elements

• Historical
• Religious
• Political
• Economic
• Geographical-Topographical
• Social
• The Author(s) background,circumstances and relationships
• All of this connects to the passage
• When we take the time to understand the context, God is speaking to real people, real lives , with real problems. He speaks to many people as we all work in community to help one another.
• Dangers
• 1. Inaccuracy. The message is as only as good as the information, resource and processing-extraction to paper.
• 2. Don't elevate the background over the meaning of the text.
• 3. Don't let the fascination of the background information get us carried away, takelonger than expected and miss the point. eg. King Agrippa is interesting but so is the focal point of Luke's message.
• 4. There is a difference beween the historical and the meaning of the passsage.
• 5. We study the background not to lose ourselves but to grasp the meaning of the passage morn clearly. Do not become a data base of information of facts. Interpret what God is saying.

Interpretation Journe

• Grasp the text in their town. What did the passage mean to the original audience?
• Measure the width of the river to cross. What are the differences between them and us
• What is the theological principle?
• Consult the Bible to see how it fits into God's plan.
• Group the text in our town . How should Christian live it out?

tools for Identifying Historical -Culture Context

• Grasp the historical cultural context of the book that contains 'your passage"
• Recognize the historical-culture in the passage itself.
• Who was the author?
• What was his his background?
• When did he write?
• What was the nature of his ministry?
• What kind of relationship did he have with his audience?
• Why was he writing?
• Who was his Biblical Audience?
• What were their circumstances?
• How was their relationship with God?
• What kind of relationship did they have with each other?
• What was happening at the time the book was written?
• Are there any other historical-cultural factors that might shed light on the book?