Interviews

What role does hermeneutics play in faithfully understanding biblical passages?

Dr. Chris Stevens explores how hermeneutics helps us faithfully understand Scripture. Hermeneutics is both an art and a science, guiding our interpretation while allowing the Spirit to shape our hearts and expectations, especially when engaging difficult passages. The following is a transcript of the video above.

What role does hermeneutics play in faithfully understanding biblical passages?

What role does hermeneutics play, especially when approaching difficult passages? Well, for students, what I encourage them first is: yes, they need to learn their Greek, because in doing so they will begin to read the Bible not only in full color but also in 4D. But also, even if you're great at Greek, even phenomenal at Greek linguistics, reading the text alone is not enough. How we expect things from the text will determine how we appropriate Jesus from it. And therefore, we need to begin the art of interpretation, which we call hermeneutics. At its best, hermeneutics is the art and science that should guide interpretation toward understanding. Unfortunately, hermeneutics is a challenging and complex field. It's something that cannot be methodized, or something that can be dominated by intellectual prowess despite higher critical methods attempting to do so. Hermeneutics, or entering into the process of understanding a text, is us having the Spirit act upon us to break us from our lethargy and our own expectations, and to come over to the horizon and intentionality of the Scriptures. And so, when we're doing the process of hermeneutics, understand that it's something we do, but it is also something that is done to us. So godly. Hermeneutics needs to balance both work and being worked on.

Hermeneutics, or entering into the process of understanding a text, is us having the Spirit act upon us to break us from our lethargy and our own expectations, and to come over to the horizon and intentionality of the Scriptures.