David Thornton - Interpretation

From looking at the passage in Corinthians in class I have thought about how I tend to interpret scripture. It is easy to simply read the Christian Bible and read it literally word by word. Hermeneutics presents sweet idea of interpretation because there are multiple things by the passages can be explored by. Looking at historical context, the context of the passage in regards to its placement in Scripture, and its relevance to the rest of scripture. This system of interpretation has presented a more revealing and effective way for me read the Bible. Historical context has especially been a very helpful way of investigating scripture because it gives the passage a clear meaning in its presentation in the Bible. Also, a lot of scripture is difficult to understand and comprehend for me because I am not really well learned in the arena of Christian scriptures. An example would be when I read the word of Jesus of Nazareth. He addresses many concept of Jewish culture which are necessary in understanding what he was really trying to communicate. The fact that he was Rabbi in the Jewish culture gives insight into the amount of knowledge Jesus had about the Hebrew Bible. In knowing this, when Jesus sums up all the law and the prophets in saying people must the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind and to love others as themselves he is summarizing the meaning of the Torah. Knowing that Jesus was already trained up until adulthood in the Torah lets the reader know about how Jesus’ understanding of the Hebrew Bible was culturally sound and socially legitimate.