Knowing Scripture

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization located near Orlando, Florida. He was also copastor of Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. His radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and can also be heard online. Sproul contributed dozens of articles to national evangelical publications, spoke at conferences, churches, and schools around the world, and wrote more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and Everyone's a Theologian. He also served as general editor of the Reformation Study Bible. J. I. Packer is regarded as one of the most influential evangelicals in North America. He is Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and his writings include books such as Knowing God, A Quest for Godliness, Growing in Christ (Crossway) and Rediscovering Holiness. He has preached and lectured widely in Great Britain and North America and served as general editor of the English Standard Version of the Bible published in 2001, and theological editor of the Study Bible version. In 2014, Packer was named Author of the Year by the Association of Logos Bookstores. He is a frequent contributor to and an executive editor of Christianity Today and has written numerous articles published in journals such as Churchman, SouthWestern Journal, Reformation Revival Journal and Touchstone. He received a BA, MA and PhD from Oxford University.

Foreword by J. I. Packer

Preface to the Expanded Edition

Preface to the Original Edition



1. Why Study the Bible

Two Myths

The Clarity of Scripture

The Problem of Motivation

The Biblical Basis for Bible Study

The Bible as Revelation

Theory and Practice

The Sensuous Christian

A Matter of Duty



2. Personal Bible Study and Private Interpretation

Martin Luther and Private Interpretation

Objectivity and Subjectivity

The Role of the Teacher



3. Hermeneutics: The Science of Interpretation

The Analogy of Faith

Interpreting the Bible Literally

Literal Interpretation and Genre Analysis

The Problem of Metaphor

The Medieval Quadriga

The Grammatical-Historical Method

Source Criticism

Authorship and Dating

Grammatical Errors



4. Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation

Rule 1. Read the Bible Like Any Other Book

Rule 2. Read the Bible Existentially

Rule 3. Interpret the Historical Narratives by the Didactic

Rule 4. Interpret the Implicit by the Explicit

Rule 5. Determine Carefully the Meaning of Words

Rule 6. Note the Presence of Parallelisms

Rule 7. Note the Difference Between Proverb and Law

Rule 8. Observe the Difference Between the Spirit and the Letter of the Law

Rule 9. Be Careful with Parables

Rule 10. Be Careful with Predictive Prophecy

Rule 11. Interpret the Bible with a Spirit of Humility



5. Culture and the Bible

Cultural Conditioning and the Bible

Cultural Conditioning and the Reader

Principle and Custom

Practical Guidelines



6. Practical Tools for Bible Study

Bible Translations

Study Bibles

The King James Version

Commentaries

Concordances, Bible Dictionaries and Atlases

Word Studies

Foreign Translations

What About Greek and Hebrew?

Bible Software

Bible Reading Program for Beginners

Conclusion



Notes

Glossary