Interpreting the Bible

There are different ways of understanding what the Bible has to say. This is particularly so because the Bible is made up of different kinds of literature. This includes history, poetry, allegory, prophecy, proverbs and more.

Added to that, most Christians believe the Old Testament should be interpreted in light of what is made known in the New Testament.

Starting points
What the author may have originally meant
Traditionally, Christians have believed the starting point should always be what the author intended to express and why. This means looking to the historical and literary context of a saying or story. The aim is to discover what those who originally wrote a text might have meant by it.

What the text actually says
Another line of thinking is that the books of the Bible should be interpreted as individual pieces of literature. This approach focuses on narrative features such as characters within a text, plot development, genre and key words used by the author.

However, critics argue it’s impossible to interpret texts this way without looking at the wider picture.

How the reader interprets it
Others believe what a biblical text means depends on who is reading it. They argue that a reader doesn’t simply take in information but creates meaning as they read it.

From the reader’s view there is a wide range of possible meanings for any part of the Bible.

Some say we always need to read between the lines and look at what the text doesn’t say as much as what it does say.

Others criticise this approach for being ‘creative reconstruction’ rather than valid interpretation.

Methods of interpretation
Four methods have traditionally been used to interpret the Bible.

Literally
This takes the biblical texts at face value. This usually means the words should be taken in their most natural sense. As the Bible is believed to deal with actual events, people and statements, this method is often considered to be the most important kind of interpretation.

Symbolically
Looking at the Bible symbolically means reading the texts on a deeper level, searching for metaphors rather than taking things absolutely literally.

Ethically
This method of interpretation involves reading between the lines of a Bible passage or verse to see how it applies to living a moral life.

Mystically
Mystical interpretation involves looking for coded meaning in the Bible that reveals what is to happen in the future.