Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

3. Benefits: extraordinary time saver in hunting down relevant texts on a similar topic

4. Cautions: over-dependence on these can make one’s analysis a little disjointed and itemized (the focus on parts and not on whole Bible themes and books)

II. Bible Dictionaries, Bible Encyclopedias, Bible Atlases, and Bible History and Customs Reference Works

Analogy of Faith: Interpret the Scriptures by Scripture Each book proceeded from the same divine mind, so the teaching of the Bible’s sixty-six books will be complementary and self-consistent. If we cannot yet see this, the fault is in us, not in Scripture. It is certain that Scripture nowhere contradicts Scripture; rather, one passage explains another. This sound principle of interpreting Scripture by Scripture is sometimes called

A. Bible dictionary, Bible encyclopedia

1. Definition: to provide background on the history, culture, social customs, peoples, topography, and related matters of the biblical periods

2. Fantastic aids to bridge the historical and cultural gap between our world and the ancient world

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a. These tools are the single most important tools for shortening the distance between our world and the world of the Bible!

b. Numerous, excellent, and accessible volumes and software

3. Useful to identify information on critical biblical concepts

the analogy of Scripture or the analogy of faith.

~ J. I. Packer. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs . (electronic ed.). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1995.

a. People (Abraham, Sennacherib, Ruth)

b. Places (Ur, Bethlehem, Goshen, Sea of Galilee, Assyria)