Hermeneutics part 5: Using Arcing During the Observation Phase

Arc of Ephesians 1:1-14

My Arcing "Discovery"

Arcing has become an invaluable study tool for me. I remember when I first stumbled upon the site a few years ago. I was excited! I needed something fresh for my Bible study and this seemed to be it. I hungrily ate up the tutorial videos and began my journey into Arcing.

But there was one problem: I didn't really understand it fully. Here I sat after completing my first Arc on my own, staring blankly at a page full of labels. I understood what the labels were and what they meant, I just didn't understand what to do with them.

"Okay," I thought to myself, "I have a completed Arc. Now what?"

This was the question I kept asking myself over and over. I just didn't seem to be able to make the connection to the passage as a whole. Sure, I knew why 3a & 3b was an Action/Purpose, but how would I use that in teaching? I eventually lost interest and quit altogether.

Then a couple of months ago, the middle of May, to be exact, I took an interest in the book of Ephesians. Spiritually, I felt dry and needed to be refreshed. I started reading the book of Ephesians and my wonder for Jesus began creeping back in–in trickles at first, and as I read and re-read the book it came in waves that crashed over me and seemed to re-hydrate my spiritual life. That's when I went back to re-evaluate Arcing.

I took a different approach this time. I was determined not to quit until I had really grasped everything. I found the Power Point presentation online and read through it. And there, I discovered something that I had never known: How to "trace" back your Arcs to the main proposition of the entire passage.

This revolutionized Arcing for me! After I learned this the labels began making more sense. They were all interdependent upon the main proposition as a whole and part of the argument that was being used. Now, the book of Ephesians was really coming alive for me. I am excited as I continue this process. I am even signing up for a basic Arcing course in September, just to make sure that I've "got it."

Since the premise of Arcing to graphically display the flow of the thought in the author's text (it's so much more than that, though) I thought it would be helpful to use it during the Observation phase of hermeneutics. If you click the picture above it will take you to the the BibleArc website and the particular passage of Ephesians I have arced out.

Using Arcing in Observation

Now comes the big question: how do use Arcing during the observation phase?

First, you must understand what Arcing is. Arcing gives the flow of thought relationship in a passage. It is accomplished by dividing your passage into propositions. A proposition is simply a verbal idea (a statement containing a subject and a verb). Each new verbal idea is a new proposition. For example, if I say, "I drove to the hardware store in order to buy some nuts and bolts," I would have two separate propositions. 'I drove' contains the subject 'I' and the verb 'drove' (the prepositional phrase, 'to the hardware store' is part of the verbal idea). It is one proposition. The subject 'I,' which is implied by the verb 'bought' is another proposition. These two propositions relate to each other by the connecting thought 'in order to' which implies a purpose for the action, "I drove to the hardware store."

This example seems a bit simplified yet Scripture is argued upon these very grammatical ideas. The New Testament authors wrote for specific reasons to address a specific audience to propagate specific instructions. Of course, Arcing is a method that is not limited to the New Testament. I am only using this is as example.

When Arcing a passage you are seeking to determine what the author's main point of the passage is. Sometimes it obvious from the start. Other times you have to really work at it.

The observation part of hermeneutics is important because you're trying to determine the flow of thought, anyway. This is where Arcing comes in handy. Understanding how each proposition relates to each other and then to the passage as a whole will begin to answer some of the questions of the text, such as, why did Paul use that particular phrase?, or what did the author mean by that?

Using an example from the Arc of Ephesians 1:1-14, let's briefly look at propositions 4a-4b:

Proposition 4a tells us that God chose believers before the foundation of the world. That is, God chose those whom would be saved before He even created the Earth. At this point my Calvinist mind takes over. I automatically think that Paul is espousing the doctrine of predestination as the main theme. However, looking at proposition 4b pops the bubble on that idea. This "choosing" that God has done is for a purpose. The word 'that' at the beginning of 4b signals a Purpose connection to the Action of the choosing. The choosing is done with a view of having a people who are (a) holy & blameless, and (b) the holy and blameless people would be able to stand in the presence of the all consuming God without being consumed! Therefore, I would label these two propositions with an Action/Purpose relationship. Now I understand why Paul addresses predestination in this portion of Scripture. It is not to defend God's sovereignty in choosing His people, it is to declare God's purpose of having a people to Himself in the first place.

Let's look at one more example using the set of propositions from 7a-10b:

There are a lot of labels in this screenshot but I have marked the propositions that I would like to point out. Notice the Action/Purpose relationship that encompasses 7a-10b. This is important because verse 7 begins by telling believers that we have redemption. Often times, we see something like this and automatically smile because we get me-focused. But again, Paul pops our bubble as we trace the flow of thought in his argument. He goes on to explain that this redemption actually has it's fulfillment in God's plan through Jesus Christ for the purpose of uniting all things in His Son. Our redemption is included in this.

This kind of smacks in the face of modern-day preaching that would make the whole of salvation about our blessings, our redemption, and our inheritance. Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is for the purpose of God's glory and the exaltation and fulfillment of the ages in Christ rather than about us going to Heaven to have a big family reunion, which seems to be the predominate thought here in the Southern United States.

When Arcing is done correctly it can open up our understanding of the flow of the passage to a greater degree. Once we understand the flow of thought we will be able to easily move into word studies and interpretation with much more confidence.

If you would like to better understand Arcing or learn the method yourself I would encourage you to visit BibleArc and begin digging in. Thanks for reading.


Until we come to full maturity,
Steven

Join the Ephesians Study Group Online!

I (Steven) am hosting a study group online through the book of Ephesians. We'll be using the
Arcing/Bracketing/Phrasing method. The group is open to ANYONE who wants to dig deeper into God's Word using the Arcing method. Don't be intimidated. If you'd like to join just go to this link and request membership. There will be three things that you must do after joining:

1. Read the Arcing tutorial that has been posted. It's in PDF format so no matter what system you're using you can download it or view it right there on the site. 
2. Complete the weeks reading and Arcing assignment, also posted in the group.
3. Interact with the group discussions and share your insights.

That's pretty much it. if you're interested just hit the link and sign up. If you wanna know more about Arcing then please visit the Biblearc website for instructional videos and tutorials. 

Hermeneutics part 4: The 3 Steps of the Observation Phase

Do you remember the four steps of hermeneutics? Here is a quick reminder:

• Grasp the text in their town - what did it mean to the original audience?
• Measure the width of the river to cross - what are the differences between the Biblical audience and me/us? 
• Cross the priciplizing bridge - what is the theological principle in this text?
• Grasp the text in our town - how should the individual Christian today apply this text? 

Welcome to the beginning of the first step–Grasp the text in their town. Today, you begin the actual process of interpreting a Biblical text. So let's get ready!

In our last hermeneutics post we discussed the importance of observing the text. Today, I would like to briefly discuss the three steps to the observation phase.

Someone once said that in order to really understand something you first must read it. Then, when you are finished you must read it again. Afterwards, to really begin to grasp the meaning you read it again...and again...and again.

You get the idea. Reading a text over and over will help you understand the flow of thought and argument an author is presenting. Therefore, we could say that the first step in observation is:

1. Read the text. In fact, you may want to read and re-read as many times as you need in order to really understand what is going on. I would personally recommend that one read the text at least 10-15 times before going any further. This is especially helpful if you are beginning a book study. Ideally, it is better to read the entire book in one sitting, if at all possible. There are several short books where this could be easily accomplished. Again, I cannot overstate how important this first step is. If one cannot grasp the flow of thought & the meaning of authorial intent then the rest of the study will be fruitless.
2. Observe the text. This next step is just as important! Observing the text means you are reading the text, but with intent. That is, you are now reading to look for specific things: coordinating conjunctions, repeated words/phrases, verbs of action, figures of speech, comparisons, and many other clues that will help you better understand and apply the meaning of the text (pp. 30-38 in Grasping God's Word). One helpful way (and this is also suggested in the book) is to copy & paste your text to a text document such as MS Word or Pages, or even a plain text and then print out the text to mark it up. Mark them in a way that is unique for you to understand so that you will know what you are looking at later on. Below, I've submitted my own example from a sermon in Acts that I preached a few years ago. I hope it will be helpful for you to see a real example. Examples are also provided in the book. 
3. Evaluate the text. One sure way to quickly gain the main points or thoughts of an author is to Phrase or Block Diagram a text. Phrasing is a method that takes all of the main thoughts and clauses and puts them on the left while indenting all of their subordinating clauses underneath of them. The example below is a a Phrase or Block Diagram, though at the time I was still perfecting the methods. It is a tool that I continue to use to this day. For more about phrasing just visit Biblearc.com (Phrasing) as well as their video examples. This English example video is excellent!

BD-Acts_1_1-8.1

Your next step is to find a passage and begin to observe. I recommend a something simple to start with. 1Peter is a good place to begin. Copy & paste and print out the first 9 verses and begin the observation phase. Remember to leave at least 2 spaces between each line so that you have plenty of room to note any significant points, such as comparisons, conjunctions, contrasts, etc. Happy hunting!

Hermeneutics part 3: Beginning the Observation Phase

I'm a big fan of the new Sherlock Holmes series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. It's kinda like a modern twist on an old classic, which usually doesn't sit well with my taste, but somehow BBC made this really work.

One of the most impressive features of the show is Sherlock's ability to notice the seemingly insignificant things. These usually turn out to play a role in solving the crime. Something as simple as stain on a shirt, or a particular type of clothing always betrays the villain.

Bible study is the same way. It's the little things that add to the whole and make significant contributions to the story. For example, in John 4 we have the account of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan women at Jacob's well. Jesus asks her for a drink and then launches into discourse about Himself being the Living Water.





This all seems a bit insignificant until we learn that the Samaritans were hated by the Jews! Normally, any self-respecting Jew that had to travel to the Northern part of Israel would travel all the way around Samaria to keep from "tainting" himself.

Samaritans were considered half-breeds, to some extent. During the Northern exile Assyria carried off most of the inhabitants of Northern Israel, leaving only the poorest of the land. Remember, Israel was split in two, Judah in the Southern half, and Israel in the Northern half during the reign of Rehoboam. When Assyria carried them off they re-settled the land with peoples from their other conquests. The people of Israel eventually began to inter-marry with these Gentile captives, and thus the Samaritans were born.

The Jews were not allowed to intermingle with other nations, hence their hatred for these people.

By the time of Jesus most Jews would go to great lengths to avoid them. When going to the Northern Israel they made it a point to walk all the way around their land. But notice the map above. The line represents Jesus' own journey. He didn't avoid Samaria. In fact, He took the most direct route. We know from John 4 that the entire village became believers on account of the woman's testimony. And it all started with Jesus' trip to Samaria.

My point is that I would not have known this significant piece of information without practicing the observation phase. This would have been just another lovely story about a woman accepting Christ as Messiah, and therefore would have lost its original impact.

Observation is the most important step in any Bible study. I can't overstate this enough. When we read we should be reading purposely, with intent, allowing our eyes to rest on every word, sentence, and paragraph.

Like Sherlock Holmes we need to break out the magnifying glass and begin to look for "clues" that will help us to grow in our relationship with Christ. In the next post we will discuss and lay out all the steps to the observation phase.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for the next post. But be warned–from here on out the real work begins!

Hermeneutics: What, How, Why, When, Where?

It's important to start 2015 right. And for the believer that usually means a resolution to read more of the Bible. And it's a good resolution. But how about a resolution, not only to read more of God's Word, but to study it!

Most people seem to be content with reading 3, or 4, or maybe even 5 chapters a day. But how many people would actually sit down for a solid hour to study? When I say study I don't just mean reading, and highlighting, and such. I mean digging deep; going beyond the norm and really understand and applying that Word to your daily living.

That's what the main goal is for hermeneutics. It's not just reading, it's studying and applying. And hopefully, God will grant me the grace to help you on your journey. This series intends to walk you through, step-by-step, the hermeneutical process. My goal is to get you started by taking 1 chapter from the Bible and really analyzing it to the point where you know exactly what it says and how you apply it. 1 chapter doesn't sound too ambitious, but you'll soon discover that it's a lot of work. Whew!

For this particular series I'm going to be using a few tools that you may want to invest in or find other comparable tools. Here's what you'll need in general:

1. I'm going to be using two key textbooks to outline the hermeneutical process. They are Grasping God's Word and Preaching God's Word. Both book are co-authored by the same author and compliment each other. Pictures of them are below. 
   
   
   
   


2. You'll also need some kind of text editor such as MS Word, Pages, Open Office, etc. Copying and pasting is much easier than trying to hand-write Scripture passages. 
3. I'll be mainly using Logos Bible software and making reference to theWord Bible software. You can use a plain old Bible but I believe software will make your time in the Word much more efficient. Don't worry about price, there are a lot of good free ones that work fine. I'll mention them during our journey. 
4. Most of all you'll need patience! This is not going to be an easy task. I promise you, at some point you'll get frustrated and want to quit. You'll get angry and slam your Bible shut. You'll think it's too hard. And it will be. Don't expect a pay-off right away. Study takes time but the fruit it reaps will be well worth it in the end. 

We're going to take this slow so that we can digest every little part. At the end of each section I'll try to post a short video walking you through the process of what we went over that day. I know some people need to actually see it in action to aid in the learning process. It's okay, I'm like that, too. 

That's pretty much it for this post. In the next post I'll discuss some common pitfalls of interpretation before we actually dive into a text. Remember, we're going to take this slow. We need to learn this process and practice a little at a time as we learn. In the end, we'll be able to put the whole thing together. 

God bless you in this new year, and I hope you'll keep coming back to enrich your time in the Word.

Soli Deo gloria!

Steven

The Importance of Biblical Hermeneutics Steven Long 7/14/13

Here is the outline I used from tonight's podcast on hermeneutics. As promised, the links to the books I mentioned are at the end of this post.

What is hermeneutics? a method or principle of interpretation

• By very definition that means that we cannot interpret things any way we wish
• We are obliged to follow a set pattern of rules
• If we don't apply these rules then chaos of the text will follow

Why is hermeneutics important?

• It keeps the person honest about what the text says. IOW, let the text speak for itself
• It allows a proper personal application of the text to a person's circumstances. If you interpret the text wrong, you apply it wrong; if you apply it wrong consequences ensue.

Basic principles of hermeneutics

• CONTEXT IS KING!!
  • Immediate context (verses surrounding the passage)
  • Cultural/historical context
  • Context of the entire book (who was it written to? Why was it written? What purpose?)
  • Let Scripture interpret Scripture. This is very helpful, especially when you come to a passage that seems to contradict another passage (Romans & James)
• OBSERVATION (probably the most important part of study. Read the passage several times)
  • Action verbs
  • Contrasts (light-darkness, hot-cold, love-hate)
  • Look for connecting thoughts and continuing thoughts (but, and, therefore, yet, etc) Ro 8:1
  • Repetitive words/commands
  • Lists
  • Key characters and places
  • Don't let your brain disconnect when moving to a new section or chapter
  • BE SURE TO NOTE CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING THINGS
    • Hyperbole (an exaggeration – Mt 19:24, Camel through the eye of a needle)
    • Figures of speech (John 10:9, I am the door)
    • Allegorical stories (Judges 7:9-21, Jotham and the tree allegory)
    • Apocolyptical language (Revelation is a special concern)
    • IMPORTANT! AT THIS STAGE YOU NOT TRYING TO INTERPRET. YOU ARE SIMPLY OBSERVING WHAT THE TEXT SAYS. PREMATURE INTERPRETATION CAN STILL LEAD TO A WRONG INTERPRETATION
• WORD STUDIES
  • Look for key words that will help explain the text
  • Use lexicons. If you don't know how to use them, learn!
  • THINGS YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF IN WORD STUDIES
    • Words have different meanings in different context
    • The same word will not always mean the same thing in different contexts but some of the connotations of the basic meaning may still be the same (use Eph 2 as example)
    • Be sure to examine the word and how it is used in EVERY context in Scripture. CAREFULLY try to ascertain how the word, according to all of its meanings is used in the context of the particular passage you are studying

MOVE INTO THE INTERPRTATION STAGE

• Note the theological principles in the text. Some will be easier to find than others
  • The principle should be timeless
  • It should transcend culture and time
  • It should have the same meaning to you as the original audience
• Cross the principlized bridge (what does the modern application look like)
• How does the principle look elsewhere in Scripture
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  

  

  
  

Accountability RequiredSteven Long (01/01/13)

A friend of mine and his wife recently attended a local church Sunday evening. One of the associate pastors preached a sermon about our "anointing" we have as believers. He used several Scriptures to support his points. My friend became concerned as he looked at the context of the passages that the pastor used. Later that evening, he e-mailed the pastor for clarification on the passages. Embedded below is the e-mail exchanged between the two. I have blacked out my friends name for sake of privacy.

As you can see from the e-mail, this pastor is from the Wave Church. The Wave Church has become quite popular in recent years as it is associated with the popular singing group Hillsong. The Wave Church is especially dangerous as it has had popular heretic and Modalist T.D. Jakes speak on church growth on site [source]. But that's another blogpost (or podcast) to address some other time. My main concern is with this pastor's response in the e-mail exchange and his total lack of apathy for Scripture. Instead of examining the context that was pointed out to him he became defensive, as is noted by the tone of his response. More importantly, what does the rest of the leadership of this church think? How should pastors respond when someone, a member or a visiting guest, points to a wrong usage based on the context? The pastor should immediately examine the context to see if he indeed is wrong. If so, he should publicly state it and then correct it with his congregation so as not to impart any false teaching to them. My friend politely asked him to do so. In a conversation with him, he stated that he was very concerned with the pastor's usage of Heb 1:8-9 and that the "anointing" was for the believer when the full context is clearly speaking about Christ's superiority. Pastors are commanded to accurately teach the Word of God. Paul charges Timothy in 2Timothy 2:15 to "cut it straight." This is what the word literally means. Vine offers a bit more insight into this:

orthotomeo (ὀρθοτομέω, 3718), “to cut straight,” as in road-making (orthos, “straight,” temno, “to cut”), is used metaphorically in 2 Tim. 2:15, of “handling aright (the word of truth),” RV (KJV, “rightly dividing”). The stress is on orthos; the Word of God is to be “handled” strictly along the lines of its teaching. If the metaphor is taken from plowing, cutting a straight furrow, the word would express a careful cultivation, the Word of God viewed as ground designed to give the best results from its ministry and in the life._{(emphasis are mine)}.

Pastors and teachers are to be extremely careful and accurate when handling God's Word (James 3:1). Pastor Ritter failed to do this and the leadership of this church should have called him out on it. Folks, Wave Church is dangerous if it handles all of its teachings like this. If it does, I would advise you to stay far far away from it.

There Is No Such Thing as a SeekerPt 3 - What about the passages that command us to seek God?Steven Long 7/08/12

If it is true that no one seeks God then why are there passages in the Bible that command us to seek God, passages such as Isaiah 55:6, which commands to "seek the Lord while He may be found?

In the first post we laid the foundation of why seeker sensitive evangelism was not Biblical. Our final and most authoratative reason was that man, in and of his own nature, does not naturally seek after God. Our second post dealt with what it actually meant to seek God, or rather what seeking God was not. We concluded, that if the apostle Paul was right, then seeking God did not necessarily mean being religious or even having a desire to worship something.

There is another issue to be dealt with. In the Bible, using the ESV version, the phrase, "seek God" and "seek the Lord" appears multiple times. Ignoring the general uses of the phrase (i.e, non-commands to seek God) we are left with about eight occurences where seeking God is commanded or implied. Below is a screenshot of the search that I performed on my Bible software. The red dashes indicate the three most popular verses that are probably the most quoted of the eight. If you click on the picture you should be able to enlarge it to get a better view.

As always, the key to understanding the text is through context. But instead of taking all eight verses individually, which would take way too much time and space for this blog, we will look at the two most quoted passages all of them have some key elements in common. In this way we can see how they relate to each other.

Many of you may think that there is no ponint in doing this, but whenever you have seemingly contradictions in Scripture (e.g, seek God and no ability to seek God) it is good to stop and take a look at them to see if indeed there is a conflict.

Now, getting back to the main question: If no one seeks God why are there commands in the Bible to seek God? We let context answer this question.

The Context

1. The command to seek God was a command to His covenant people. This is actually significant as we never find a command to the pagan nations surrounding Israel to seek God. God showed favor to the other nations but they were not His covenant people and as such were not commanded to be set apart to Him. In the Deutoronomy passage Moses is explaining the consequences of disobeying God. He solemly warns them that they will be exiled fromt the land if they fail to hearken unto God's Laws. However, when they have grown weary of their ways Moses reminds then that God will not forget the covenant He made with them.

And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. (emphasis are mine)

The focus of the passage is on God's covenant promise to His own people. He cannot forsake them completely because He has promised them that He would not.

It is important to remember that God's people were supposed to be different, holy, and blameless before the nations. They were to be above the other nations in holiness in order that they might see the hope that the LORD brought to His people.

What about...?

But what about Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, and the scores of others who came before Israel was a nation? Didn't these men seek God? The answer is emphatically yes! We cannot assume one way or another about these men because we are not told how or why they began to seek God. One of the major rules of hermeneutics is to let Scripture interpret Scripture, and If Scripture is to be our interpreter in this case then we must assume, according to passages such as Romans 3:11, 2Corinthians 2:14, John 6:44, John 6:66 and scores of others that it was God Himself that drew these men into a relationship wiht Him–unless of course, we admit that these men stood before God on their own merit, thereby ignoring all other Scripture.

2. The command to seek God was a call to repentance. The one common theme that ties these verses together is the prophetic element of God calling His people back to repentance. The Isaiah passage as well as the Hosea and Zechariah were all aimed at calling to repentance the wayward rulers who had led the people astray from worship of the true God to idols, perverted justice by taking bribes, and oppressed the poor by favoring the rich, among other things. God grew tired of His people's waywardness and sent the prophets to warn them of His judgment. In fact, the majority of the commands to seek God are found in the prophetic books, with the context being a call to repentance.

3. The command to seek God was a message of condemnation. As previously stated in the second point, repentance was a common theme throughout the Old Testament. The reason for the call to repentance (i.e., to seek God) was to save the people from God's judgment. God had warned them of pending doom through His prophets; He had told them that He would exile His people to a foreign land where they would serve the gods they loved. But because they were His covenant people He would not punish them without warning them. Therefore, when Isaiah and the other prophets declared, "Seek the Lord while He my be found," it was an exhortation to repent before God brought judgment to the people. After judgment came it would be too late to seek repentance.

Conclusion

These passages, as well as all others, must be interpreted within their proper contexts if we are to faithfully proclaim God's Word. To tell a lost person to seek the Lord when Scripture clearly states that they cannot is to do a disservice to them. Rather, we should proclaim the faithfulness of God in forgiving a sinner when he/she repents of their sins as we see the clear signs of God drawing them into a loving relationship with Himself.