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'Presentation' in the Bible

and put all of them in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.

“Take the breast from the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it as a presentation offering before the Lord; it is to be your portion.

Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the presentation offering that is waved and the thigh of the contribution that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

Both men and women came; all who had willing hearts brought brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry—everyone who waved a presentation offering of gold to the Lord.

All the gold of the presentation offering that was used for the project in all the work on the sanctuary, was 2,193 pounds, according to the sanctuary shekel.

The bronze of the presentation offering totaled 5,310 pounds.

His own hands will bring the fire offerings to the Lord. He will bring the fat together with the breast. The breast is to be waved as a presentation offering before the Lord.

I have taken from the Israelites the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, and have assigned them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion from the Israelites.”

He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and waved them before the Lord as a presentation offering.

He also took the breast and waved it before the Lord as a presentation offering; it was Moses’ portion of the ordination ram as the Lord had commanded him.

but he waved the breasts and the right thigh as a presentation offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution in any ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the Israelites’ fellowship sacrifices.

They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the presentation offering, together with the offerings of fat portions made by fire, to wave as a presentation offering before the Lord. It will belong permanently to you and your children, as the Lord commanded.”

The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a restitution offering, along with the one-third quart of olive oil, and he must wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.

The priest will take the male lamb for the restitution offering and the one-third quart of olive oil, and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.

“You are to count seven complete weeks starting from the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the presentation offering.

Bring two loaves of bread from your settlements as a presentation offering, each of them made from four quarts of fine flour, baked with yeast, as firstfruits to the Lord.

The priest will wave the lambs with the bread of firstfruits as a presentation offering before the Lord; the bread and the two lambs will be holy to the Lord for the priest.

The priest is to wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord. It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a presentation offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the Lord’s work.

“You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you are to present them before the Lord as a presentation offering.

After that the Levites may come to serve at the tent of meeting, once you have ceremonially cleansed them and presented them as a presentation offering.

The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them before the Lord as a presentation offering. Aaron also made atonement for them to ceremonially cleanse them.

“The contribution of their gifts also belongs to you. I have given all the Israelites’ presentation offerings to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your house may eat it.

But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.

You are also to offer the second lamb toward the evening. Just like the morning sacrifice, you are to present the grain offering, accompanied by its corresponding drink offering, as a presentation made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD."

They set aside in reserve the burnt offerings, so they could distribute them in proportion to the divisions of their ancestral households for presentation by the people to the LORD, as is required by the book of Moses. They did this with respect to the bulls, also.

for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.

how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to him to eat, nor to those with him, except to the priests alone?

how he went into the house of God, (at 'Abiathar the chief priest,') and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to eat, except to the priests, and he gave also to those who were with him?'

how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did take, and did eat, and gave also to those with him, which it is not lawful to eat, except only to the priests?'

And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation .

For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.

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Related Words

• Misrepresentation (1 instance in 1 translation)
• Presentability (1 instance in 1 translation)
• Presentable (2 instances in 5 translations)
• Representation (8 instances in 6 translations)
• Representations (6 instances in 4 translations)
• Representative (21 instances in 6 translations)
• Representatives (40 instances in 6 translations)
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• Demonstration ( 8 instances )
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• Presentation ( 33 instances )

Related Readings

• 4 more readings on Presentation

Reflections for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Introduction:    This feast commemorates how Jesus, as a baby, was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem. This presentation finds its complete and perfect fulfillment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. The  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord   is a combined feast ,  commemorating the Jewish practice of the  purification of the mother  after childbirth and the  presentation of the child  to God in the Temple and his buying back ( redemption ) from God. It is also known as the  Feast of the Purification of Mary , and the Feast  of Candlemas.  It is also called the  Feast of Encounter  ( Hypapánte  in Greek) because the New Testament, represented by the baby Jesus, encountered the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna. Joseph offered two pigeons in the Temple as sacrifice for the purification of Mary after her childbirth and for the presentation and redemption ceremonies performed for baby Jesus.

Homily starter anecdote: “Four chaplains Sunday:  Julia Duin in the Washington Times Sunday, February 1, 2009 told this story. Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, an act of extraordinary unselfishness by a group of men became a legend of martyrdom and sacrifice. When the Army ship Dorchester was torpedoed by the Germans just south of Greenland that night, its passengers and crew had 25 minutes to get off the boat. As 902 people went for the life jackets, it quickly was discovered there weren’t near enough. Of the 13 lifeboats, only two functioned. In the ship’s final minutes, Methodist senior chaplain George Lansing Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, were helping passengers leave the vessel. Then four men appeared all of them without life jackets. The chaplains quickly gave up their own vests and went down with the ship, perishing in the freezing water. Survivors saw them, locked arm in arm, praying and singing the Navy hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” just before the ship dove beneath the waves. It was a night as dramatic as the sinking of the Titanic but without a blockbuster movie to record the drama. “The Four Immortal Chaplains,” as they are now known, have been honored many times, including on a stamp issued in their honor by the U.S. Postal Service. Hence the first Sunday in February is known as “Four Chaplains Sunday” in some Christian denominations.  They presented and offered themselves completely for the wellbeing of others as Jesus was presented to God his Heavenly Father in the Temple of Jerusalem for the salvation of the world. ( http://frtonyshomilies.com/).

Scripture lessons summarized:   In the   first reading,  taken from Malachi, the prophet speaks of the Lord suddenly coming to Jerusalem to purify the lax, lazy and indifferent priests of His Temple as silver is purified by fire. Simeon saw the Infant Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage. He saw Jesus as the Lord Who has come to the Temple,  "destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel."    In the second reading,  St. Paul   proclaims Jesus as our Eternal High Priest of     the New Covenant (Heb 2:17), Who offered himself on the altar of Calvary, the only pure priestly sacrifice that could please God.    He replaces the former priesthood.  The Gospel  describes how Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, presented Mary and the baby Jesus in the Temple of God for the mother’s purification and the Child’s “redemption.” It also describes the Holy Family’s encounter with the old prophet Simeon and the holy old widow Anna. In his prophecy, Simeon extols the divine blessings which the Messiah is bringing to Israel and to all men and predicts that Mary will play a crucial and sacrificial role in her Son's redemptive work by sharing in her Son's sufferings.

The first reading explained : Malachi prophesies in the first reading that the Lord is going to appear suddenly in the Temple of Jerusalem  to purify its priests and the people . The prophecy warns that nobody can endure the day of the messenger's coming because he will be like a refining fire, purifying the sons of Levi.  Led by the Spirit,  Simeon saw the Infant Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage .  Simeon, even if unknown to himself, foresaw Christ and His priests of the New Covenant who were ordained during the Last Supper. He saw Jesus as the Lord Who would come to the Temple,  "destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel."  In today's reading, Malachi prophesies that God will purify the lax, lazy and indifferent priests of His Temple as silver is purified by fire.  At the time of Malachi (around 460-450 BC), the priests were offering blemished (blind, lame) sacrifices and giving bad example (1:6-2:4).  The people were negligent in their support of the Temple (3:6-12). Israelite wives were being rejected by husbands who wished to marry foreign women (2:14-16). Social injustice was rampant (3:5), and the people doubted God’s love (1:2-5). Hence, Malachi reminds them that the Day of the Lord, a Day of Judgment, reward and retribution is coming. He describes the Divine intervention as a two-stage process. First God’s messenger will appear to prepare the way by purifying the clergy and refining the cult (v. 3). This purification will take place until they present offerings to the Lord in a spirit of justice and righteousness. Then, the Lord of Hosts will suddenly appear in the Temple (v. 1), to bring judgment and justice against unfaithful sinners (v. 5). The Psalm announces to Jerusalem that Jerusalem is about to receive a great visitor. The Psalmist identifies him as “The LORD of hosts … the king of glory.”

The second reading explained:  The second reading proclaims Jesus as our Eternal High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb 2:17), Who offered Himself on the altar of Calvary, the only pure priestly sacrifice that could please God. The  Didache  or the first catechism of the early Church (14:1-3), saw Malachi’s prophecy of a pure sacrifice and offering made from east to west as a prophecy of the sacrifice of the Eucharist.  Hence Malachi prophesies that the Lord will enter His Temple, there will be a renewed priesthood, and there will be a pure sacrifice offered worldwide and pleasing to God -- the Eucharist. Jesus became like us in all things except sin in order that He might offer to the Father perfect praise and glory.  Besides, since Jesus fully shared our experience, He is now a merciful and faithful High Priest on our behalf,  "able to help those who are being tested."   Jesus replaces the former priesthood. In keeping with the theme of today’s feast, namely, the presentation of the first fruits, this excerpt from Hebrews emphasizes Jesus’ dual role, as  first-fruits ,  par excellence , and as the  faithful High priest  Who presents the perfect gift of Himself to God for the expiation of human sin. By virtue of His Incarnation, Jesus became human in every way (vv. 17-18) except as regards sin. As representative of His brothers and sisters before God and as their Mediator, Christ perfected His service as both sacrifice and priest. By so doing, Christ was able to “rob the devil” of power (v. 14). As the first-fruits from the dead, as the conqueror of sin and death, Christ, in His person and through His mission, has set the course and cleared the way we are to follow; the decision to do so must be a daily and deliberate one.  It takes faith to see God's power at work in the death of Jesus.  Simeon hinted at this when he told Mary that she herself would be pierced with a sword.  Even knowing that her Son was the Savior of the world, it would be difficult for Mary to see him accomplish that salvation by being crucified.

Exegesis of today’s Gospel:  The birth of Christ was revealed by three kinds of witnesses in three different ways -- first, by the shepherds, after the angel's announcement; second, by the Magi, who were guided by a star; third, by Simeon and Anna, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel describes the Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple. It was intended to ritually redeem Jesus who was the first born in the family and where Mary herself will have to be ritually purified. Mary and Joseph was a typical pious Jewish couple, who went to the Temple in obedience to do all that was required and expected of them by the Law.The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus is a combined feast , commemorating the Jewish practice of the purification of the mother after childbirth and the presentation of the child in the Temple. It is known as the Hypapánte   feast or Feast of the Purification of Mary (by the offering two pigeons in the Temple), the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (by prayers and a sacrifice offered in the Temple to redeem or buy the firstborn male child back from the Lord), the Feast of Candlemas (because of its ancient rite of blessing of the candles to be used in the church for the next year — a practice dating from the middle of the fifth century) and the Feast of Encounter (because the New Testament, represented by the Baby Jesus, encountered the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna). Originally, there was no connection between today’s festival and the blessing of candles.    In the ancient East, this celebration occurred on February 14, forty days after Epiphany.   On February 15, pagans celebrated the festival of Lupercalia , a great “light” festival.    Perhaps this is an instance of the Church's “baptizing” a pagan custom.    At the principal Mass, the celebrant blesses candles, and people take part in a candlelight procession.    This should remind us that Jesus is our High Priest and the Light of the World.

Purification and redemption ceremonies : The Gospel describes how Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, presented Mary and the baby Jesus in the Temple of God for the mother’s purification and the child’s “redemption.” According to Leviticus 12:2-8, a woman who bore a child was unclean  for forty days following the birth of a son or eighty days following the birth of a daughter.   Although Mary, the most holy of women, ever-Virgin, was exempt from these precepts of the Law, because of her miraculous conception, she chose to submit herself to the Law just like any other Jewish mother. Joseph and Mary showed their total submission to Law and obey the norms prescribed by the Old Testament.  The custom was practiced probably for the physical and emotional re-integration of the new mother into the community. There was a religious reason as well. Exodus 13:2, 12-13 prescribes that every first-born male belongs to God and must be set apart for the Lord, that is, dedicated to the service of God.  However, once divine worship was reserved to the tribe of Levi, first-born who did not belong to that tribe were not dedicated to God's service, and to show that they continued to be God's special property, a rite of redemption was performed. The Law also commanded that the Israelites should offer in sacrifice some lesser victim -- for example, a lamb or, if they were poor, a pair of doves or two pigeons.  The Book of Numbers 18: 15 taught that since every Jewish firstborn male child belonged to Yahweh, the parents had to “buy back” (redeem), the child by offering a lamb or turtledoves as a sacrifice in the Temple. The price of redemption for a human baby is five shekels of silver (Num 18:15-16). Jesus never needed to be "bought back," as he belonged wholly to the Lord, but Joseph kept these laws as an act of obedience to God. 

The encounter with Simeon and Anna :   By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old, pious and Spirit-filled Simeon and Anna had been waiting in the Temple for the revelation of God’s salvation. The Greek Church celebrates the Hypapánte or Feast of the Encounter commemorating the encounter of the New Testament represented by Jesus with the Old Testament represented by Simeon and Anna. Simeon, who is described as a righteous and devout man, obedient to God's will, addresses himself to our Lord as a vassal or loyal servant who, having kept watch all his life in expectation of the coming of his Lord, sees that this moment has "now" come, the moment that explains his whole life.  When he takes the Child in his arms, he learns, not through any reasoning process but through a special grace from God, that this Child is the promised Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, the Light of the nations.  Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Lord’s anointed one, and in his prayer of blessing he prophesies that Jesus is meant to be the glory of Israel and the light of revelation to the Gentiles. Pope Francis: “Simeon took him in his arms and thanked God that he had finally “seen” salvation. Anna, despite her advanced age, found new vigor and began to speak to everyone about the Baby. It is a beautiful image: two young parents and two elderly people, brought together by Jesus. He is the one who brings together and unites generations! He is the inexhaustible font of that love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and sadness. In your journey as a family, you share so many beautiful moments: meals, rest, housework, leisure, prayer, trips and pilgrimages, and times of mutual support… Nevertheless, if there is no love then there is no joy, and authentic love comes to us from Jesus. He offers us his word, which illuminates our path; he gives us the Bread of life which sustains us on our journey.”

Simeon’s prophecy: Simeon's canticle (verses 29-32) is also a prophecy.  It consists of two stanzas: the first (verses 29-30) is his act of thanksgiving to God, filled with profound joy for having seen the Messiah.  The second (verses 31-32) is more obviously prophetic and extols the divine blessings which the Messiah is bringing to Israel and to all men.  The canticle highlights the fact that Christ brings redemption to all men without exception -- something foretold in many Old Testament prophecies (cf. Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 2:6; 42:6; 60:3; Psalm 28:2). While Simeon blessed Mary, he warned her that her child would be “ a sign of contradiction, ” and that she would be “ pierced with a sword.” Simeon was prophesying both the universal salvation that would be proclaimed by Jesus and the necessity of suffering in the mission of the Messiah. Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He would be a sign of contradiction because some people would obstinately reject Him -- and for this reason He would be their ruin.  But for those who would accept Him with faith, Jesus would be their salvation, freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph marveled, but not because they did not know who Christ was. They were in awe at the way God was revealing Him. 

The paradox of blessedness:  Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God.  That blessedness also would become a sword which would pierce her heart as her Son died upon the cross. The words Simeon addressed to Mary announced that she would be intimately linked with her Son's redemptive work.  The sword indicated that Mary would have a share in her Son's sufferings. Her suffering would be an unspeakable pain which would pierce her soul.  Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which forged the sword of Mary's pain.  Mary received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow.  But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises.  Jesus promised his disciples, "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22).  The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take way.  Do you know the joy of a life fully surrendered to God with faith and trust? According to Dr. Scot Hann, the feast we celebrate shows a curious turn of events. The Redeemer is redeemed. She who is all-pure presents herself to be purified. Such is the humility of our God. Such is the humility of the Blessed Virgin. They submit to the law even though they are not bound by it.

Anna’s encounter with the Lord and her testifying to the Messiah:  Anna was an eighty-four-year-old widow who spent her days in the Temple in fasting and prayer, waiting for the promised Messiah. She was rewarded with the joy of seeing her Redeemer as a Baby. In her excitement, she praised God and introduced the Infant to others around her as the expected Messiah. Supernatural hope grows with prayer and age!  Anna was pre-eminently a woman of great hope and expectation that God would fulfill all his promises. She is a model of godliness for all believers as we advance in age.  Advancing age and the disappointments of life can easily make us cynical and hopeless if we do not have our hope placed rightly. Anna's hope in God and His promises grew with age. She never ceased to worship God in faith and to pray with hope.  Her hope and faith in God's promises fueled her indomitable zeal and fervor in prayer and the service of God's people. We grow in hope by placing our trust in the promises of Jesus Christ and relying not on our own strength, but on the grace and help of the Holy Spirit. After completing the presentation and redemption of baby Jesus and the ritual purification of Mary and the meeting with Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary understood more fully their responsibility before God to protect the child as they return to Nazareth

Life messages : 1)  Every Holy Mass in which we participate is our presentation . Although we were officially presented to God on the day of our Baptism, we present ourselves and our dear ones on the altar before God our Father through our Savior Jesus Christ at every Holy Mass. Hence, we need to live our daily lives with the awareness both that we are dedicated people consecrated to God and that we are obliged to lead holy lives.

2) We need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to recognize the presence of Jesus in ourselves and in others: All those who, like Simeon and Anna, persevere in piety and in the service of God, no matter how insignificant their lives seem in men's eyes, become instruments the Holy Spirit uses to make Christ known to others. In His plan of redemption, God makes use of these simple souls to do much good for all mankind. In other words, The Holy Spirit employs ordinary men and women with simple faith as His instruments to bear witness to Christ, His ideals and teachings, just as He used Simeon and Anna.  The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the Lord to us when we are receptive and eager to receive Him.  Let us be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us to recognize the indwelling presence of the Lord with us and in others.  (Fr. Antony Kadavil)

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The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

"A Light of Revelation to the Gentiles"

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Known originally as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a relatively ancient celebration. The Church at Jerusalem observed the feast as early as the first half of the fourth century, and likely earlier. The feast celebrates the presentation of Christ in the temple at Jerusalem on the 40th day after His birth.

Quick Facts

• Date:  February 2
• Type of Feast:  Feast
• Readings:  Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40 ( full text here )
• Prayers:   Nunc  Dimities , the Canticle of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32); see below
• Other Names for the Feast:  Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, the Meeting of the Lord, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

History of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

According to Jewish law, the firstborn male child belonged to God, and the parents had to "buy him back" on the 40th day after his birth, by offering a sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons" ( Luke 2:24 ) in the temple (thus the "presentation" of the child). On that same day, the mother would be ritually purified (thus the "purification").

Saint Mary and Saint Joseph kept this law, even though, since Saint Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Christ, she would not have had to go through ritual purification. In his gospel, Luke recounts the story ( Luke 2:22-39 ).

When Christ was presented in the temple, "there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel" ( Luke 2:25 ) When Saint Mary and Saint Joseph brought Christ to the temple, Simeon embraced the Child and prayed the Canticle of Simeon:

Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel ( Luke 2:29-32 ).

The Original Date of the Presentation

Originally, the feast was celebrated on February 14, the 40th day after Epiphany (January 6), because Christmas wasn't yet celebrated as its own feast, and so the Nativity, Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany), and the feast celebrating Christ's first miracle at the wedding in Cana were all celebrated on the same day. By the last quarter of the fourth century, however, the Church at Rome had begun to celebrate the Nativity on December 25, so the Feast of the Presentation was moved to February 2, 40 days later.

Why Candlemas?

Inspired by the words of the Canticle of Simeon ("a light to the revelation of the Gentiles"), by the 11th century, the custom had developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation. The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung. Because of this, the feast also became known as Candlemas. While the procession and blessing of the candles is not often performed in the United States today, Candlemas is still an important feast in many European countries.

Candlemas and Groundhog Day

This emphasis on light, as well as the timing of the feast, falling as it does in the last weeks of winter, led to another, secular holiday celebrated in the United States on the same date: Groundhog Day. You can learn more about the connection between the religious holiday and the secular one in Why Did the Groundhog See His Shadow?

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33 Bible Verses about The Presentation Of Jesus

Titus 2:11 esv / 10 helpful votes helpful not helpful.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

Romans 11:36 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

John 1:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 10:30 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

I and the Father are one.”

John 1:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Luke 8:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Luke 2:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Romans 6:1-23 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ...

Acts 9:1-43 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ...

John 3:16-17 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Colossians 3:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Romans 5:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Acts 13:38 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

Acts 8:1-40 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ...

John 14:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 13:34 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

John 5:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Luke 2:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:1-52 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ...

Luke 1:36 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Mark 16:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Mark 10:45 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 1:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Matthew 17:1-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” ...

Matthew 13:55 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

John 8:58 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not Helpful

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Matthew 7:12 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not Helpful

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 2:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not Helpful

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not Helpful

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Exodus 3:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not Helpful

God said to Moses, “ I am who I am .” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘ I am has sent me to you.’”

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Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles , a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.

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Interpreting Scripture: A General Introduction

Other essays.

Interpreting Scripture is the process of personally discovering what God through his human authors intended the biblical text to mean and effect. Through exegesis and theology one assesses, synthesizes, and applies God’s inerrant Word.

This study clarifies why we must interpret Scripture, synthesizes what presuppositions should guide our interpretation, and offers a process for how to interpret. Scripture plays a foundational place in all of life, and Scripture itself stresses the need to faithfully interpret in order to stand unashamed before the Lord. Interpreting Scripture faithfully necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word, assumes that Scripture’s truths are knowable, requires that we respond appropriately, and demands that we engage in the task depending on God. The interpretive process is about personally discovering what God through his human authors intended the biblical text to mean and effect. It includes assessing, synthesizing, and applying God’s inerrant word by means of exegesis and theology––both the narrow activity of identifying and drawing out what God was actually saying through his human authors in specific passages and the broader activity of relating this message to God’s overarching purpose in redemption culminating in Christ, with specific application to our present situation. The move from exegesis to theology includes at least twelve interrelated steps: (1) genre, (2) literary units and text hierarchy, (3) text criticism, (4) translation, (5) clause and text grammar, (6) argument-tracing, (7) word and concept studies, (8, 9) historical and literary context, (10, 11, 12) biblical, systematic, and practical theology.

Why Must We Interpret Scripture?

Moses stressed that a right relationship with the Lord is only possible when one hears God’s Word in a way that leads to fearing and following him (Deut. 31:12–13; cf. 6:1–3; 17:19–20; John 6:44–45). The Bible, therefore, “is no empty word for you, but your very life” (Deut. 32:47)! Similarly, David highlighted that God’s words are perfect, sure, right, pure, true, righteous, desirable, and sweet and that these same words revive the soul, give wisdom, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, inspire fear, warn, and guide obedience unto great reward (Psa. 19:7–11). Only through an encounter with God’s pure, perfect, true, and abiding Word (Pss. 12:6; 119:96, 160) can people be

• Reborn in Christ and indwelt by the Spirit (Psa. 119:93; Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2; Jas. 1:18; 1Pet. 1:23);
• Empowered for holiness (Psa. 119:50; John 17:17; 2Tim. 3:17; 2Pet. 1:4),
• Sustained to glory (Deut. 8:3; Rom. 1:16; 2Tim. 3:15),
• Satisfied always (Pss. 1:2; 19:10; 1Pet. 2:3).

Man lives through “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4; cf. Deut. 8:3), so we must saturate our whole being with Scripture (Deut. 6:7; Josh. 1:7–8; Pss. 1:3; 78:5–8). We must seek its truths like silver (Prov. 2:4) and do so in a way that moves us to tremble in surrender and awe (Isa. 66:2).

God has given his Word to the simple and not just the scholar (Psa. 19:7; 119:130), and it is because of this that we are even to instruct children in its teachings (Deut. 6:6–7; Psa. 78:5–8; Eph. 6:4). Nevertheless, following the pattern of the priest-scribe Ezra, we must study the Word so that we can loyally do what it calls for and then teach it faithfully (Ezra 7:10). The Lord calls Christians to think maturely, which means yearning for the clear Word of God, rightly understanding what is good, and then being innocent to what is evil (1Cor. 14:20). Ignorant and unstable people are those who misappropriate God’s Word, but those who are knowledgeable and steady can rightly understand the Scriptures (2Pet. 3:16). Paul charged Timothy, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2Tim. 2:7). Biblical interpretation is not an option. Christians must rigorously think over God’s Book and do so in a way that looks to God for illumination––God’s Spirit guiding the human mind and altering the human heart so that the interpreter can grasp Scripture’s message (1Cor. 2:13–14). “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15). The biblical interpreter handles God’s Word without shame only when the Lord himself approves of the interpretation. We must, therefore, carefully interpret Scripture.

What Presuppositions Should Guide Our Interpreting Scripture?

At least four foundational presuppositions should guide our interpreting Scripture.

1. Biblical interpretation necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word.

The only way to truly arrive at what the biblical authors intended is to believe (as they did) that they were reading and writing God’s very Word (Isa. 8:20; 1Cor. 2:13; 14:37). This requires a submissive disposition to Scripture’s authority. We must be willing to let our understanding and application of truth be conformed to the Bible’s declarations, all in accordance with God’s revealed intention. The Bible is special revelation—God’s disclosure of himself and his will in a way that we can understand (1Cor. 14:37; 2Tim. 3:16; 2Pet. 1:20–21). The very words, and not just the ideas, are God-inspired (Matt. 5:17–18; 1Cor. 2:13; 2Tim. 3:16–17). And the “words of the Lord are pure” (Psa. 12:6); his “law is true” (Psa. 119:142); “every one of [his] righteous rules endures forever” (Psa. 119:160); and his “commandments are right” (Psa. 119:172). Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), and Paul said that this is so because “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2Tim. 3:16). Indeed, as Peter said, “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pet. 1:21).

These truths imply that Scripture is both authoritative and accurate in all it declares. In order to stress that the Bible’s assertions are both reliable and unerring, the church has historically stated that (a) in matters of faith (doctrine) and practice (ethics), Scripture’s teaching is infallible —a sure and safe guide, and that (b) in matters of fact (whether history, chronology, geography, or the like), Scripture’s claims are inerrant —entirely true and trustworthy. 1 Both terms mean something comparable but address different spheres, and both are rightly understood only in relation to what the authors, led by the Spirit, intended to convey by their texts. That is, submitting to Scripture’s authority means respecting the biblical authors’ intentions and the literary conventions under which they wrote. We must allow for partial reporting from different perspectives, paraphrasing, and summarizing and must not require the Bible to give definitive or exhaustive information on every topic (e.g., the failure of Chronicles to mention David’s sin with Bathsheba [2Sam. 11–12] or Solomon’s idolatry [1Kgs. 11]; the instigator of David’s census being Yahweh in 2Sam. 24:1 but Satan in 1Chr 21:1; the additional information that Manasseh repented from his deep wickedness in 2Chr. 33:10–19 [cf. 2Kgs. 21:10–18]). We must allow for phenomenological language, with which the authors describe a phenomenon as they observed it or experienced it, not necessarily how it scientifically occurred (e.g., Josh. 10:12–13; Matt. 5:45). And we must allow for the reporting of a speech without the endorsement of that speech’s truthfulness; a biblical character may truly say something that is not true (e.g., Exod. 1:17–21; Josh. 2:1–7; Acts 5:1–11). Scripture is the very Word of God, so as we interpret it we must trust it to never lead us astray and approach it as the highest influence in our lives.

2. Biblical interpretation assumes that Scripture’s truths are knowable.

Proper understanding of Scripture assumes that the Bible is, by nature, clear in what it teaches. In short, truth can be known. Peter recognized that “there are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand,” but he went on to say that it is “the ignorant and unstable” who “twist” these words “to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2Pet. 3:16). The psalmists were convinced that God’s Word enlightens our path and imparts understanding (Psa. 119:105, 130). Paul wrote his words plainly (2Cor. 1:13) and called others to “think over” what he said, trusting that “the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2Tim. 2:7).

The very nature of God’s Word demands that its message can be understood in any culture and in any age. Historically, the church has called this the doctrine of Scripture’s perspicuity or clarity. The Bible is sufficiently clear, but not everything in it is equally clear. It is sufficiently clear to allow us to grasp the portrait of God’s supremacy and his overarching kingdom purposes climaxing in the saving work of Jesus, but some other elements in Scripture are less lucid. Wayne Grudem has helpfully noted that the Bible itself testifies that we can understand it, but: 2

• Not all at once;
• Not without effort;
• Not without ordinary means;
• Not without the reader’s willingness to obey it;
• Not without the help of the Holy Spirit;
• Not without human misunderstanding;
• Never completely.

These things stated, we must interpret Scripture convinced that what God intends for us to know we can know.

3. Biblical interpretation requires that we respond appropriately.

We as biblical interpreters are not finished with our task once we discover what God has spoken. We must then move on to recognize that his Word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2Tim. 3:16). We must grasp not only the biblical author’s intended meaning (which is possible for nonbelievers) but also his intended effect (which is possible only for believers, Rom. 8:7–8; 1Cor. 2:14). To rightly grasp God’s truth bound up in his Book, we must employ the necessary habits of heart and mind captured in the order of Ezra resolve: “Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). To study means observing carefully, understanding rightly, and evaluating fairly; to do includes feeling appropriately and applying wisely; to teach involves expressing articulately, faithfully, and boldly. 3 These are the necessary habits of the heart and mind needed for rightly grasping truth in God’s Book. Biblical interpretation demands that we respond to Scripture appropriately.

4. Biblical interpretation that culminates in application demands God-dependence.

The process of moving from study to practice is something that only God can enable, and he does so only through Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul writes, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” By “understand” here, Paul means “embrace, affirm, align with, delight in, apply.” Only in Christ is the veil of hardness toward God’s Word taken away (2Cor. 3:14), but in Christ, the Word becomes near us, in our mouth and in our heart (Rom. 10:8). The biblical authors’ ultimate intent included a transformed life, the foundation of which is a personal encounter with the living God. We will not experience this apart from the Lord’s help.

Putting the Bible under a microscope (careful study) should always result in finding ourselves under its microscope, as Scripture changes us more into Christ’s likeness. We engage in exegesis and theology in order to encounter God. We approach humbly and dependently and never with manipulation or force. Biblical interpretation should create servants, not kings.

What Is a Process for Interpreting Scripture?

The English term exegesis is a transliteration of the Greek noun exēgēsis ( ek “from, out of” + agō “to bring, move [something]”), meaning an “account, description, narration.” Narrowly defined, exegesis of Scripture is the interpretive activity of identifying or drawing out what God was actually saying through his human authors in specific passages within specific books. Texts convey meaning; they do not produce it. Following God’s leading, the biblical authors purposely wrote the words they did with specific sense and purpose. “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pet. 1:21). We have to carefully read what the Lord through his human servants gives us in Scripture. In exegesis we discover what is there, which includes both the specific meaning that the authors convey and its implications—those inferences in a text of which the authors may or may not have been aware but that legitimately fall within the principle or pattern of meaning that they willed.

The English term theology comes from the Latin theologia , which derives from a combination of the Greek nouns theos (“God”) and logos (“a formal accounting, reckoning”). In short, theology is a “study of God.” Because Scripture is God’s Word for all time and because every biblical passage has a broader context (historical, literary, and biblical), exegesis (narrowly defined) naturally and necessarily moves us into various theological disciplines:

• Biblical theology considers how God’s Word progresses, integrates, and climaxes in Christ.
• Systematic theology examines what the Bible teaches about certain theological topics.
• Practical theology details the proper Christian response to the Bible’s truths.

Biblical interpreters do not stop until they consider every passage in light of all God’s special revelation. Then they must apply the passage through lives of worship. Exegesis moves to theology, and the whole process is to result in a personal encounter with the living God disclosed in Scripture. Doxology—the practice of glorifying or praising God—should color all biblical study. (For more, see Naselli’s “Theological Method.”)

There are at least twelve steps in the move from exegesis to theology and from personal study to practice and then instruction. While one can discuss the various stages independently, the interpretive process is more like a spiral by which we continually revisit various interpretive questions en route to biblical faithfulness. For ease of recollection, I have tagged the whole process TOCMA , which stands for Text, Observation, Context, Meaning, and Application. Each of the twelve steps falls within one of these overarching categories, the first nine covering exegesis and the last three theology.

T EXT—“What is the makeup of the passage?”

1. Genre: Determine the literary form, subject matter, and function of the passage, compare it to similar genres, and consider the implications for interpretation.

2. Literary units and text hierarchy: Determine the limits and basic structure of the passage.

3. Text criticism: Establish the passage’s original wording.

4. Translation: Translate the text and compare other translations.

O BSERVATION—“How is the passage communicated?”

5. Clause and text grammar: Assess the makeup and relationship of words, phrases, clauses, and larger text units.

6. Argument-tracing: Finish tracing the literary argument and create a message-driven outline that is tied to the passage’s main point.

7. Word and concept studies: Clarify the meaning of key words, phrases, and concepts.

C ONTEXT—“Where does the passage fit?”

8. Historical context: Understand the historical situation from which the author composed the text and identify any historical details that the author mentions or assumes.

9. Literary context: Comprehend the role that the passage plays in the whole book.

M EANING—“What does the passage mean?” 

10. Biblical theology: Consider how your passage connects to the Bible’s overall flow and message and points to Christ.

11. Systematic theology: Discern how your passage theologically coheres with the whole Bible, assessing key doctrines especially in direct relation to the gospel.

A PPLICATION—“Why does the passage matter?”

12. Practical theology: Apply the text to yourself, the church, and the world, stressing the centrality of Christ and the hope of the gospel.

To faithfully interpret Scripture requires asking the right questions. In exegesis, we are asking the biblical author, “What are you saying?” (the grammar, text-criticism, and translation question), and, “Why do you say it like that?” (the genre, structure, argument, and historical and literary context question). In theology we are asking, “What do you mean?” (the biblical and systematic theology question), and “What is the significance of this passage for us today? (the practical theology question). May your journey of interpreting Scripture lead you to discover beautiful truths and encounter the living God in the face of Christ. May you increasingly study, practice, and teach God’s Word with care and faithfulness for the glory of God and the good of his church.

Further Reading

• Carson, D. A. “Approaching the Bible.” Pages 1–19 in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994.
• Carson, D. A. Exegetical Fallacies. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996.
• Carson, D. A. ed. The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.
• DeRouchie, Jason S. “The Profit of Employing the Biblical Languages: Scriptural and Historical Reflections.”  Them 37 (2012): 32–50.
• Dockery, David S., Kenneth A. Mathews, and Robert B. Sloan, eds. Foundations for Biblical Interpretation: A Complete Library of Tools and Resources. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.
• Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
• Goldsworthy, Graeme. Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.
• Grudem, Wayne A., C. John Collins, and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible: A Guide to Reading the Bible Well. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012.
• Guthrie, George H. Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understand and Living God’s Word. Nasville: Broadman & Holman, 2011.
• Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1981.
• Kaiser Jr., Walter C., and Moisés Silva. Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.
• Köstenberger, Andreas J., and Richard D. Patterson. Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011.
• Köstenberger, Andreas J., and Richard D. Patterson. For the Love of God’s Word: An Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015.
• McCartney, Dan, and Charles Clayton. Let the Reader Understand: A Guide to Interpreting and Applying the Bible . 2nd ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2002.
• McKnight, Scot, ed. Introducing New Testament Interpretation . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989.
• Naselli, Andrew David. “D. A. Carson’s Theological Method.” SBET 29 (2011): 245–74. Osborne, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006.
• Piper, John. Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.
• Plummer, Robert L. 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010.
• Poythress, Vern S. Reading the Word of God in the Presence of God: A Handbook for Biblical Interpretation. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.
• Soulen, Richard N., and R. Kendall Soulen. Handbook of Biblical Criticism. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011.

Testament Specific

• Beale, G. K. Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation . Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.
• Chisholm Jr., Robert B. From Exegesis to Exposition: A Practical Guide to Using Biblical Hebrew. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999.
• DeRouchie, Jason S. How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017. [Some of the present essay is adapted from this book.]
• Fee, Gordon D. New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors . 3rd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002.
• Naselli, Andrew David. How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology . Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017.
• Stuart, Douglas. Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.

Corpus Specific

• Bateman, Herbert W., IV. Interpreting the General Letters: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for New Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013.
• Burge, Gary M. Interpreting the Gospel of John . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 3. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992.
• Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006.
• Futato, Mark D. Interpreting the Psalms: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007.
• Harvey, John D. Interpreting the Pauline Letters: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for New Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2012.
• Liefeld, Walter L. Interpreting the Book of Acts . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 4. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995.
• McKnight, Scot. Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 2. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1988.
• Michaels, J. Ramsey. Interpreting the Book of Revelation . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 7. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992.
• Schreiner, Thomas R. Interpreting the Pauline Epistles . 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.
• Smith, Gary V. Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014.
• Taylor, Richard A. Interpreting Apocalyptic Literature: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2016.
• Trotter, Andrew H., Jr. Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews . Guides to New Testament Exegesis 6. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997.
• Vogt, Peter T. Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook . Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009.

This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. All views expressed in this essay are those of the author. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material.

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You are here, recent articles, from the series: core faith: understanding the essentials of the christian life previous page | next page, lesson 6: principles of biblical interpretation.

As a Protestant I cherish the NT teaching on the priesthood of believers—that each Christian has the right to his own interpretation, but also that each Christian has the responsibility to get it right. ―Daniel Wallace

Introduction

When it comes to making claims about what the Bible means, sometimes we hear comments from Christians or non-Christians like the following: “Well, that’s just your interpretation.” “The Bible can be made to say anything you want.” “You can’t really understand the Bible. It is full of contradictions.” “No one can understand the true meaning of anything anyone says.” Or, someone sitting in a Bible study might say, “This is what the Bible means to me.” All of these types of comments are about principles of biblical interpretation also called in theological jargon hermeneutics. Welcome to our postmodern world. Pilate’s question lives on: “What is truth? (John 18:38).”

Some issues that we as Christians face regarding the topic of biblical interpretation include: How does divine inspiration and human authorship affect biblical interpretation? What does a text mean? What are some general principles of interpretation? How do we interpret the Old Testament? How do we interpret the New Testament? These are all critical questions for us to consider as we seek to become better interpreters of God’s word, the Bible.

What Does a Text Mean?

The last lesson looked at the topic of inspiration and found that the Bible is both a human book and a divine book. There are certain implications of this for biblical interpretation. The first is that the human authors had a specific historical audience, context and purpose. These authors used their own language, writing methods, style of writing and literary form of writing. The divine authorship of the Bible gives it its unity and the ultimate source of all interpretation is from God. In the book of Genesis Joseph was asked about the meaning of some divinely given dreams and he replied, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? (Gen 40:8).

So let’s just start with the most basic question. What does a text mean? The answer to this question is that a text means what the author intended it to mean . If there is only one thing you learn from this lesson this is it. For a simple example, if you wrote a letter with some statements in it that are a little ambiguous, then what does the letter mean? Does it mean what you intended it to mean or how the readers interpret it? Of course it means what you intended it to mean. The true meaning of a text resides in the authorial intent of the text. This leads us to the first primary and fundamental principle of interpreting the Bible.

General Principles of Biblical Interpretation

Principle 1: Interpretation must be based on the author’s intention of meaning and not the reader. This means we must get into the author’s context, historically, grammatically, culturally and the literary forms and conventions the author was working in. To be able to do this some good Bible study tools are needed since we are 2000 years or more removed from the biblical authors and their context is very different than ours. The first tool that any one should get is a good study Bible with notes that explain historical and cultural background information. Most major Bible translations come in editions with these types of notes but by far the NET Bible with its over 60,000 notes surpasses them all. Get the most extensive Study Bible that goes with the translation you use. After this, good evangelical commentaries are essential tools to study the Bible but make sure to look at a couple to get a variety of perspectives. When someone in a Bible study states what the verse means to him, we need to redirect and clarify that the meaning is what the author intended. After that the question then is how that historical meaning applies to us today. The second principle of biblical interpretation should also be considered foundational.

Principle 2: Interpretations must be done in the context of the passage. What does the following mean? “It was a ball.” Well, the answer depends on the context. Consider the following sentences: The baseball umpire saw the pitch drift to the outside and said, “it was a ball.” We went to the dance last night, in fact it was so formal “it was a ball.” As I was walking along the golf course I spotted something small and white in the tall grass, “it was a ball.” I had so much fun at the game night, “it was a ball.” In each case the word ball means something different. Therefore, context determines meaning ! The nearest context must be given the most weight in interpretation. First, there is the near context of the sentence, then the paragraph, then the section and then the book and even author. The interpreter should look at all these circles of context to be able to correctly assess the meaning.

Far too often people try to interpret a verse by itself in isolation without looking at the context itself. For example, consider the verse Revelation 3:20 which is sometimes used as an illustration for evangelism. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me (Rev 3:20; NASB) . 1 If this is all you looked at, it would be easy to understand the verse in terms of someone asking Jesus into his or her life for the first time. But the context in the preceding verse (v. 19) is talking about discipline of those whom Jesus loves, which would most naturally refer to believers. Also, in looking at the larger paragraph the passage is to a church (Rev 3:14, 22). The verse is really addressed to believers who need to repent from their sin and return to fellowship with God.

Principle 3: Interpret the Bible literally ( or normally ) allowing for normal use of figurative language. Take the plain meaning of the text at face value. When the literal does not make sense you probably have a figure of speech. For example, Isaiah 55:12 states the trees of the field will clap their hands. Since trees do not have hands or clap this must be a figure of speech. Look for words such as “like” or “as” which can also communicate a figure of speech. Figures of speech and illustrations give the Bible a powerful and colorful means of expression. They are an important part of the normal expression of language.

Principle 4: Use the Bible to help interpret itself. Interpret difficult passages with clear ones. This is sometimes called the law of non-contradiction. Because the Bible is God’s word, and God is true, the Bible will not contradict itself. For example, there are clear passages that teach the doctrine of eternal security, that once a person is truly saved he or she cannot lose salvation (John 5; Rom 8). Some passages in the Bible are very hard to interpret like Hebrews 6:4-6. 2 So I would let the overall and clear theology of the Bible influence me that a very hard passage like Hebrews 6 is not teaching that someone can lose his salvation. Also, use the New Testament to help interpret the Old Testament. This recognizes the progressive nature of revelation, that is the Bible is giving more revelation on topics over time. But one must start by interpreting the Old Testament text in its context before a New Testament consideration is made.

Principle 5: Interpretation must be distinguished from application. While there is one interpretation that is historical, there are many applications that can be carried over to our modern context. Build an application bridge from the interpretation to the timeless principle and then to the application now. For example in John 12, Mary anoints Jesus with very expensive oil. The historical context records a historical event. The interpretation relates only to what Mary did to Jesus. What about us today? An application might be that we are willing to give sacrificially for the Lord’s work and give Jesus acts of worship as Mary did. Or when Jesus states the principle in Matt 7 to love one’s enemies it is a general command that I might apply specifically by loving a worker who undermines me or a neighbor who offends me.

Principle 6: Be sensi tive to distinctions between Israel and the church and Old Covenant and New Covenant eras/requirements. Promises made to Israel in the Old Testament cannot automatically be transferred to the church in which we are a part. For example, the land promises were given to Abraham and his descendants (Gen 12:7) but that does not include me, a Gentile Christian. Christians are not under the requirements of the Mosaic law (Rom 6:14). For example, in Lev 19:19 there is a command “you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.” This was a binding command under the Mosaic law but not under the terms of the New Covenant. It is true that certain Old Testament commands repeated in the New Testament are still binding, but this is made clear by their repetition in the New Testament. The church was formed in Acts 2 with the descent of the Holy Spirit and most direct statements to and about the church occur after that. Also, there is a future for national Israel (cf. Rom 11) in which many Old Testament promises will yet be fulfilled and certain practices of the church age will come to an end at the second coming of Jesus (such as the Lord’s supper 1 Cor 11:26).

Principle 7: Be sensitive to the type of literature you are in. The Bible contains many different types of literature: law, narrative, wisdom, poetry, gospel, parable, epistle, and apocalyptic. Each of these types of literature has specific features that must be considered when interpreting a text. Some of these will be examined in the next section. For now we need to understand that where we are in the Bible makes a big difference on how we interpret and apply it.

Interpreting the Old Testament

Narrative Literature: Much of the Old Testament contains narrative literature. First, the passage needs to be interpreted in its historical context and then applications can be drawn from the characters and events. In the book of Judges, only one verse is given to the judge Shamgar. It reads, “After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath; he killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad 3 and he too delivered Israel” (Judges 3:31). Why did God include this passage? Yes, it records an historical event. Also, the verse teaches God’s delivering power can come in an unexpected way, not with a mighty army but with one man wielding an oxgoad.

Law: Realize that Christians are not under the law as a legal system (Rom 6:14) but that we are to fulfill the principles that stand behind the law of loving God and loving one’s neighbor (cf. Matt 22:37-40)? Sometimes the teaching is carried directly into the New Testament (e.g., Do not murder, etc). Other times, the New Testament takes a text and applies a principle from it. For example, “You must not muzzle your ox when it is treading grain” (Deut 25:4). Paul takes this verse, which refers to feeding a work animal and applies the principle of the Christian worker being worthy of tangible support. Paul states, “Elders who provide effective leadership must be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard in speaking and teaching. For the scripture says, ‘ Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain ,’ and, ‘The worker deserves his pay’” (1 Tim 5:17-18, cf. 1 Cor 9:9). In general, if the Old Testament command in the law is not repeated in the New Testament, look for the principle behind the statement in the law and then try to apply that.

Wisdom Literature: Realize that much of the proverbial type of wisdom in the Old Testament is general truth based on observations but not absolute truths or promises. Two good examples are seen in the following: “A gentle response turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath” (Prov 15:1). Another one is, “Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Prov 22:6). Christians should not take these types of proverbial statements as promises of what will always happen but rather patterns that are generally true outcomes based on observation. A gentle answer will not always prevent an angry outburst but it is much more likely to than a harsh one. Christian parents who have a child who has gone astray from the faith may have done their best to train the child the right way but the child did not take it.

Poetry: Realize that poetry often has a greater use of figurate language than narrative or law. Also, Hebrew poetry’s main characteristic is parallelism. For example, Psalm 24 says, “The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it. For he set its foundation upon the seas, and established it upon the ocean currents. Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?” (Ps 24:1-3). Here we have three sets of pairs in side by side fashion with the second reference restating the basic idea of the first. The phrase “the earth and all it contains” is amplified by the phrase “the world and all who live in it”. The phrase “he sets its foundation upon the seas” is rephrased “established it upon the ocean currents.” The question of who is allowed to ascend to the mountain of the Lord is restated “Who may go up to his Holy Dwelling place?” Most English Bible translations will format poetry using indentation, which helps show the parallel ideas.

Interpreting the New Testament

Gospels: Understand that each writer has a specific audience for whom he is writing, and that he has selected his material for them. Matthew was written for a Jewish audience. Mark was written for a Roman audience. Luke was written for a Greek audience. John was written for a universal or Gentile audience. This can help us see nuances or explain differences between accounts. For example, in Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-12 Jesus teaches on the hard topic of divorce. Both gospels state that a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. Mark alone though adds the point that if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery against him. Why is this difference there? It probably has to do with the audience. Matthew is writing to a Jewish culture in which a woman could not divorce her husband while Mark is writing to a Roman audience in which one could.

Read the gospels not only verticall y, that is, understanding what is said in each individual account, but also horizontally , that is, considering why one account follows another. For example, see Mark 2-3:6; what do these various accounts have in common? One can notice that they are all different stories that relate to the conflict that Jesus had with the Jewish leadership. Mark 3:6 reads, “So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians as to how they could assassinate him.” The stories are grouped in a way that gives an explanation as to why Jesus was rejected as strongly as he was.

Lastly, recognize that the gospels are in a transitional stage between Old and New Covenants. Jesus lived in the context of Judaism prior to the birth of the church. For example, Jesus is keeping the Old Testament prescribed feasts in many of his journeys to Jerusalem. Also, he is introducing changes that will be inaugurated with the start of the New Covenant. For example, in Mark 7 Jesus declared all foods clean which was a change from the Old Testament dietary laws. 4

Parables. 5 Parables are a form of figurative speech. They are stories that are used to illustrate a truth. There are parables in different parts of the Bible but Jesus was the master of them and many are found in the gospels (e.g., Matt 13, Mark 4, Luke 15). How then should we interpret the parables? First, determine the context that prompted the parable. Parables always arise out of a context. For example the Pharisees disdain for Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners prompts Jesus to tell a parable about how God loves a lost sinner who repents (Luke 15). Second , understand the story’s natural meaning which is often taken from real life situations in first century Palestine . Third , ascertain the main point or truth the parable is trying to give and focus on this . Only interpret the details of the parables if they can be validated from the passage. Many details are there only for the setting of the story. For example, what is the main point of the mustard seed parable? Jesus stated: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches” (Matt 13:31-32). The parable is an illustration of the kingdom of heaven which starts small but grows to be very large in size. This seems to be the main point. The birds and the branches are probably there only to illustrate how large the tree has become.

Acts. Recognize that Acts is a theologized history of the early church. Acts tells what the church was doing from the human side of things and what God was doing from the divine side of things. For example, consider these passages on the early growth of the church which refer to the same event but from two different perspectives. “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added”. . . . (Acts 2:41) “And the Lord was adding to their number everyday   those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Here we see what God is doing in and through the church. Also, we need to recognize that the church starts in Acts 2 with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, church planting and gospel outreach characterize the events of the book. In addition, some events in Acts are descriptive of what happened not proscriptive of what is necessarily expected in the modern church. For example, Samaritan believers did not receive the Holy Spirit in Acts 8 upon faith in Jesus. They had to wait for Peter and John to get there. When Paul was bitten by a viper in Malta, yet he miraculously lived (Acts 28:1-5). These are descriptions of what happened and are not necessarily normative of what happens in the church today. So it probably would not be a good idea to start snake handling services!

The book of Acts is also a book of transitions. First there are key transitions in biography. This is especially true as the book focuses more on the ministry of Peter in the first portions of the book then shifts to Paul. There is also a transition in ministry focus from the Jews to the Samaritans and to the Gentiles. Lastly there is a geographical transition starting in Jerusalem taking the gospel outward into Samaria, Asia Minor, Europe and eventually Rome. In Acts 1:8 Luke gives us a rough outline of the progression emphasizing the progress of the gospel. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth."

Epistles. Since the New Testament epistles are directed to churches and individuals in the church, they most directly apply to us today. Most commands given in the epistles are general enough in nature that we need to obey them, or in the case of promises we can claim them. For example in 1 Corinthians 15 there is a promise given for immortal bodies and eventual victory over death. These promises are not just for those in the local Corinthian church but the universal church of God.

In the epistles, pay special attention to logical connectors/conjunctions to explore relationships of clauses and sentences. Look for these types of words: “for, “therefore,” “but,” etc. For example Hebrews 12:1 reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us.” The word therefore points back to the previous chapter in which Old Testament saints were held up as people who had given a good testimony or witness of faith. The phrase “cloud of witnesses” then would naturally refer back to the people of the preceding chapter. In another example the author of Hebrews writes, “So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. For our God is indeed a devouring fire” (Heb 12:28-29). Here the word f or sets up a subordinate idea giving the reason we as Christians should offer worship in devotion and awe to God.

Revelation. Revelation is the one book in the New Testament that is one of the hardest to interpret. There are several reasons for this. First, there are substantially different interpretative approaches on the overall timing of the book. Some see most of it as purely historical. Some see most of it as yet future. Second, there are many Old Testament allusions in Revelation. Allusions are phrases and references to the Old Testament without an explicit statement by John that he is quoting the Old Testament. So when John refers to the Old Testament he generally does not tell you he is doing so. Third, there is a greater use of symbolic language in Revelation than in other parts of the Bible. Revelation is in a form of literature known as apocalyptic. 6

How can one get started? First, the book of Revelation promises a blessing to the one who reads it (Rev 1:3). So we should read it even if we do not completely understand everything. The basic thrust of Revelation’s message is clear. Jesus is coming again and will defeat the forces of evil. We can be assured of this. Other interpretative helps that can be given would be to interpret the seven churches as seven historical churches in existence in the first century A.D (Rev 2-3). Interpret chapter 4 onward as primarily future events from our perspective (Rev 1:18-19). 7 Follow a generally chronological view of the book from chapter 4 sequencing the bowls, trumpets and seals, second coming of Jesus, millennial kingdom and eternal state. Use a study Bible with a good set of notes to help frame common interpretations and Old Testament backgrounds. Lastly, become a student of the book and keep working at it.

Conclusion and Summary

Biblical passages must be interpreted according to the intention of the author and in the context in which the statement is made. Interpretation must be distinguished from application. One must be sensitive to what type of literature one is in and how this may or may not apply to a believer in the church age. Interpreting the Bible is sometimes hard work but it’s always worth the cost. David reminds us of the value of God’s word, “They are of greater value than gold, than even a great amount of pure gold; they bring greater delight than honey, than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb” (Ps 19:10).

Discussion Questions

• What types of interpretations have you heard where you questioned the method of interpretation?
• What would happen to interpretation if the church used reader centered interpretations as opposed to an author centered interpretations?
• How does the Holy Spirit help us in interpreting the Bible (1 Cor 2)?
• If the Holy Spirit is guiding us in interpretation why do godly Christians have differing interpretations on various passages?
• What is our relationship, if any, to the Old Testament Commandments/Law?
• Why are only 9 of the 10 commandments repeated in the New Testament? The Sabbath command is the one of the ten commandments that is not there.
• How does the distinction between the church and Israel affect application of the Old Testament?
• How do you know if something is symbolic or not?

1 The NET Bible gives a translation rendering that helps to alleviate this confusion. “ Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).

2 “ For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt (Heb 6:4-6 NET).

3 An oxgoad is simply a long stick with a pointed end that was used to prod animals into walking.

4 He [Jesus] said to them, "Are you so foolish? Don't you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer." (This means all foods are clean.)(Mark 7:18-19 NET).

5 Adapted from Roy Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation (Colorado Springs: Victor, 1991) 194-226.

6 A scholarly definition of Apocalyptic: “a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another supernatural world” J.J. Collins “Apocalypse: The Morphology of a Genre,” Semeia 14 (1979), 9. Revelation focuses on the future and spiritual world to a much greater degree than other portions of the New Testament and it is communicated in visions and symbolic language.

7 Revelation 1:19 gives a basic chronological outline of the book. “Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things” (Rev 1:19 NET). (past: what you saw (Chapter 1:9-20); present: what is (Chapters 2-3); and future: what will take place after these things (Chapters 4-22:5).

Methods of Sermon Presentation

Preaching - lesson 21.

In this lesson, you explore different methods of sermon presentation, understanding their advantages and disadvantages, and learning how to choose the most effective method for a particular context. By examining expository, topical, and narrative preaching, you gain insight into various ways to engage your congregation and present the biblical message with clarity and conviction. Additionally, the lesson offers practical tips on how to develop and enhance your preaching skills, such as using illustrations and applications, as well as demonstrating passion and authenticity.

I. Introduction to Sermon Presentation Methods

A. Importance of Effective Presentation

B. Goals of Sermon Presentation

II. Different Sermon Presentation Methods

A. Expository Preaching

1. Definition

2. Advantages and Disadvantages

B. Topical Preaching

C. Narrative Preaching

III. Choosing the Right Presentation Method

A. Contextual Factors

B. Congregation's Needs

C. Personal Style and Strengths

IV. Tips for Effective Sermon Presentation

A. Clarity and Organization

B. Illustrations and Applications

C. Passion and Authenticity

Dr. Bryan Chapell Preaching PR600-21 Methods of Sermon Presentation Lesson Transcript

[00:00:00] This recording is provided courtesy of Covenant Theological Seminary. 17. What we want to do is look at the options a preacher has in preparing the materials necessary to preach a sermon. So here's the basic thing. We talk about introductions, conclusions, propositions. You know, lots of things We've talked about what you actually take into the pulpit to work with and how do you present it. So before we talk about delivery aspects, which you'll be getting into, let's just talk about what a preacher's take with him into the pulpit and how they typically organize it. As you think of types of presentation, Broader says, you know, there's three basic ways that preachers present messages and that's going to affect a little bit how we prepare, what we're going to take up. Okay, so how I present it, it's going to affect what I prepare to take with me. If you think of three major presentations, it can be reading, reciting or temporizing. I mean, those are the basic options. I can simply read a message, memorize it and recited. Or some form of temporizing. I have something in my brain and I, but I am still spontaneously speaking as I go. Tell me, guys, this generation, which is which is most accepted reading recitation or temporizing, No question, except rising reading. The people will not work in this generation. Now, if you can naturally recite, that will work. But if it sounds like you're reading off a teleprompter, even while you're reciting people, you know, people will not listen. It will sound so canned. It's not the generation that will listen to that kind of thing. So typically there is some form of temporizing that we will use. Louis Paul Lehman gives a more exhaustive list of how both what we present and how we prepare affects things.

[00:01:58] And he talks about it in terms of different types of prepared messages. So we're going to talk about different types of prepared messages. First are manuscripts, sermons, manuscripts, sermons. A sermon could be read. Most famous preacher in history for reading sermons is a Who is it? Jonathan Edwards. Do not forget, he stopped reading after a while. Even in his generation, it didn't keep working. Okay, so read. But then stop doing it because he recognized it did not connect even with his own people. But manuscript sermons could be read or memorized. There are people who have the ability now, the photographic memories. One is very close to us. That's Dr. Benton over at Kirkconnell's. I mean, if you listen to the message in the first service, the second service that you'll find is basically word for word. And he's not reading it, you know. So, I mean, there are people with exceptional abilities, but that's not most of us who are able to memorize, which means a third use of manuscript sermons is that they might be converted to outlines. And raised in the pulpit. So the manuscript is used to get you very ready, and then you convert it to an outline and then extend rise in the pulpit off the outline, which, by the way, is what we're going to do for two semesters. Okay. We're going to prepare manuscripts, convert them to outlines and preach from the outline. So the manuscript ensures preparation. The outline hopefully is ensuring eye contact and spontaneity. B outlines sermons, basically two forms of outline sermons. First called extended outlines. Extended outlines. I would say this is what most preachers I know use. They preach an extended outline, 2 to 4 pages of outline material that they taken to the pulpit, 2 to 4 pages usually, and a speak off of that.

[00:03:54] TOS is a barebones outline and that is where usually a lot has been practiced. And so the preacher doesn't even want the the outline itself to rob him of eye contact. And so what he does is he creates something just as props, just things to prompt his memory and and use that here's a here's a barebones outline that I use once upon a time. And, you know, my my goal I can't get all there at once. My goal is just to say, if I forget, it's my safety blanket, right? It's my security blanket. I just I just want something to prompt my thinking. But I don't want to be looking at this a lot. And so I've got something that just kind of gets me going. And some of you've heard me preach in different settings. But bare bones outline is what I typically will take into the pulpit. I am I don't often look at it, but I always, you know, have that little security. If I need it, I can refer to it. So it's something that has a consistent visual markers. I usually use Roman numerals for major main points. I usually use Arabic numerals for some points. I almost always will circle an illustration, and I almost always use this little conclusion for application. I don't know why. I just did it years ago and I still do it. And it becomes something that's a consistent visual marker for me. So my looks on the page, I automatically know what I'm looking at. You see here in this main point, the the illustrations in a different place here, the illustration came at the end of the main point. In this particular main point, the illustration came before the sub points. So I was moving where the illustration lay.

[00:05:40] But again, I use that circle because just in my habit over the years I just use circles to indicate that's an illustration to distinguish it for my eye picking up main points. Michael Does it mean in? That's a good question. If you have extended outlines or bare bones outlines, does that mean that they have never existed in manuscript form? And the answer is no, it does not mean. So this is what you take into the pulpit. But you may very well have had a manuscript outline that you converted to an extended outline or that you converted to a bare bones outline or what we're going to talk about just a little bit, which is where you're going. It's a truly extemporaneous sermon, which means it was never in manuscript form. So if if if I thought some of you are experienced preachers, here's what I think most preachers do. I think they prepare extended outlines and practice the extended outline so that the pulpit is not the first place that you're ever verbalizing what the extended outline says. Most preachers I know prepare an extended outline and at least practice portions of it before standing in the pulpit. Many preachers I know do the extended outline, practice it, and then convert to the bare bones outline, and that's what they'll take into the pulpit. So my own practice is this may just tell you all, you may never want to do this, but it's what I find I have to do. I go from exegetical outline to extensive Hummel article outline to full manuscript to bare bones outline. That's what I do. Just personally, I use the extended outline to prepare a manuscript. Prepare the manuscript. But then I do not want to take a manuscript into the pulpit, with rare exceptions.

[00:07:24] And then I preach from a bare bones outline. It's what I typically do. And I'll talk to you more about why some of those things in just a bit. Let's get the other alternative in front of us. Beyond the outline sermons, there are what Lewis Paul Laymen calls unwritten sermons. We might call them extemporaneous, unwritten sermons. And under unwritten sermons, he has two forms what he calls mental outlines. That is, you still, while you may never put pencil in the paper, you still put an outline in your brain. Okay, You are working it out. These are in the great sermons I think, about when I'm jogging, you know, and then I forget by the time I get back there. But these mental outlines, sermons, you know, are ones that you've still thought through or what he calls true impromptu, which means it's spur of the moment and you're just going and maybe it's you know, maybe it just is following the flow of the text, but it has just the the spontaneity of the moment. Now, before we talk about the strengths and weaknesses of these, I'm going to talk about just a couple of modern variations. And that's the there's some modern variations for you to think about. One is called putting the outline in the manuscript. So outline in the manuscript. If you look at the sermon that's at the back of your syllabus, in essence with all those Roman numerals and boldface things and so forth, what's happening? It's making the outline jump out of the manuscript. So full manuscript there. But the outline is kind of keyed into the message, and there's lots of ways that people do that. They'll do it with bold pacing, they'll do it with different sized fonts.

[00:09:06] They'll simply write things out and, you know, do with margin differences or even take their highlighters out and highlight key things. So that's a form of writing the manuscript, but making your outline visible within the manuscript. Another thing that's a product of the media age in which we live now is a number of preachers who have discovered what I call broadcast manuscripts in which they do this. They put the manuscript on only two thirds of the page, typically on the right hand side, with the manuscript on the right hand, two thirds of the page. What's the left hand third of the page for? The the outline is put there. So there may be key terms, for instance, the illustration. Instead of reading the illustration, I may just put puppy dog, you know, and just write key terms in the left hand margin. Now, those of you who've done broadcast work, you know, that's a little bit reversed because typically in a broadcast situation you would put text on the left hand side and the Cameron audio cues are on the right hand, but that's because you're reading manuscript and the queues are over on the right for the director. But we're flipping it because the first thing I want my eye to see are by notes to myself, my outline. So on the left hand margin, I'll put the outline features and the right hand if I want. It is the manuscript, and it's actually the folks at Asbury Seminary that's doing a lot of experimenting with those broadcasters. And I have found that I did it for a few years and found it quite effective in when I was in pastoral ministry, particularly that I would use the left hand margin for the outline and therefore not become too dependent on the manuscript, but have it if I wanted it.

[00:10:42] So it's an alternative for you. Tell me some strengths and weaknesses here. That was first you with the obvious preaching with the impromptu method. What's the strength of preaching impromptu messages? It's not mechanical. Doesn't sound artificial a bit. Okay. Impromptu messages and obviously can be a great timesaver. And sometimes you need a great time. You know, sometimes it is just time. And you were not given a warning. And there's something needs to be. I mean, these are times of crisis and tragedy that you simply need to speak. And those those may cause impromptu messages. Tell me the weaknesses of impromptu messages. It's disorganized. It may not be put together. Thank you. Forever to determined. That's right. For some people, it takes forever to terminate. For other people, it terminates too fast. Depends on personality there. But that's right. It may not have any clear direction. It may just have a lot of mistakes and it obviously doesn't much study behind it and impromptu message. So the strength is it's very natural and it it may simply save you the time you need in that moment. But its weaknesses obviously, are its unpreparedness and unpreparedness. How do I say this is inherently, unless it's required inherently unbiblical, being unprepared is inherently on biblical study to show yourselves a workman approved under God who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You know, preparation is needed to do what the Bible requires. So just being unprepared by habit rather than necessity is the problem. Unprepared by necessity, everyone understands. By habit they don't give you a hand just so that you know I struggle with us. It sounds so easy right here in class, but I didn't start with my own background.

[00:12:38] And tradition is, as I mentioned to you, was primitive Baptist training. And the sense was that it was not only artificial, but inhibiting of the work of the Holy Spirit to prepare. You know, that I really was helped by was actually a man who was a a defrocked Methodist pastor. So it may sound strange, but he's actually to help me. He and his wife were in my church years after the troubles in their life. And I mentioned to him at one point that my background and training was in my father's church where, you know, those men would show up and they would two or three of them would just sit at the front and say, Who wants to speak this morning? And I said, Well, you know, that little conversation that, all right, a man would decide and he would stand and he would speak. And it was viewed, again, as improper to have prepared the Methodist minister. Listen to my saying that. And he said to me, What keeps the Holy Spirit from working in your study? And I thought that is a great question. Nothing should keep the Holy Spirit from working in your study. The Holy Spirit works all places, all times. So He uses instruments that are well-honed. But it seems to me that there is not anything at all on Biblical saying I'm going to impose man's ideas on this process through. If you haven't prayed in your study, but if you have prayed with your studying of the text, there is absolutely nothing that should have prohibited the Holy Spirit from doing his work there as well. Strengths and weaknesses of preaching extemporaneously from outlines the advantages. I'm going to do this because we're running out of time here.

[00:14:27] Okay. The advantages, obviously, if you have an outline, you have had some preparation. Still by an outline. Only it is a shortcut in a busy schedule. An outline is more quick to prepare than a full manuscript, so the advantages can be a shortcut in a busy schedule. Another advantage of preaching from outlines keeps eye contact and natural expression keeps eye contact and natural expression, and ordinarily allows more freedom and power of delivery. Ordinarily allows more freedom and power of delivery. The disadvantage of outline preaching extemporaneously from outlines would be what temptation to being unprepared. There is still a temptation to do too little work. And again, there is the possibility of imprecision and mistakes, possibility of imprecision and mistakes. Now, I've mentioned to you how much I respect John Broaddus, the father of expository preaching. And one of the reasons I do is how how wise he is. And even in his era, which is basically 150 years ago when you would think about the the insistence on well-prepared and scholarly sermons of that era. Listen to what he said. Where the advantages and disadvantages of this extemporaneously preaching firm outlines. He said the style of an extemporaneous sermon is apt to be less condensed. Your point? It may just run on and on, less finished than if it were written out or recited. But this is not necessarily a fault. The style may be better adapted to speaking as opposed to writing here that it may sound more like you sound when you talk and therefore not artificial. But he said this A similar and more serious disadvantage of extemporaneous sermons is the danger of making blunders in statement. In the order of the moment, the speaker is likely to say some things that are ill, relevant, ill considered, improper, and sometimes, alas, even untrue.

[00:16:41] Some men, more than others, run this risk, but all are more or less liable. Some hence may be given us safeguards, make thorough preparation, and thus diminish the danger. Keep a cool head no matter how warm the heart, if the slip is serious. Correct it on the spot and go on it. Very serious, but not observed at the time. Corrected on a later occasion. But for the most part, leave the mistakes alone. If you have real merits and enjoy the confidence of your congregation, it will be one of your most blessed privileges to live down many blunders. Eric is your pastor for what he said and kind of when he blushed and smiled and said, thank you, you actually loved him more because he could take it well. So he said, Alice, it's a real mistake, you know, correct it. One of my favorite examples of this was Dan Dorine, who is one of the best preachers and teachers I know. And when he was a new professor, his inaugural sermon here in the chapel, he was preaching away. And as he was preaching away, he said, and Jesus Christ is so great, He is the greatest of the created beings and said, No, he's not. That's a heresy and I'll be the first to deny it. Now, what he did was he made a terrible blunder, but it didn't bother him. It didn't bother the if you remember this, the mark of great speakers is not that they fail to make mistakes. It's that they're poised when they make mistakes, everybody makes mistakes. And if you can kind of take it, live it down and move on, that's great. And actually, people will be very comfortable with you preaching from written manuscripts. What are the advantages? Obviously, great precision and assured preparation.

[00:18:42] The disadvantage, lack of eye contact and the temptation to read. What method are we going to use? What method will we use? Roman three. It is actually the method of Robert Murray. McShane In an interesting just last week we had the man from his church here. We had David Robertson, who was here from St Peter's Free Church, which was the famous church of Robert Murray McShane, the revivalists who died young. But here's what he did. Prepared a manuscript converted to an outline. And preached from the outlying. He felt it greatly aided the ardor and passion of his speaking, but still came from great preparation. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to prepare outlines excuse me, prepare manuscripts, but preach from outlines. Just a few hints I've already mentioned after writing out a manuscript. We're going to put our outline and a cure. What you could do is you could put your outline in a keyword form in the margin. Now, the thing you do is you put your outline in the manuscript using highlights or underlining or margin variations, various other visual symbols, or you could put the outline on another piece of paper. That's what I do using, as I said, consistent. I captures whatever style for you over time. Develop a consistent eye catcher, keep main points from starting at the bottom of pages. I would just encourage you to do that. You've got lots of paper, if you will not start making points to third down on the page you'll keep from confusing your eye. Experienced preachers typically start all main points at the top of the next page. You know, they've got lots of whitespace at the bottom because they know, you know, they're not trying to look at people while they're moving and look at down while they're flipping pages, They're moving pages while they're talking.

[00:20:36] Right. And they're looking here. So I want my eye. They will look down and know exactly where it is. And if I'll start the main point at the top of pages, I'll automatically be oriented to the next main point. Every time I do a transition, so start main points at the tops of pages, find some visual marker like circling to indicate where you are. By the way, what I just did is very important, which was if you're moving pages, I would encourage you to slide them if you do this. What did everybody just do? They just looked at my notes. Okay. Or if I do this. I'm gonna watch the people who are very concerned about sticking with people and don't want them looking at their notes. They learn to just move, move them across. And they they typically have a discard stack and a new stack. Okay. I use the stack, and when I'm done with it, I'm looking at you. But I know I put it on discard side. I'm done with that and I'm ready for the next page. I may pick up my Bible, slide this under, move it over, but I typically do not want to be putting this thing, you know, in people's eyeline and vision. It just creates distraction to people. What we're trying to do as we follow these various methods is we are trying to make sure that we have enough in front of ourselves that we can preach well and at the same time be able to have lots of eye contact with people. Last items here, you know, I'm moving fast Item D and A Roman for how can you preach from memory? So you're keeping lots of eye contact. My best thing is use keywords.

[00:22:18] Use keywords. If your main points are around father faith and tomorrow, even though the main point statement is much longer, having keywords in order really helps you father faith. Some more use keywords that are parallel. Use illustrations to keep your thought. Look at this. The illustration is automatically the summary of the explanation and the preparation for the application. Those of you who are very visual oriented, if you remember the series of illustrations, the whole sermon will appear in front of you. Just by remembering going to this illustration, that illustration that illustrate the whole sermon will appear in front of you because it's reminding you what the explanation was about and preparing for what the application is about. Finally, I would encourage you to learn the principles of imprinting. You all may never want to do this, but it's just what I do. I just believe in how I know how my mind works. If I prepared a 30 minute message, I will try to go through entirely at least twice the day before. It's just what I do out loud because I believe it's not just in my brain. I want to hear how the words sound. So I will go through it entirely, at least twice the night before. The last thing I do before I go to sleep is I read it even while I'm in bed. I the last thing that goes into my brain to be that message. I believe in imprinting. I want that to go in my brain. What am I going to do? The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning? First thing I do for I have my bolster before anything else. I read through it again because I'm trying to imprint that on my brain so that when I'm finally speaking, I'm not wondering where I'm going.

[00:23:59] My greatest concern now is get the message in to you not to get it out of me. I'm trying to get it into you because it's playing into my brain now. That's lots of work. Think about that. If I just a 30 minute message, I said twice out loud, once before I go to bed. Once when I get. There's 2 hours of practice right there. Now, that may sound awful, but I remember Ozzie Smith, you know, the multiple time goal. Glover Best shortstop perhaps ever in baseball when he show up at the ballpark for a 730 game, 330 and he took grounders for at least an hour and a half. He was the best shortstop of all time, and he practiced. Don't let anybody embarrass you about practicing. What you're trying to do is get yourself ready so that you're finally free. Can you overprepare? Of course. But you're trying to get so prepared that you are very free to say what God has given you to do.

• 1. Word & Witness 0 % Complete Gain insights into effective preaching principles, covering history, essential components, styles, and techniques, and learn how to prepare and deliver impactful sermons. 0 % Complete
• 2. What's the Big Idea? 0 % Complete Gain valuable insights on sermon construction, learn techniques for effective preaching, and understand the importance of continuous improvement for delivering impactful messages. 0 % Complete
• 3. Text Selection & Interpretation 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you gain valuable insights into the process of text selection and interpretation for preaching, as well as learning practical techniques for delivering engaging and relevant sermons. 0 % Complete
• 4. The Road from Text to Sermon 0 % Complete In this lesson, you gain insight into the process of creating a sermon, from text selection to delivery, emphasizing textual analysis and message relevance. 0 % Complete
• 5. Outlining & Arrangement 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you gain the skills to craft clear, engaging, and memorable sermons by mastering the principles of effective outlining and arrangement in preaching. 0 % Complete
• 6. Propositions & Main Points 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn to craft effective propositions and main points, enhancing your preaching clarity and impact. 0 % Complete
• 7. Workshop on Homiletical Outlines 0 % Complete By exploring homiletical outlines, you'll learn to effectively develop and structure sermons, understand various outline types, and apply engaging presentation techniques for impactful preaching. 0 % Complete
• 8. Introductions 0 % Complete In this lesson, you gain insights into crafting engaging introductions for sermons, exploring their importance, characteristics, types, and the process of creating a compelling introduction that effectively connects to the message. 0 % Complete
• 9. Exposition 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn the importance of exposition in preaching, how to develop an expository sermon, and the role of the preacher for effective communication. 0 % Complete
• 10. Workshop on Sermon Introductions 0 % Complete This lesson teaches you to create captivating sermon introductions using anecdotes, questions, and facts, guiding you through research, structuring, and presentation to maximize audience engagement and improve your overall sermon impact. 0 % Complete

In order to understand the basic subdivisions of your sermon in expository development, it is important to it is helpful to see what the specific members of your sermon's body looks like in standard development.

• 12. Conclusions 0 % Complete By completing this lesson, you learn to effectively prepare and deliver sermons while focusing on personal growth, continuous improvement, and dependence on God. 0 % Complete
• 13. Classification of Messages 0 % Complete Learn to effectively classify and develop sermons into topical, textual, and expository types, enhancing your preaching skills and audience connection. 0 % Complete
• 14. Explanation 0 % Complete In this lesson, you learn the significance of explanation in preaching and strategies to craft and deliver effective explanatory sermons while evaluating their effectiveness for continuous improvement. 0 % Complete
• 15. Why to Illustrate 0 % Complete By incorporating illustrations into your preaching, you engage listeners, clarify complex ideas, and enhance memory retention while learning effective guidelines to utilize various types of illustrations. 0 % Complete
• 16. How to Illustrate (Part 1/2) 0 % Complete Explore this lesson to learn how to effectively use illustrations in sermons by isolating events or experiences, refining principles, and connecting with your audience through human interest accounts. 0 % Complete
• 17. How to Illustrate (Part 2/2) 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn to effectively use illustrations in preaching to engage listeners, clarify concepts, and draw from various sources, while maintaining relevance, variety, and ethical considerations. 0 % Complete
• 18. Application (Part 1/2) 0 % Complete Gain insight into the importance of application in preaching, as well as principles and methods for effective application, to create impactful and relevant sermons that resonate with your audience. 0 % Complete
• 19. Application (Part 2/2) 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn to effectively apply biblical teachings to modern life, considering various approaches, overcoming challenges, and utilizing practical tips for context-sensitive and culturally aware application. 0 % Complete
• 20. Transitions and Dialogical Method 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you gain insights into crafting effective transitions in preaching and utilizing the dialogical method for increased audience engagement and message clarity. 0 % Complete
• 21. Methods of Sermon Presentation 0 % Complete Gain insight into various sermon presentation methods, their advantages and disadvantages, and learn to choose the right method and improve your preaching skills. 0 % Complete
• 22. Voice and Gesture 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you enhance your preaching skills by mastering vocal techniques and purposeful gestures, ensuring a connection with the audience while continually improving your delivery. 0 % Complete
• 23. Dress and Style 0 % Complete Learn the significance of dress and style in preaching and how to balance authenticity, appropriateness, and clarity to effectively communicate your message to your audience. 0 % Complete
• 24. Old Friends in New Clothes 0 % Complete You learn to effectively repurpose old sermons, gaining insight into updating them for relevance, enhancing delivery, and managing time efficiently. 0 % Complete
• 25. Word & Spirit 0 % Complete By studying this lesson, you gain insight into the crucial connection between the Word and Spirit in preaching and learn to balance them for effective and authentic sermons. 0 % Complete
• 26. A Redemptive Approach to Preaching 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn how to apply a Christ-centered, redemptive-historical approach to preaching, addressing common criticisms and enhancing your sermons. 0 % Complete
• 27. Developing Redemptive Messages 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you learn to compose powerful redemptive messages that highlight Christ's work and connect biblical themes to modern audiences. 0 % Complete
• 28. Hearing the Application of Redemptive Principles 0 % Complete Through this lesson, you gain an understanding of redemptive principles in preaching, learning to identify them in Scripture and effectively apply them to your sermons while navigating potential challenges. 0 % Complete
• 29. Redemptive Interpretation and Biblical Genre 0 % Complete By exploring the importance of genre in biblical interpretation and applying redemptive interpretation to various biblical genres, you will gain knowledge and insight into the historical and literary context, redemptive themes and patterns, and contemporary application of different types of genres in the Bible. 0 % Complete

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Biblical Theology

Baker's evangelical dictionary of biblical theology - biblical theology.

Study of the Bible that seeks to discover what the biblical writers, under divine guidance, believed, described, and taught in the context of their own times.

Relation to Other Disciplines Biblical theology is related to but different from three other major branches of theological inquiry. Practical theology focuses on pastoral application of biblical truths in modern life. Systematic theology articulates the biblical outlook in a current doctrinal or philosophical system. Historical theology investigates the development of Christian thought in its growth through the centuries since biblical times.

Biblical theology is an attempt to articulate the theology that the Bible contains as its writers addressed their particular settings. The Scriptures came into being over the course of many centuries, from different authors, social settings, and geographical locations. They are written in three different languages and numerous literary forms (genres). Therefore analytic study leading to synthetic understanding is required to grasp their overarching themes and underlying unities. Biblical theology labors to arrive at a coherent synthetic overview without denying the fragmentary nature of the light the Bible sheds on some matters, and without glossing over tensions that may exist as various themes overlap (e.g., God's mercy and God's judgment; law and grace).

Preliminary Assumptions Study of any object calls for assumptions appropriate to that object. An African witch doctor's assumptions would probably not yield many empirically valid observations regarding the cause and cure of whooping cough. Likewise, biblical theology calls for certain assumptions without which valid observations about the meaning of the Bible's parts and whole are sure to elude the observer.

Inspiration . The whole Bible is given by God. While it unabashedly affirms and reflects its human authorship, it is no less insistent on its divine origin and message. Attempts to separate God's word from Scripture's words, a feature of academic biblical theology since its inception in Germany in 1787, have often resulted in the interpreter airing personal critical convictions rather than laying bare the theology of the writings themselves.

Unity . While contrasts and tensions exist within the biblical corpus due to the local and temporal soil from which its components first sprang, a solidarity underlies them. This solidarity is grounded in the oneness of God's identity and redemptive plan. It is also rooted in humankind's sinful solidarity in the wake of Adam's fall. Scripture's undeniable diversity, commonly overplayed in current critical discussion, complements rather than obliterates its profound unity. Scripture is its own best interpreter, and uncertainties raised by one portion are often legitimately settled by appeal to another.

Reliability . Since God is the ultimate author of the Bible, and since truthfulness characterizes his communication to person, biblical theology is justified in upholding the full reliability of the Bible rightly interpreted. Scholars indifferent or hostile to the Bible's truth claims have impugned its integrity from earliest times. In the modern era a panoply of critical methods, with their underlying assumptions, makes skepticism toward the Bible as historically understood in the church the accepted order of the day. But thinkers of stature remain convinced that the Bible contains no material errors, although it does present conundrums that do not yet admit of universally accepted answers. Even critical tools, when employed judiciously rather than only skeptically, have helped confirm to many that assuming the veracity of the biblical text and message may not be any more uncritical than wholesale rejection of it.

Christ the Center. Jesus explicitly stated that the Scriptures point to him ( Luke 24:27 Luke 24:44 ; John 5:39 ). The New Testament writers follow Jesus in this conviction. The Old Testament writers are aware of a future fulfillment to Yahweh's present promises to his people; that fulfillment, while multifaceted, is summed up in Jesus messianic ministry. While biblical theology can err in overstating the ways the Old Testament foreshadows and predicts the Messiah, and the ways in which the New Testament finds its meaning in Jesus Christ, it may likewise err in denying him his central place in the grand drama of both biblical and world history.

Overview of Biblical Theology. Biblical theologians have proposed various methods of going about their task. Some stress the Bible's key integrating themes: covenant, the exodus, the kingdom of God, promise and fulfillment, God's glory, reconciliation, and many others. Some stress the relationship of Scripture's various parts to Jesus Christ. Some see the proper center of biblical theology as being God himself or his mighty Acts of deliverance. Still others stress the similarities between biblical statements of the past and confessional statements that have arisen in the history of the church.

While there are strengths to each of these approaches, there are also limitations. None alone is adequate. This is not surprising, since God, his ways, and the writings that convey knowledge of him defy reduction to even the most skilled human organization and exposition. Many would agree that the best method must be multiplex in nature.

Moreover, any approach must factor in the progressive and historical dimension of the Bible's theology. What God brought about, he accomplished gradually over the course of time. The theology of the Bible unfolds in the course of the events it describes and sometimes precipitates. Below is a survey of biblical theology centering on its historical rise and progression.

Creation and Fall . The early chapters of Genesis, corroborated by subsequent statements in both Old Testament and New Testament, affirm that God created the world by fiat decree ("And God said cf. Heb 11:3 ), not out of preexisting matter. God alone is eternal; matter is not. In its primordial state the created order was pristine and unspoiled — "very good" ( Gen 1:31 ).

Crowning six days (whether literal or metaphorical) of creative activity, God brought humankind into being. Both male and female were part of God's creative intention from the beginning ( 1:27 ), yet Adam was created first and then Eve as his companion (2:18). Their complementary (not interchangeable) natures and roles precede rather than rise out of the sin into which they fell.

Evil's origin is shrouded in considerable (not utter) mystery, but it was personified in a serpentine figure of intelligence and beauty who beguiled both human inhabitants of Eden (chap. 3). The outcome was estrangement from God and a future marked with pain and woe. Yet the curse of sin is ameliorated from the start by a God who seeks sinners to redeem them (3:9). His majesty in creation is, if anything, exceeded by his graciousness in redemption.

Covenant and Captivity . Genesis 4-11 moves rapidly through the vicissitudes of early humankind to the time of Noah. Humankind becomes so corrupt that a sweeping response is called for. Despite Noah's faithful preaching ( 2 Peter 2:5 ), few repent in view of the coming flood. Nearly universal loss of human life results. God covenants establishes terms under which redemptive relationship to him rather than judgment are possible with the remnant, Noah and his kin ( Gen 9:1-17 ), foreshadowing the covenant par excellence with Abraham lying yet in the future.

Despite God's covenant initiative, the debacle at Babel ( 11:1-9 ) documents humankind's continued disposition to rebellion. Yet God's disposition to save is greater still. He chooses Abram through whom to redeem a people, thereby blessing all the nations of the earth ( 12:3 ). To Abram, later called Abraham ( 17:5 ), the Hebrew people trace their ancestry. Subsequently this people becomes known as the Jews, from whom Christ is descended. The line from Abraham to the Savior of humankind is in that sense direct.

Abraham is saved through his trust in God's saving mercy alone, as atonement for sin and hope for the future ( 15:6 ). This trust does not exclude but rather presupposes his obedient responsiveness to God's revealed will ( 22:18 ); "faith" and "faithfulness" are mutually conditioning. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, halted by an angel, foreshadows God's own sacrifice for sin millennia hence, just as his wife Sarah's conception of a son at the age of ninety prefigures resurrection from the dead ( Rom 4:17-25 ).

Abraham's descendants (Isaac, Jacob) bear the responsibility of the covenant God made with their father, but they seldom rise to his level of integrity in seeking the Lord. From Jacob's, or Israel's ( 35:10 ) sons come heads of Israel's twelve tribes. One of the youngest of these, Joseph, is preserved by God through kidnapping and imprisonment in Egypt. His rise to power there as adjutant second only to Pharaoh himself sets the stage for a captivity of Israel's descendants some four centuries in length, in keeping with God's promise to Abraham ( 15:16 ). The closing chapters of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus chronicle this saga.

Torah and Theocracy . By God's own initiative and power, Moses arises to lead God's people out of their bondage. Their deliverance is a direct result of God's covenant with Abraham ( Exod 2:24 ). Following revelation of his own name for himself (Yahweh) to Moses ( 3:14 ), God breaks Pharaoh's stranglehold on the hapless Israelites. The first Passover (chap. 12) averts the death angel's visitation. It also sets the stage for the dramatic exodus from Egypt through the Red (or Reed) Sea ( 13:17-22 ), a historical precedent and enduring symbol of divine deliverance by God's own hand in all ages since.

While knowledge of God's moral character and will was not unknown among God's people prior to Moses, it is revealed in fuller and more definite form, and in a more discrete social context, at Mount Sinai (chap. 19). This instruction, epitomized by the Decalogue or Ten Commandments, does not set aside, but rather, gives a vehicle for living within the Abrahamic covenant. In the law Israel receives a moral, social, and religious charter through which God will further his redemptive will for centuries to come. His aim to bless all nations in keeping with his promise to Abraham is still at work. While parts of this law appear to have their fulfillment primarily in their own day and time, others are restated in the New Testament, and all retain value and relevance ( Rom 15:4 ; 1 Cor 10:11 ). The basic dynamic of God's people honoring their Lord through fidelity to his revealed written word is basic to the faith that both Old Testament and New Testament model and prescribe.

Along with Moses a precursor of the Messiah ( Exod 18:18 ; cf. Acts 3:20-23 )and the law, come Aaron and the priesthood. Bloody sacrifices could not in themselves furnish atonement for sins any more than legal adherence to the Mosaic moral code. Yet both sacrificial cult and legal requirement were continual reminders of God's disapproval of sin and his offer of reconciliation to the contrite of heart. As such they pointed to the perfect sacrifice and fulfiller of the law, Jesus Christ.

The five Old Testament books of Moses, the Pentateuch, set forth a lofty practical and spiritual agenda. The Israelites in Moses' wake at first uphold God's honor, crossing the Jordan under divine leadership as administered by Joshua. They then submit to circumcision ( Josh 5 ), a reaffirmation of submission to the Lord revealed at Sinai in contrast to their parents' chronic disbelief ( 1 Cor 10:5 ; Heb 3:19 ). Yet even as Joshua passes from the scene, the Israelites succumb to the idolatry of the lands they have conquered. A pattern of spiritual degeneration and periodic divine deliverance marks the era described by the Book of Judges.

God's tenacious striving with his people for their deliverance takes a new turn in the time of Samuel. As a prophet, one especially called and enabled by God to speak on his behalf, it falls to him to appoint Israel's first earthly king, Saul.

Monarchy and Apostasy . From the time of Saul (ca. 1020 b.c.) to the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.), God works through kings and their subject peoples to achieve his ends. R. Bultmann's quip that the Old Testament is not a history of redemption but of disaster ( Unheilsgeschichte ) is overly dour, yet captures an important dimension of this segment of Old Testament history and thus its theology. God faithfully raises up and blesses leaders who are charged with guiding God's people in God's ways. There are signal successes, but the general drift is lower than the high calling God extends.

David is the central figure, his reign prefiguring the messianic kingdom itself. His hymns of praise, contrition, and instruction (the psalms, not all attributable to David) are timely yet timeless models of spiritual insight and thus central to the focus of biblical theology. Likewise the wisdom (given explicitly by God: 1 Kings 3:12 ) of his son Solomon stands at the center of an equally weighty literary corpus for biblical-theological work, the so-called wisdom literature. This material furnishes a gnomic counterpart to the more prevalent Old Testament literary forms of narrative and law. Biblical theology minimizes the theology distinct to any of these Old Testament forms at the peril of attenuating Scripture's full message.

During the monarchy, as already in centuries previous, prophets consistently warn of drifting away from the Lord and toward the religious though godless ways of Israel's neighbors. Nathan rebukes David; Ahijah and Iddo speak to Solomon's times; Elijah and Elisha minister to the northern kingdom of Israel after its split from Judah to the south following Solomon's reign. The office of prophet is central to the Old Testament. Like the Old Testament office of priest and king, it not only actualizes God's redemptive work in Old Testament times but also foreshadows the offices fulfilled by the Messiah yet to come.

The drift that God's prophets decry is documented by writing prophets like Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, and Amos. The northern kingdom falls into apostasy and finally judgment at the hand of Assyria (722 b.c.). The southern kingdom is favored with spiritual renewals under noble kings like Hezekiah and Josiah. Yet it, too, fails to give God his due, as Jeremiah particularly makes clear. In 587 b.c. Babylonia appears to shatter forever the regnancy of the line of David. Jeremiah's doleful lamentations bespeak the despondency of those who await, now with virtually no visible consolation, the deliverance and glory promised to their forefathers since Abraham.

Restoration and Remnant . Jeremiah's hope ( Jer 31 ), grounded in God's revelation to previous prophets like Moses, David, and Isaiah, finds eloquent expression in Ezekiel and Daniel. They too experience the ravages of deportation to Babylon but cling to and proclaim the continued validity of God's earlier promises. Inspired no doubt by this prophetic guidance, small bands begin to return from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem (ca. 520 b.c.), spurred on by Haggai and Zechariah. Other waves of repatriates under Nehemiah and Ezra give a boost to the work some decades later (ca. 450 b.c.). The final book of the Old Testament testifies to their labor, yet decries a people still divided in their loyalties between God and their own willfulness. That same book upholds the promise of vindication for all who turn to the covenant God in repentance, and pliant trust in a coming deliverer ( Mal 4 ) whose work will furnish the means of their vindication. That deliverer will also mete out eternal judgment to those hostile or indifferent to the covenant God.

The truly faithful few their number seems seldom if ever to constitute a hegemony among Abraham's physical descendants throughout Old Testament history appear to dwindle steadily once the Old Testament period proper ends. The children of Abraham and the land of promise languish under the rule of Persia, which is terminated abruptly by the Greeks in the 320s b.c., who are in turn succeeded by Egyptian and then Syrian overlords. During these decades the religious forms and theological idioms of the Old Testament, diverse in themselves, are transformed into patterns that give Judaism as seen in New Testament times its distinctive faces. A period of Jewish independence (165-163 b.c.) is cut off by the Romans, who appoint Herod the Great as administrator of Galilee, Judea, and their environs around 38 b.c.

Isaiah had spoken of a time of great darkness when the Lord himself would visit his people ( 9:1-7 ). A biblical-theological survey of the Old Testament and its aftermath finds that time to have arrived in the days of Jesus' birth.

Fulfillment and Deliverance . The genealogies of both Matthew and Luke testify to the intrinsic connection of Jesus' coming with God's purpose and work in previous epochs. Luke 1-2 describes the Old Testament hopes of figures like Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna as these all voice confidence in the fidelity of God to his Old Testament promises.

In Jesus of Nazareth God's deliverance and fulfillment arrive. God's reign, graphically and variously prefigured in Old Testament events and institutions, is actually at hand. John the Baptist electrifies a religiously fragmented and politically oppressed nation as the divine voice echoes once again through the prophetic ministry. Jesus, who is also seen as a prophet ( Mark 8:28 ), reaps the benefit of this excitement. Like John, he preaches repentance and the imminence of God's kingdom. Unlike John, who pointed to another, Jesus calls men and women to himself.

Over a span of some three years Jesus traverses the lands of Galilee, Judea, Samaria, and adjoining districts. He devotes special attention to a group of twelve who will carry on his work once he departs, but he also issues a call and instruction to the (predominantly but not exclusively Jewish) masses. His message targets ethnic Israel but has application to all peoples, even during his lifetime. His teachings, sublime by any reckoning, cannot by separated from a consciousness of unique filial relationship to God. He appeared to be asserting that he was in some sense God's equal. His teaching must also be seen in the light of his insistence that he came to bring deliverance, not through mastery of knowledge he transmits, but through personal trust in the sacrificial, saving death he undergoes ( Mark 8:31 ; Mark 10:32-34 Mark 10:45 ). The four Gospels concur in presenting the climax of Jesus' coming, not in his miracles, wisdom, or ethics, great as these are, but in his atoning death and vindicating resurrection.

Jesus' ministry, then, is the culmination of God's saving plan established in Old Testament times. His call to repentance and offer of new life fulfills the prophetic office; his sacrificial death and mediatorial role fulfill the role of an eternal high priest; the rule he possesses ( John 18:37 ) in David's train establishes him as King of kings, the invisible God's incarnate regent over all space, time, and history. The messianic deliverance already foretold in Eden ( Gen 3:15 ) finds definitive expression in the Messiah Jesus. But his story outlives his earthly life.

The Age to Come . Not clearly foreseen, apparently, by either Old Testament prophets or the earliest New Testament disciples, was the already-not yet complexion of the messianic age. While it dawned with Jesus' advent, and in particular with his resurrection, the full sun of the heavenly day awaits his return.

Jesus established the church as the focus of the Father's ongoing redemptive presence, through the Spirit, until the time of the Son's return. While all the New Testament writings play a role in testifying to this, Acts describes how it was lived out in the first three decades following Christ, while the New Testament Epistles instruct and steer the postresurrection people of God in those same generations and beyond.

Original disciples of Jesus, like Peter and John, play central roles in the church's early rise, but in retrospect pride of place belongs to Paul in important respects. The clarity of his God-given insights into the apostolic office, the nature of life "in Christ, " justification by grace through faith, the mission of the church to Jew and Gentile alike, the ongoing place of ethnic Israel in the divine plan, the sanctity of marriage and the sex roles God ordained, the practical outworkings of Christ's Spirit all these and more are the priceless heirlooms granted to the church, largely Gentile since first-century times, through Paul, an ex-Pharisee. He not only proclaimed but was perhaps the most notable example of the efficacy of the cross of Christ he preached.

Meanwhile, the spiritual descendants of the apostles still look for the full manifestation of the kingdom Jesus promised to establish at his second coming. They await that day in ongoing worship, sacrificial regard for one another (love), growth in the grace and knowledge that Christ and Scripture impart, and outreach to a world both hungry for and hostile toward the gospel. Eschatologically oriented portions of both Old Testament and New Testament, in particular the Book of Revelation, furnish rich resources for reflection and guidance.

Past and Future of the Discipline The role of the Bible in Christian thought over the centuries has varied widely. Until relatively recently biblical theology as a distinct discipline did not exist. Theology drew its verities directly from the biblical text, often with little linguistic, historical, and hermeneutical sophistication. The theological (and sometimes political or philosophical) commitments of church leaders dominated the way the Bible was read. This too seldom resulted in interpretation that was sensitive to the Bible's original meaning in its setting.

With the rise of critical thought associated with Descartes (1596-1650) and Kant (1724-1804), the teaching of the church (as well as the Bible) was seen in a new light. Critical rationality could separate the temporal husk of the biblical writings from their enduring kernel. Thus one dogma, that of the church, was replaced by another that of Enlightenment rationalism and its progeny. It was at this time that biblical theology as a distinct discipline made its appearance.

Since that time biblical theology has tended to draw its certainties from trends in the larger academic world. Most biblical scholars "have allowed their world-view and historical method to be given them by their culture" (R. Morgan). For much of the twentieth century Bultmann's existentialist reading of the New Testament has dominated. In Old Testament theology, works by luminaries like Procksch, Eichrodt, Vriezen, Jacob, and von Rad have commanded attention. Yet both Old Testament and New Testament theology, like mainline theological thought generally, are currently in disarray. Many Old Testament and New Testament scholars openly reject classic Christian understanding of the Bible, finding neither unity nor a saving message in it and certainly not definitive truth. Some even reject the possibility of Old Testament or New Testament theology, let alone biblical theology as a combination of the two, convinced that critical analysis of the Bible can result in nothing more than what ephemeral and disputed literary or social science methods yield.

Many scholars will continue to walk in the lights, or shadows, of the disintegrative, pluralistic, and deconstructive impulses that characterize Western thought at the end of the millennium. Evangelical thinkers can learn much about the Bible from their observations and even more about articulating the Bible's message in the idioms of the age.

Yet biblical theology has suffered enough at the hands of idioms that have garbled the Bible's message through the enthronement of conceptualities foreign to it. In 1787, J. P. Gabler inaugurated the discipline, calling for it to rescue the Bible from the dogmatic chains of the church. Today the dogmatic bonds of modernity atheism, post- and Neo-Marxism, relativism and reductionism, selfish materialism, narcissistic individualism, New Age spiritism, feminism are as destructive of biblical theology as any chains ever imposed by the church.

To avoid furthering merely one more -ism, interpreters faithful to the biblical subject matter need to let the sources' certainties furnish them with their own. (With all due respect to current critiques of foundationalism, if all statements are ultimately functions of selves wrapped up in their basic beliefs, then all human expression is solipsism, and the possibility of not only biblical theology but all rational inquiry is called in question.)

Biblical theology will move forward, if it does, as its practitioners know, love, and submit to the God of the Bible rather than the ideologies of the age. God is not a composite of the latest critical theories. This is not to denigrate scholarship but to recognize that God's word, if living and true, calls for substantially (not totally) different approaches to it than post-Enlightenment academic theology in its present forms furnishes. Biblical literacy in the church, to say nothing of biblical redemption in the world, is at stake. Both church and world could gain transforming conviction from the fruit of a discipline humble enough to discern, and brave enough to advocate, the ancient yet contemporary verities that biblical theology is charged to bring to light.

Robert W. Yarbrough

Bibliography . W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, 2 vols.; D. Guthrie, New Testament Theology ; G. Hasel, Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate and New Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate ; B. Ollenburger et al., eds., The Flowering of Old Testament Theology ; R. Muller, The Study of Theology ; H. Rä sä en, Beyond New Testament Theology ; A. Schlatter, The Nature of New Testament Theology ; K. Scholder, The Birth of Modern Critical Theology ; G. Vos, Biblical Theology .

For usage information, please read the Baker Book House Copyright Statement .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Biblical Theology

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Olympics viewers have just worked out incredible meaning behind closing ceremony stage design

Olympics closing ceremony viewers think they've figured out what the stage design actually is.

Joshua Nair

Viewers of the Olympics closing ceremony think that they've worked out the meaning of the stage design at the Stade de France.

The Paris Olympics are coming to a close, with the country waving farewell to its visiting athletes and sports fans.

However, some viewers were left a bit confused over the stage design on social media .

There were suggestions of a 'cat' or 'slices of pie', but viewers finally realised what it was.

On X , one user asked: "Is this stage designed loosely like a world map?"

A second said: "Took me a good 15 minutes to work out that stage is the world map."

Another realised: "'OH! It's a map!' the entire living room says at the same time after debating if it was a horse, chess pieces, a Star Trek Diorama or slices of pie competing in the fencing."

A fourth shared: "Just realised that the central stage is the world map, not a geometric cat."

That's right, from a birds-eye view, the stage looks like a weirdly jagged map of the world - it's the thought that counts, eh?

So far at the opening ceremony, we've also seen athletes repeatedly trip over a carpet that athletes should really have been alerted of, which entertained viewers.

One user shared: "Someone needs to put a health and safety warning on the carpet"

Another said: "Obsessed with everyone tripping over at the #closingceremony"

Someone else posted: "I've counted at least 3 people tripping up now at this closing ceremony.

BBC viewers have also been deeply entranced by the banter that Andrew Cotter has been serving up , with many sharing their appreciation online.

If you don't know what I'm on about, on user on X shared an exchange between David and co-commentator, Hazel.

The user posted: "Amazing commentary by Andrew Cotter and Hazel Irvine as everyone is forced to do karaoke.

"Andrew: 'You can read those lyrics on the screen can’t you Hazel.'

"Hazel: 'My eyes don’t seem to be working.'

"Andrew: 'the words are la la la la la. Or in French, the the the the.'"

Generational humour.

Top 10 performing Olympic nations

• USA - 126 medals (40 gold)
• China - 91 medals (40 gold)
• Japan - 45 medals (20 gold)
• Australia - 53 medals (18 gold)
• France - 64 medals (16 gold)
• Netherlands - 34 medals (15 gold)
• Great Britain - 65 medals (14 gold)
• South Korea - 32 medals (13 gold)
• Italy - 40 medals (12 gold)
• Germany - 33 medals (12 gold)

Olympics 2024 highlights - headlines from the games

Anthony ammirati's penis costs him his medal.

The 21-year-old French pole vaulter attempted to clear the 5.70 metres on 3 August when his knee - along with his private parts - got in the way, shattering his Olympic dreams.

Iconic shooter Yusuf Dikec wins silver medal with 'no equipment'

Turkey's Yusuf Dikec took a laid back approach when he was spotted looking incredibly relaxed with one hand in his pocket and without any shooting gear on.

It all paid off though as he took home the silver along with his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan.

Noah Lyles' 100m victory

Setting a new personal best, Lyles came out on top at the finish line by a margin of just 0.005 seconds, with a final time of 9.784.

The final also marked the fastest race of all time, with all eight athletes crossing the finish line in under 10 seconds.

George Mills and Hugo Hay's 5000m bust up

Chaos erupted when a total of five athletes found themselves face down on the track after an incident left several runners stumbling on top of each other, including Team GB's George Mills and French runner Hugo Hay.

Mills looked as though he had some harsh words for Hay after the tumble which he admitted he was 'probably not allowed to say'.

Snoop Dogg in general

Snoop went viral after he rocked up to the dressage team Grand Prix Special fully kitted out in breeches, a dressage tailcoat and hard hat alongside pal Martha Stewart. Iconic.

Ana Carolina Vieira gets sent home for breaking athletes' village rules with boyfriend

Ana Carolina Vieira was sent home after she and her boyfriend Gabriel Santos - also a swimmer competing in the Olympics - left the village without permission, which is against the Olympic Village rules.

Team GB star becomes first ever Olympian to win medal in both male and female events

Coxswain Henry Fieldman made history when he won bronze at the women's crews event off the back of his bronze win in Tokyo on the men's team.

Fieldman was able to achieve the feat because of a rule change back in 2017 that allows coxes of either gender to steer the eights.

The River Seine drama

While Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk vomited after swimming in the river, Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen admitted she 'felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much'.

It came after health concerns were raised over the pollution levels in the river, with the country splashing out a cool £1.18 billion on cleaning it up in time for the games.

Freddie Crittenden jogs for entire race on purpose

The Team USA star purposely put on a leisurely performance in his first heat of the Men's 110m hurdles and ended up being the last one to make it across the finish line with a time of 18.27 seconds.

The athlete said it was a calculated move to avoid aggravating a sore muscle in his leg and due to the introduction of repechage rounds, he knew that he'd have another chance at glory.

'Slow pool' accusations

The pool at the Paris La Défense Arena is 2.15 metres deep which is short of the minimum of 2.5 metres that World Aquatics recommends for an Olympic competition, prompting backlash from viewers.

As a result of the difference in depth, an issue called 'slow' swimming is created where the water is more volatile when dispersed than in a deeper pool.

Imane Khelif's opponent quits boxing match 46 seconds in

The Algerian boxer faced Italy's Angela Carini in the round of 16 match on 1 August when Carini - who has since apologised - decided to abandon the match after 46 seconds.

Khelif - who was born and raised a girl - was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi amid claims from the International Boxing Association that she was not able to meet their unspecified eligibility criteria.

Khelif has since been at the centre of a gender row, and has urged people to 'refrain from bullying all athletes' amid abuse online.

Luana Alonso 'kicked out' of Olympic Village

The Paraguayan swimmer was said to have been asked to leave the village amid accusations of creating an 'inappropriate environment', according to a statement from her team.

Alonso - who also announced her retirement from the sport - has since denied the claims and urged people to 'stop spreading false information'.

Gold medal winner Thomas Ceccon spotted sleeping in park amid village complaints

The athlete, who won gold in the men's 100m backstroke, was spotted taking a nap outside by Saudi rower Husein Alireza who posted it to his Instagram account, tagging the spot as a location within the official Olympic Village.

Speaking about his accommodation, Ceccon said: "It's hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon. Usually, when I'm at home, I always sleep in the afternoon. Here I really struggle between the heat and the noise."

Topics:  Olympics , Sport

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

@ joshnair10

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