Understanding and Applying the Bible, rev. ed.

by J. Robertson McQuilkin

Publisher:

Moody

, 2009

Overview

Why do even the sincerest students of God's Word sometimes find it dry or confusing? Too often, Robertson McQuilkin suggest, it’s because they don't know how to read it.

In his classic introduction to Bible study, McQuilkin shows everyday believers how to navigate the Bible’s genres and plumb its thought structures with accuracy, experiencing afresh living encounters with the inspired Word.

Newly revised and updated, Understanding and Applying the Bible also examines the most common errors in Bible reading. In the end, McQuilkin maintains Scripture can be understood by anyone, simply by following a set of straightforward and time-tested principles.

Key Features

• Explores various aspects of interpretation in proportion to their usefulness in understanding the Bible
• Introduces serious Bible students to the basic principles of interpretation
• Examines the most common errors in Bible reading

Contents

Part I: Presuppositions and Principles

• Presupposition of Biblical Interpretation
• Supernaturalistic Approaches of Premoderns
• The Naturalistic Approaches of Moderns
• The Naturalist Approaches of Postmoderns
• Dogmatic Approaches

Part II: Guidelines and Skills

• Understanding Human Language
• Historical, Physical, and Cultural Setting
• A Method for Word Study
• Analyzing Thought Structure
• Examining the Context
• Figurative Language
• Parables
• Hebrew Poetry
• Unity of Scripture
• Coherence of Truth
• Approach to Alleged Discrepancies
• Biblical Prophecy

Top Highlights

“But there is a further problem in applying Scripture. Much of the division in the church does not start at the point of some disputed passage of Scripture. Rather, someone states an idea, some accept it, others reject it without examining it carefully, and the church is divided. If we do not begin with a passage of Scripture (as in chart 1) but with a doctrine or activity, how do we evaluate its biblical authority for faith and contemporary living?” (source)

“A parable is a true-to-life short story designed to teach a truth or to answer a question” (source)

“To interpret metaphors of God, it is necessary to discern the point of comparison intended by the writer and not to improvise some point of comparison felt to be a ‘fresh insight.’ When God ‘breathed’ into the lifeless form of Adam, for example, what did He actually do? How important it is to discern what was intended by that figure of humanization, by that particular ascription of human qualities to God! The decision on what that means affects the whole theology of creation.” (source)

“In the meantime, a person’s love commitment will determine how he handles the data. For a document written long ago in an alien culture and foreign tongue over a period of 1,600 years by more than forty authors, dealing with matters of infinite truth, the miracle is that there are so few problems!” (source)

“All of our rigorous Bible study must be for the purpose of making the application to life, transferring the truth into day-by-day living.” (source)

Product Details

• Title: Understanding and Applying the Bible (Revised and Expanded)
• Author: J. Robertson McQuilkin
• Edition: Revised and Expanded
• Publisher: Moody
• Print Publication Date: 2009
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible › Hermeneutics; Bible › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9780802490926, 0802490921
• Resource ID: LLS:UNDRSTNDNGPPLDTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:36:17Z

About J. Robertson McQuilkin

Robertson McQuilkin served as the third president of Columbia International University from 1968 to 1990 distinguishing himself as a spiritual and practical visionary. Under his leadership, CIU made advancements in accreditation standing and faculty development, growth in the graduate and seminary programs, the initiation of radio ministry and the expansion of campus facilities. He resigned from the presidency to care for his wife, Muriel, who had reached the stage of Alzheimer’s disease in which she needed full-time care. Prior to becoming president of CIU, McQuilkin served as headmaster of Ben Lippen School, then for 12 years as a missionary in Japan. Today McQuilkin is a speaker and writer, engaging in an extensive conference ministry across America and overseas. He also serves as president emeritus of CIU. In 2005 McQuilkin married Deborah Jones Sink, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Nursing. Deborah also has a teaching ministry in conferences and women’s groups. Between them, Robertson and Deborah have nine children: four in Christian ministry, five in business.