How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

by Gordon Fee; Douglas Stuart

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 1993

Overview

Understanding the Bible isn’t for the few, the gifted, the scholarly. The Bible is accessible. It’s meant to be read and comprehended by everyone from armchair readers to biblical scholars, and everyone in between. A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your 21st-century life.

More than half a million people have turned to How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth to inform their reading of the Bible. This third edition features substantial revisions that keep pace with current scholarship, resources, and culture. Changes include:

• Updated language
• A new authors’ preface
• Several chapters rewritten for better readability
• Updated list of recommended commentaries and resources

Covering everything from translational concerns to different genres of biblical writing, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth is used all around the world. In clear, simple language, it helps you accurately understand the different parts of the Bible—their meaning for ancient audiences and their implications for you today—so you can uncover the inexhaustible worth that is in God’s Word.

Key Features

• Includes an appendix on the use of commentaries
• Provides interpretive help for each biblical genre
• All Scripture references linked to the Bibles in your library

Contents

• Introduction: The Need to Interpret
• The Basic Tool: A Good Translation
• The Epistles: Learning to Think Contextually
• The Epistles: The Hermeneutical Questions
• The Old Testament Narratives: Their Proper Use
• Acts: The Question of Historical Precedent
• The Gospels: One Story, Many Dimensions
• The Parables: Do You Get the Point?
• The Law(s): Covenant Stipulations for Israel
• The Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant in Israel
• The Psalms: Israel’s Prayers and Ours
• Wisdom: Then and Now
• The Revelation: Images of Judgment and Hope
• Appendix: The Evaluation and Use of Commentaries

Top Highlights

“The antidote to bad interpretation is not no interpretation but good interpretation, based on commonsense guidelines.” (Page 21)

“Second, and now especially for study purposes, you need to develop the habit of reading the whole letter through in one sitting.” (Page 59)

“Whenever we share comparable particulars (i.e., similar specific life situations) with the first-century hearers, God’s Word to us is the same as his Word to them.” (Page 75)

“ a text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its author or his or her readers.” (Page 74)

“The first task of the interpreter is called exegesis. Exegesis is the careful, systematic study of the Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning. This is basically a historical task. It is the attempt to hear the Word as the original recipients were to have heard it, to find out what was the original intent of the words of the Bible.” (Page 23)

Praise for the Print Edition

A very useful reference book for the layperson who is engaged in study of the Bible.

—Booklist

. . . Provides keys to interpreting the genre, and discusses the hermeneutical questions it raises for today’s Christians.

—New Testament Abstracts

This is a book about hermeneutics, without jargon or footnotes. It is very readable and makes good sense. . . . Carefully thought out and written.

—Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

. . . A readable, clear, and well-written book on hermeneutics.

—Christian Standard

Fee and Stuart have delineated the hermeneutical principles for the valid interpretation of the variety of literary genres found in Scripture. Fee and Stuart fulfill the objectives they set for themselves admirably. A book with this focus meets an obvious need.

—Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

. . . Stimulating in helping the earnest Bible student understand the Old and New Testaments better.

—The Preacher’s Magazine

. . . Makes significant advances over most other books of the genre and which is certain to be highly useful.

—Interpretation

. . . Will be a blessing to all who want to enjoy the Bible. . . . A ‘must’ for all who are bothered about angels, trumpets, earthquakes, beasts, dragons, and bottomless pits.

—The Presbyterian Record

Product Details

• Title: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
• Authors: Gordon Fee, Douglas Stuart
• Edition: 3rd ed.
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Print Publication Date: 1993
• Logos Release Date: 2010
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible › Study and teaching
• ISBNs: 9780310591498, 9780310244806, 9780310373612, 9780310578567, 031059149X, 0310517826, 0310244803, 0310373611, 0310578566, 9780310246046, 0310246040, 9780310517825
• Resource ID: LLS:H2RBBLWORTH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-01-03T19:24:05Z

About the Authors

Gordon D. Fee is professor of New Testament at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Douglas Stuart is professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.