Understanding a work of literature by determining the\nauthor\u2019s intent and perspective is a critical element in the study of all\nprimary literature. Any worthwhile teacher would fail a student who assumed the\ntheme or intent of a literary work on his own terms without delving into the author\u2019s\npurpose in writing the work. We fervently teach that exposition (background\ninformation necessary to understanding the work) is required for competent\nanalysis and understanding of literary works as well as speeches, dramatic\npresentations, and even videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the most important book we have, the Bible, is often\ntreated as passively as the \u201cwarming instructions\u201d on a frozen entr\u00e9e when it\ncomes to studying the author\u2019s purpose in writing. Let me quote from the\nintroductory notes of this book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAwareness of the context of the Bible is an antidote to the\ndangerous dismissal of history that we see too often in both the church and the\nacademy. In our day the postmodern outlook all but rejects history and context.\nUnder the influence of this movement readers simply refuse to hear the writers\nof Scripture on their own terms and instead assert that it is up to each reader\nto make whatever he or she will of the ancient texts\u2026The author\u2019s intended\nmeaning is thus rendered irrelevant to the modern reader, who feels free to\ninterpret a text in any manner whatsoever. Such an approach makes a mockery of\nBiblical authority.\u201d1<\/sup> Studying to show ourselves approved means more\nthan just reading Scripture. We must understand the Author\u2019s purpose by knowing\nas much as we can about the inspiration of the writer in his circumstance and\nhistorical context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This book is not an easy read. It is a study work, with over\n2200 pages of history, sociology, geography, political history, maps,\nchronologies, and genealogies. It comes with an interactive CD-ROM full of\ncolor pictures, maps, charts, and other data from the book. There is text\nconcurrent with the history so that one may read Scripture alongside the\nexposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Notes from The Committee on Bible Translation, The\nArchaeological Study Bible (Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, 2005) xi,\nnote #4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[126],"tags":[222,15],"class_list":["post-7895","eutychus-article","type-eutychus-article","status-publish","hentry","category-eutychus","tag-archaeology","tag-bible"],"yoast_head":"\n