Content (text) – the Grammatical & Literal Methodology for Interpreting the Text of

ScriptureThose who subscribe to a grammatical, historical and literal

interpretation of Scripture enter into their study with the belief that the Scriptures, as received by us today, are for all intents and purposes the inerrant, complete, and the literal word of God;

supernaturally preserved through human instrumentality so that God's people may know, love and worship Him in spirit and truth.

Thus, our study demands that we first investigate and understand the grammatical structure of what God has revealed

such as: verb tenses, articles, participles, pronouns, etc.

Next, it helps to understand the historical background of each book, such as: when it was written, social customs and political climate

of the times, figures of speech etc. Lastly, we need to objectively understand what does it actually

say to its readers, being careful not to intrude subjective personal or 21st century opinions into the text, and allowing the use of reason,

unity, inference, precedent, and the obvious word meanings to guide interpretations.

“…our Lord generally adopted the plan of interpreting the Scripture “literally”, within its context, and with a due regard both to the

claims of grammar and the harmony of the God’s plan of revelation. In this respect, … He left us an example that we should

follow in His steps.” Mt 19:4 He answered, "Have you not read that he who created

them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast

to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? Quoting Gen 2:24 Ex. Mt 19:4-5 Girdlestone, R. B. 1998 Synonyms of the Old Testament

Grammar – “Hang on every word of Scripture.”

Ps 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Therefore we must study every word, and in so doing we shall soon learn to say with

Jer 15:16, “Your words were found, and I did eat them; and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart …

E.W. Bullinger

a) The importance of the article “a” Jn 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The New World Translation adds

the article “a” “…and the word was “a” God.” b) What is the biggest little word in the Bible that is so often

overlooked? “If”- a conjunction or noun that generally introduces a degree of condition into the text.

Ro 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,

you will be saved. Jn 8:31 ¶ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you

free. Jn 14:15 ¶ If you love me, keep my commandments.

c) The importance of verb tenses- Mt 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of

Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Literal or Normal Interpretation- approaching the interpretation of the Bible the way we would

any other book.

We need to objectively understand what does it actually say to its readers (not to look for deep, hidden or obscure

meanings) , being careful not to intrude subjective opinions into the text (license), and allowing the obvious word

meanings, precedence, inference, and the knowledge of “figures of speech” to guide your interpretations.

a) What does the text actually say? Mt 5-7 the Sermon on the Mount-

Mt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of

My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out

demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'

23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'24

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall,

for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be

like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its

fall."

b. Define the words and then the plain and obvious meaning of the word should be used unless the

context demands something different.

Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the

devil and his angels…45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least

of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Strong’s Concordance #166 aionios, ahee-o'-nee-os- from 165; perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well):--, for ever, everlasting, world (began).

AV-eternal 42, everlasting eternal 25, the world began + 5550 2, since the world began + 5550 1, for ever 1; 71

Aionios must mean the same thing in vs. 46 as it does in 41 and both uses in vs. 46 must also mean the same. One

cannot mean temporary and the other eternal.

c. Use precedence to help determine the use of a word. Words and sentences can have but one

meaning in one and the same connection.

Ge 1:3 ¶ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the

light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

852 a  ם Qיֹוָמ(yômām) by day. It can denote: 1. the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness), 2. the period of twenty-four

hours, 3. a general vague “time,” 4. a point of time, 5. a year- Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

ום 3118 Xי [yowm /yome/] Corresponding to 3117; …day always refers to a twenty-four hour period when the word is modified by a

definite article or a cardinal number. Strong’s concordance Examples- Ge 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; 21:4 And Abraham

circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, 40:13 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto

thy place:The Clincher

Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work… 11 For in six days the LORD

made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and

hallowed it.

d. The use of reason is to be assumed.

Reason: noun- the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational

ways: verb- to use the faculty of reason so as to arrive at

conclusions.

God reasons with us in the BibleMt 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor

reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they… 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:

they neither toil nor spin; 29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30

"Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you (who alone are created in His image), O you of little faith?

What are some of the logical moral conclusions that flow from the theory of evolution?

Its primary premise is there is no Creator God , thus it follows that there is no moral or spiritual truth.