religion and spirituality

This is the book I have been looking for, for a long time. It takes the reader through each type of writing within the Bible(Epistles, Narratives, Acts, Gospels, Parables, Law, Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom, Revelation.) Each chapter explains why this type of writing was given, who it was given to, and how it can be understood. The writing is very easy to understand without a lot of theological academic jargon and yet has a great deal of scholarship behind it. Each chapter gives concrete guidelines for intepreting Scripture (something that each of us do instinctively, but perhaps without conscious thought or appropriate context.)

Following these guidelines, each chapter provides an example of interpreting a passage of Scripture. This makes the book very practical and easy to understand and use. I wish more academic tomes would add in some practical helps.

As with all books about the Bible, not everyone will agree with Fee and Stuart's interpretations, but the methodologies they describe are invaluable for any reader to use in understanding this ancient, wonderful, and mysterious text.

Also extremely helpful is the discussion on different Bible translations and study materials (Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and handbooks.) If you are building a library to read and study Scripture for yourself, I would start with this great book on exegetical methods.

If you wondered what the words in the title mean, they are longer words to say "proper interpretation." Of course, you can interpret things any way you want, especially in this Post-Modern day and age. However, not every interpretation is valid and true, as Fee and Stuart point out in their book. Out of the 3 or 4 books that I have read on "biblical interpretation," this by far is my favorite. It lays down the rules (laws) of proper interpretation by going through the different genres of scripture, with plenty of good advice in how to best exegete each one. So many errors can be avoided if the reader would follow the points made in this book. Sometimes I make the same mistakes that they laid out in their writing, and I found myself a number of times looking up the passages to check their reasoning.

It's interesting how so many intelligent people can make the same mistakes (i.e. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" to be misinterpreted because the context is avoided). We Christians need to be better than that, and that's why I want to continue honing my skills in this area. My copy is marked with yellow highlighter marks, and so will yours if you read it with attention. I think every Christian--both young and old--ought to read "How to Read the Bible for all it's Worth"--it's required reading, everyone!--to keep up with the proper usage of handling God's message to His people.

I have read and re-read this book. I have used it over and over. It is awesome and terribly important to engrave the contents in your head otherwise you may miss the incredible things the Bible has to offer.