Customer Reviews

How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth 3rd Ed

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Some people will get very upset with the title, because after all, for the true believer, all you need is the Bible itself, right?

Well, no. For one thing the Bible itself tells you that you need the Holy Spirit to help understand, so there is that.

But you also need to study to show yourself approved, meditate and approach it in a humble matter. The Bible was written over 2,000 years ago and in some portions even far longer. It is possible, just possible mind you, that there have been changes in language and culture that require some work on the reader's part to understand what is being said the same way a hearer of that message would have understood it in their day.

That is where this book comes into play. This is both a good introductory text for the student who wants to enter into the realms of textual, historical, redactive, literary etc criticism. It is also written to be at the level of the average layman who wants to understand more for their own study and growth.

Evangelical Christians often get very nervous about this type of book. They see much that has served to diminish the Bible over the years as coming from the "liberal" religious, academic camps as seeking to diminish what the Bible plainly says.

As delicately as I can state it ...... Evangelicals need to get over it and enter the field themselves. If the Bible is true, it must be true enough to stand tough scrutiny. The opinion of this reviewer is that it does stand that scrutiny, but as a student of the Bible you must expect over time that your understanding will change and grow. That is called discipleship and growth. It's a good thing!

This book, better than most, comes to the Bible and maintains an attitude of respect toward the text itself consistent with what Evangelicals believe with regard to inspiration while introducing the student or curious Christian as to how to study the Bible and get more out of it that you ever did before.

Where great commentaries give you fish, this book teaches you how to fish and feed yourself intellectually and spiritually from the Bible.

Don't be threatened by it. It is a good thing!

This is very worthwhile book for those who see the Bible as spiritually unique and also helpful for the student who simply wants to know how to understand it better.

5 stars

bart breen

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.

I just read this book in my next-to-last term in seminary. I wish it had been assigned on the first day. It took years of seminary to learn one fourth of the contents in this book. Even after years of formal study and even more years of personal study and ministry, Fee and Stuart's book offered incredible insight into the all-important task of studying, understanding and interpreting scripture. And it's hardly just for those who undertake theological study, but for anyone who wants God's word to be more accessible. A must for all serious Bible readers.

This is the foundational understanding that everyone should know before studying the Bible. Although it is written in an easy to understand style it is still full of very valuable information. For example, people often ask why there are so many different translations of the Bible. The authors do an excellent job of showing the complications and difficulties of translating and how different versions of a verse could each be just as viable as an accurate translation.

The authors also deal with the problems of interpretation, exegesis, historical and cultural context and literary conventions of the time. They look at the narrative style of the Old Testament and its function as well as Acts, the various parables, prophets, psalms, wisdom literature, and the revelation. You may not agree with every aspect of their treatment of the various books and literary styles, but this is the best treatment of the problems of translation and interpretation that I have come across to date. "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" is highly recommend for anyone interested in Bible translation or interpretation.

This book is a great tool for anyone who would like to know more about the bible, and how to make some sense of it. This should be required reading for anyone who teaches the bible at any level, Sunday School Teachers to Senior Pastors. Fee and Stuart break down the study of the biblical texts into easy to understand, yet challenging language. This book is used in both collegiate and graduate level studies, and it is great that it is!

You really can't go wrong with this solid text.

Joseph Dworak

I have used this book as a textbook for several years as a great source for teaching Hermeneutics. I did 13 week course covering the definitions and rules and then we went to the Epistles as a genre. The only complain that I received, consistantly was that the course should have been longer to cover the other genres, escpecially Acts. The only lacking part is the the book could have used several charts to show the connections and relationships between exergesis and hermeneutics. This is a must own; must read; must teach; must .....

When I was first looking for a book to teach me basic exegetical skills, I ran into Don Carson and asked him for advice. Without hesitation he recommended this book. He was absolutely right. Having come through my M.Div. and not using this book once as an assigned reading, I can honestly say that this book has taught me more about exegesis than any other single work. (Though Carson's book Exegetical Fallacies is excellent as well).

One reviewer on this list states that the book has no "redemptive-historical" approach to it. Two things to say in response to this. Firstly, when writing any book on hermeneutics, this is a touchy issue. There are many excellent scholars out there who disagree with this type of approach and to over-emphasize that in a beginners volume will likely get the new exegete into trouble by seeing too much typology. Secondly, the book does address a redemptive-historical approach with the "already/not-yet" tension. The authors handle this issue with great wisdom, I believe. I myself hold to "salvation-historical" hermeneutic and I am very satisfied with this volume.

I have given this book to many Christians who are fairly young and not too familiar with biblical interpretation and have been very pleased with the way it has helped them, just as it helped me.

I highly recommend this book!

Although a lot of individuals may feel they do not require any hermeneutical training, I think a cursory read of a book like this should be a requisite for all Christians serious about studying Scripture. I think the rules and guidelines established in this book are excellent and are some of the best developed for the purpose of understanding and interpreting Scripture.

Epistles: When it comes to New Testament Epistles I think Fee gives some excellent advice when he says these books should be treated like letters. That means an individual should read through the text several times as they would any letter from a friend or correspondance and then begin breaking it down to understand it. Moreover, the concept that these texts could not mean something they did not mean to their original audience is crucial to grasp. A reader cannot be overly subjective and begin applying various Scripture passages to his or her life, when a particular passage does not mean what they think it means.

Historical books: I think Fee and Stuart make some great points when it comes to understanding the historical books of the Old and New Testaments. First, they argue that we should read these books to see God's activities in the affairs of Israel and His Church. Therefore, these texts are better understood when broken up into smaller sections and read as a progressive accout of salvation history. In addition, the authors warn against decontextualizing and allegorizing passages which is always a temptation when reading a historial narrative that doesn't seem to have much theological or spiritual significance.

The Gospels: Fee makes some great points when it comes to understanding the gospels. First, he argues that familiarity with the historical context is crucial and vitally important. If one is not remotely familiar with 1st century Mediterranean culture then they are at a disadvantage. Second, reading similar gospel accounts side by side and analyzing the minor differences can also shed light on which audience the gospel was intended and what message the author is attempting to convey in that instance. Also, established as a rule throughout is that one should read and think in paragraphs as a helpful guide to understanding these books.

The Laws: I like Stuart's treatement of the Hebrew legal books. First, he argues that these laws were given to Israel to benefit them and therefore must be understood as applying to the kingdom of Israel and not us, since we are not Israel. Although, this is a valid point I think the argument that unless a specific teaching of the law wasn't reiterated in the New Testament, then it isn't binding on us today is not a good argument. What about the laws condemning bestiality, homosexuality, incest, and rape? None of these were specifically mentioned by Jesus, but I don't think anyone would argue that they are no longer binding upon us today.

The books closes by dealing with the Psalms, Wisdom literature, and Revelation. Again, nothing new or groudbreaking here, just solid and sound advice with a few minor points of contention. Although, not as good as it could be, I think this book is the best out there as a guide to reading and understanding Scripture.

this book was recommended to me by several MDIV graduates as a basic primer on Biblical Interpretation. I found it very accessible, and found the principles easy to remember and teach to others (those in my small group, friends, etc.) I especially like how Fee & Stuart address particular interpretation issues specific to the Epistles, Old Testament, Prophecy, Wisdom books, and Gospels.

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.