Spirit-guided Exegesis

By Al Danks

Why is Spirit-guided Exegesis helpful?

 

Because the Holy Spirit guides us into the truth in exegesis in the same way he guides us into all truth, Spirit-guided Exegesis is helpful to those who seek to learn more about how the Holy Spirit guides us into truth and what we must do to be guided. The discussion and example in this book are a valuable addition to The Guiding Into Truth Work of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Spirit-guided Exegesis shares how the Holy Spirit guides us into truth and our role being guided in the context of exegesis. Because of this, this book is also helpful to those who seek the Holy Spirit's help in the process of exegesis.

 

Spirit-guided Exegesis will contribute answers to the following questions posed by Dr. John W. Wyckoff in his book Pneuma and Logos:

 

• What, if any, is the relationship of the Holy Spirit to biblical hermeneutics?
• If the Holy Spirit is involved, what is the nature and content of knowledge gained as a result of this involvement?
• Who qualifies as a Spirit-guided interpreter: with whom does the Holy Spirit work in the process?
• How does the Holy Spirit work with the interpreter; what is the nature of the Spirit's role in relationship to that of the human interpreter?
• What is the human role in interpretation when the Holy Spirit is involved?

Unfortunately, in his research, he found that "those who posited a role of the spirit in interpretation did not provide extensive descriptions of this work. Specifics regarding 'how' the Holy Spirit assisted the interpreter to understand the message were not given. also, these interpreters did not indicate in concrete, cognitive terms how the understanding given by the Holy Spirit differed from that gained by ordinary means."

 

Spirit-guided Exegesis will contribute answers to the questions posed by Dr. Wyckoff. It will discuss

 

• Our role in working with the Holy Spirit in the processes of exegesis and hermeneutics.
• The Holy Spirit's role in the processes.
• How the Holy Spirit guides us in the processes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alton Danks
• Release date: Apr 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781948081627

Al Danks

I am the author of the web site perfectingprayer.com. I am also the author of the books The Guiding Into Truth Work of the Holy Spirit, Effective Prayer, Ceased From Sin: Living To Do God's Will, Spiritual Warfare: Sowing, The Truth About Eternal Life, and Go the Way You Should Go.

Book preview

Introduction

Introduction

In his book Pneuma and Logos, Dr. John W. Wyckoff stated that, One issue in the field of hermeneutics that is often mentioned but seldom discussed extensively is the question of the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the interpretative process.¹ In his book he looks at five key questions.

"What, if any, is the relationship of the Holy Spirit to biblical hermeneutics?

If the Holy Spirit is involved, what is the nature and content of knowledge gained as a result of this involvement?

Who qualifies as a Spirit-guided interpreter: with whom does the Holy Spirit work in the process?

How does the Holy Spirit work with the interpreter; what is the nature of the Spirit’s role in relationship to that of the human interpreter?"²

What is the human role in interpretation when the Holy Spirit is involved?³

Unfortunately, in his research, he found that those who posited a role of the spirit in interpretation did not provide extensive descriptions of this work. Specifics regarding ‘how’ the Holy Spirit assisted the interpreter to understand the message were not given. also, these interpreters did not indicate in concrete, cognitive terms how the understanding given by the Holy Spirit differed from that gained by ordinary means.⁴

Spirit-guided Exegesis will contribute answers to the questions posed by Dr. Wyckoff. It will discuss

Our role in working with the Holy Spirit in the processes of exegesis and hermeneutics.

The Holy Spirit’s role in the processes.

How the Holy Spirit guides us in the processes.

Some key definitions

Dr. Wyckoff defines ‘exegesis’ as the process of bringing out of the text the meaning intended by the author and understood by the original readers in their historical situation.⁵

Fee and Stuart define exegesis as the process to find out what the text originally meant.⁶

I suggest that a better definition of exegesis is that exegesis is the process by which we seek accurate and complete perception of a representation of reality. Exegesis includes discerning if a representation of reality corresponds to reality – is true. Truth is the accurate and complete representation of reality.

Words are units of language, spoken or written, that function as a representation of reality. A passage of the Bible is a representation of reality made by the author of that passage. Since we hold the Bible to be true, we hold that all of the passages in the Bible are true – they correspond to reality. We also hold that they correspond to the reality that the author of the passage intended to represent. Definitions of exegesis that seek the meaning intended by the author are really seeking to determine the representation of reality the author intended to make.

When we hear a passage of scripture, our perception of what we heard becomes a representation of reality. We must discern if this representation of reality – our perception – corresponds to what the author intended and if it corresponds to reality – is true. Seeking how the original hearers understood the passage gives us another representation of reality to help us discern what the author intended and our understanding.

The discussion of our role is based on John 16:13 and the biblical commands not to rely on our own understanding, to ask, seek, knock, hear, discern, follow, and think on these things; and on my observations of the Spirit guiding into truth as I followed those commands. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 11:9-11; Mark 4:3-25; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 1 John 4:1-3; John 10:27; Philippians 4:8). An example of Spirit-guided exegesis and its result is included: the identities of the scroll and horsemen of the book of Revelation.

Our role

1: Ask and continue to ask

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus begins his teaching with the Lord’s prayer. He follows that with the parable of a man who asks and continues to ask his friend for bread. Through the parable Jesus taught them that perseverance produces results, then he instructs them to ask, seek, knock with the same perseverance