The Bible may be more than an ordinary human book but it’s not less, and the same principles therefore apply in interpreting it as in interpreting what my wife wants me to do. Only the stakes are even higher!
Don’t assume a parable narrates something that actually happened. Recognize that apocalyptic is filled with symbols. Expect a lot of metaphors in poetry. Don’t treat a proverb as an exception-less absolute.
With every literary genre or form come some conventional expectations that the biblical authors either follow or deviate from.
In the New Testament alone there are Gospels, acts, epistles, and an apocalypse. Gospels contain literary forms like miracles, parables, pronouncements, proverbs, farewell discourses, annunciations, and so on. Epistles can be apologetic, commendatory, friendship-oriented, exhortational, diatribes.
Never take biblical interpretation lightly. Never assume you’ve arrived or learned all that you can. Be a lifelong learner, but always apply what you’re learning to yourself in real-life situations. Accurate interpretation is meant to lead to obedience.
No one actually lives as if there is no objective truth.
Protestants and Catholics have historically disagreed on the canon of the Old Testament but agreed on the canon of the New Testament. Christians throughout history have at times been imprisoned and even martyred for keeping books of the Bible or whole Bibles when told to surrender them to political authorities.
