What did Luke mean when he wrote the Gospel of Luke to first century people?

How could we reasonably expect his writings to be understood at that time in history?

That's the way we are to understand the Bible now, how it was written then.

We recognize that the documents themselves are tied, are chained, are tethered, if you will, to the historical

context in which they were originally written.

Have you ever heard someone in a Bible study say, to me, this verse means, or perhaps even a Bible-studied leader, ask the group, what does this verse mean to you?

I used to approach the Bible like that, not for many years, but I've been guilty of it.

Well, that's not the way God intended for us to interpret specific

books or texts in the Bible. I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and thanks for joining us for this

Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind. We'll be spending a week growing in our ability to study

and interpret Scripture. Knowing Scripture is the title of this week's series, and it's a 12 message series

from R.C. Sprole that lays out guidelines and principles for understanding the Bible. If you'd

like to own this series, we'll send it to you on DVD and unlock Lifetime Digital Access

to all the messages and the companion study guide when you give

a donation of any amount at Renewing Your Mind.org. Not only will this series help you in your

Bible study, your generosity will help spread Bible teaching resources to people around the

world. Well, here's Dr. Sprawl on the science of biblical interpretation.

There's a sense in which interpreting the Bible is an art. Maybe even it would be better

to call it a science. But for a moment at least, let's stick with the analogy of art. I think of the category of art because of the

problems that we've all been able to recognize in 20th century culture of a new wave of art that is

swept across the landscape of our culture and in cases, bringing a sense of confusion and chaos.

And one of the questions that the art critic is interested in, and the layman as well,

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