Interpreting the New Testament

The New Testament is a collection of twenty-seven books written about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. It is the most important Christian text and is known by many names, including apocryphal Gospels, Acts of Apostles, epistles and Revelation. It is also called the Bible, which essentially means "The Word of God."

The Bible is a collection of texts that are believed to have been inspired by God and to contain His instructions for the way that people should live. It has been used by Christians throughout history as a source of guidance and spiritual direction.

Historically, the Bible was not written in one go and it took many years for the twenty-seven books to become widely accepted as canonical. The canonization process took place through the convocation of bishops from around the world in Ecumenical Councils, beginning in the fourth century.

These bishops assembled a committee of scholars to establish the list of canonical books, which was later ratified by all the churches in the Christian church. The books that are included in the canon are theologically authoritative and therefore considered to be inerrant.

Biblical interpretation is a study of the Bible's meaning and how it should be applied in today's world. It involves the use of historical methods, literary analysis, and critical theory.

There are three main scholarly traditions of interpreting the Bible: extract and apply, extrapolate and apply, and complementarian. The three interpretive approaches differ largely in their assumptions about the context and meaning of the Bible.

Extract and apply
This approach sees New Testament injunctions to men and women as universally applicable in every time and place. These injunctions should be interpreted in a way that is clear and easy to understand. This perspective, common among some of the more conservative evangelicals, is rooted in the idea that the Bible is "one book," and that it has one universal meaning that applies to all times and places.

It is a method of interpreting the Bible that has been used for centuries by Christians all over the world. It involves looking for the meaning that was originally intended by the author of the text and then applying it to a particular situation.

Complementarian
A complementarian approach to biblical interpretation focuses on the cultural context of a text. This is the most common approach and is often seen as a more intellectual approach to understanding the Bible.

In addition, a complementarian will look at how the writer portrayed their gender in order to determine what the passage meant to them. This approach is especially prevalent among women.

Theologically, a complementarian will seek to determine how the Bible teaches about God and His relationship to His creation. This will often involve examining aspects of the Bible such as theology, eschatology, pneumatology and angelology.

This is the most popular and commonly-accepted interpretive approach to the Bible, and it is based on the belief that God's Word is not limited by time or place. This perspective also allows for the use of modern language in interpreting the Bible.