Dr. Heiser points out that it is a difficult job to understand the biblical worldview of the authors of Scripture [1]. It is a job that requires dedicated practice and keen attention to details that are often skipped over by eager students and lay Christians. Deliberate use of seven tools on a daily basis will hone Professional Theologists skills to a place of confident discernment towards the biblical worldview. These tools of interpretative value are:
1. Primary sources – The writings actually written by an identified author
2. Reference Works – Collections of reference material such as dictionaries and encyclopedias
3. Academic Monographs – Scholarly books devoted to a particular subject
4. Bible Commentaries – Provides explanation and interpretation of Biblical text from different viewpoints and different depths of information
5. Journal Articles – Academic magazines made more reliable by peer-review and challenges to published scholarship
6. Software – It is an important fact that LOGOS offers the best, cutting-edge biblical software and database, and for that reason, required in the official training of students by Becker Professional Theology Academy.
7. Online Resources – Mostly unreliable Internet resources, with scattered gems of scholarship and citations, require discernment between the absolute truths and the almost rights. There are ways to develop this discernment which will be discussed in that section of our lessons.
8. Historical Documents – The Christian Church has often struggled with the development of doctrine as newer ideas of faith and works developed in the new Church. Historical documentation records these events such as church counsels and offers a window into the thinking of the Church Fathers at a critical time in Christian history.
9. Archaeology, Art, Artifacts, and Icons – Visual and physical clues to the worldviews in biblical times open other windows for Professional Theologists to peek and see more of that past life and understand it in its specific focus.
10. Popular Media – Philosophy discourses, plays, books, journals, poems, paintings, games, stories and sculptures tell stories that reflect life in the time they are popular. A general sense of those times can often be developed through popular media; Professional Theologists must take great care that they are not used as primary sources but rather given the place of spice instead of the place of meat.
Some of these tools are more valuable to Professional Theologists than others. The tools that are authoritative and have impeccable, traceable authorship are more highly valued than those whose authorship is generalized or questionable. Thus, primary sources with a known and credentialed author are always more authoritative than online resources without a clear author citation.
Becker Professional Theology Academy requires a demonstrated knowledge and mastery of these ten resources before the degree of Professional Theology is awarded. Every course is built around the use of some, and usually most of these sources to increase skill in our students’ research capabilities.
Bibliography
Heiser, Michael S. BI101 Lecture Introducing Biblical Interpretation: Contexts and Resources: LOGOS Bible Software.
Links
About the Author
Kathy L. McFarland is President and Founder of Becker Bible Ministries, Inc. and the Becker Professional Theology Academy. She is also a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She has received her Bachelor of Science degree in Religious Studies from Liberty University, is on track for the Master of Divinity (Professional Ministries Track) degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary & Graduate School in 2016 and will be seeking a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Theology and Apologetics beginning in the fall of 2016. She is the originator of the newest theological movement to encourage Christian leaders to minister within the modern-day marketplace as Professional Theologists. She is also the Curriculum Developer for Becker Professional Theology Academy and a teaching faculty member. Kathy's favorite studies to teach include the connections between Old Testament exegesis, Christian Apologetics, and Bible typology and mysteries.
©2014-2015 Kathy L. McFarland. All Rights Reserved.