Context: How to Understand the Bible

By James L. Nicodem and D. A. Carson

How do we understand a book as complex as the Bible? History, laws, poetry, prophecy, apocalypse, letters... and all of it written thousands of years ago!

The answer is context.

In this uncomplicated, clarifying book, Pastor Jim Nicodem explains how to accurately interpret a Bible passage by unpacking its various contexts.

• Start with its historical setting: author, recipient, date, and purpose
• Then determine its literary genre: law, narrative, prophecy, poetry, gospel, or epistle.
• Finally, identify the key theological issues.

Sound difficult? Not once you employ the simple study tools the book includes.

Perfect for everyone, from first-time Bible readers to Bible study leaders, Context is a wonderful tool to help with basic Bible reading or more in-depth study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Release date: Mar 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9780802484079

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Introduction: Fitting the Pieces Together

JIGSAW PUZZLES are a popular holiday diversion in my home. After a big meal with family and friends, our guests will fan out into different rooms to read, talk, nap, or watch a ball game. But inevitably a card table will be set up in the living room, a lamp will be plugged in nearby for greater illumination, and the thousand pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are dumped out for assembly.

There are usually a few diehards in the group who stay at it from beginning to end. But almost everybody contributes at some point—grandparents, teenagers, ball game watchers on commercial breaks. It’s irresistible. You can’t stop at the table for even a minute without picking up a piece and trying to put it in its proper spot. And when our puzzles are completed, we coat their surfaces with a transparent glue (Mod Podge, if you’re interested) and hang them on the walls of our downstairs playroom as decorations.

As a person who knows something about puzzles, I can tell you that an indispensable aid to putting one together is the top of the box that it comes in. That’s where the picture is. The picture lets you know what your final product is supposed to look like. A giant cheeseburger? A bouquet of flowers? A Norman Rockwell painting? A panoramic view of the Grand