By Hank Hanegraaff

God has spoken! As such the Bible is divine rather than merely human in origin. If indeed this is so, it is crucial to understand what He has said. And that involves learning to mine the Bible for all its wealth. To do so is both a science and an art. It is a science in that certain rules apply; it is an art in that the more often you apply the rules, the better you get at it. These rules can be easily remembered using the acronym L-I-G-H-T-S.

LITERAL. To interpret the Bible literally is to interpret it as literature. Simply put, this means we are to read the Bible just as we read other forms of communication: in its most obvious and natural sense.

ILLUMINATION. “We have not received the spirit of the world,” said Paul, “but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The Spirit of truth has historically provided the church (“the ground and pillar of truth”) with an understanding of Scripture that penetrates the heart and illumines the mind.

GRAMMAR. As the father of twelve children, I can testify firsthand to what scientific research has recently begun to validate—humans are hardwired for grammar from birth. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the basic principles of language that we unconsciously absorb in early childhood and consciously internalize from grade school onward are foundational to discovering the language of God.

HISTORY. The biblical text is best understood when we are familiar with the customs, culture, and historical context of biblical times. Familiarity with the historical context of the books of the Bible, along with some plain old common sense, will serve you well in your quest to mine the Bible for all its wealth.

T YPOLOGY. A type is a person, event, or institution in the redemptive history of the Old Testament that prefigures a corresponding but greater reality in the New Testament. The greater reality to which a type points, and in which it finds its fulfillment, is referred to as an antitype. Eschatology is the thread that weaves the tapestry of Scripture into a glorious pattern; typology is the fabric out of which the thread is spun.

SCRIPTURAL SYNERGY. Simply stated, the whole of Scripture is greater than the sum of its individual passages. We cannot comprehend the Bible as a whole without comprehending its individual passages, and we cannot comprehend its individual passages apart from comprehending the Bible as a whole. We must always bear in mind that all Scripture, though communicated through various human instruments, has one single Author. And that Author never contradicts Himself.

Familiarity with the literal, illumination, grammatical, historical, typology, and synergy principles is imperative in the quest to know the Lover of our souls.

 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 NASB

 

LITERAL
ILLUMINATION
GRAMMAR
HISTORY
TYPOLOGY
SCRIPTURAL SYNERGY

For further study,  Hank Hanegraaff, Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), Part Four. Also see What does it mean to interpret the Bible literally?

 

 

***Note the preceding text is adapted from The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition: Revised and Expanded (2024). To receive for your partnering gift please click here. ***