“What you have heard from me in the
presence of many witnesses entrust to
faithful men who will be able to teach others
also.”
- 2 Timothy 2:2
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Book 1:
Hermeneutics
Dr. Earl Radmacher and TTI Staff
Copyright © 2010 Dr. Earl Radmacher and TTI.
ttionline.org
TTI Publications
West Palm Beach, Florida USA
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Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………….………….............. 10
Chapter 1: God’s Communication Process, Part 1………............. 12
Chapter 2: God’s Communication Process, Part 2……..……….. 19
Chapter 3: Introduction to Hermeneutics……………………….. 26
Chapter 4: Preparation for Hermeneutics……………................... 32
Chapter 5: The Principles of Literal Interpretation………………. 37
Chapter 6: The Different Forms of Literature, Part 1…………...…41
Chapter 7: The Different Forms of Literature, Part 2…………….. 47
Chapter 8: Figures of Speech…………………………… ……….. 51
Chapter 9: Word Meanings, Part 1……………………….………. 54
Chapter 10: Word Meanings, Part 2…………………….……….. 59
Chapter 11: Word Relationships………………………………….. 63
Chapter 12: Context……………………………………..……….. 69
Chapter 13: Culture, Part 1…………...………………………….. 73
Chapter 14: Culture, Part 2……...……………………….……….. 77
Chapter 15: Culture, Part 3………………….………….………….81
Chapter 16: Parables……………………………………………….87
Chapter 17: Typology……………………………………………...92
Chapter 18: Meaning and Application……………………………. 97
Chapter 19: History of Interpretation, Part 1……….…….............101
Chapter 20: History of Interpretation, Part 2……….…….............107
Chapter 21: History of Interpretation, Part 3……………………..111
Chapter 22: History of Interpretation, Part 4……………………..115
Chapter 23: History of Interpretation, Part 5………..….………...119
Chapter 24: Practical Uses of the Bible………….....…..………...125
Endnotes………………………….……………………...………..131
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Chapter 1
God’s Communication Process
Part 1
Genesis 3 tells the famous story of Adam and Eve’s sinful
disobedience. Because of their sin, humankind has a broken
relationship with God. We cannot communicate with Him as easily
and perfectly as we used to. There is a communication gap.
Fortunately, God intervened. After the Fall of Man, God found a new
way to communicate with us, and we will study this process in the
coming chapters:
Revelation & Inspiration  Transmission  Translation
Interpretation  Application
1. The Purpose of God’s Communication Process
A. The Goal: To Become More Like Christ
 The overall goal of hermeneutics is to live a life in
greater conformity to the person of Jesus Christ.
 Rom. 8:28 tells us that we are predestined to be
conformed to Christ’s image. This is God’s will for us
 2 Cor. 3:18 also teaches that we become like that which
we look at. You are changed into that same image as that
which you are beholding. From this verse we learn that to
become like God, you must look at God. In the same way
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that Moses’ face glowed after seeing the glory of God,
you must also see the glory of God in order to manifest
His glory in your life.
B. The Reason: When We Become Like Christ, Our Lives
Experience Transformation
 When you become like Christ, everything about you
changes. Your attitudes and your behaviors are
transformed.
 The attitude that you have will grow out of your
understanding of the person of God. The actions you
perform grow out of the attitude that you have.
 Right actions are based on right thinking, and right
thinking starts by thinking right about God
C. The Problem: Humanity Is Separated From God And Cannot
See Him
 Every man is born in sin, which blocks our vision of God.
We cannot see Him or know His mind.
 Isa. 55:8—According to this verse, there are things in the
mind of God that no one knows. There are thoughts and
plans in God’s mind that are totally inaccessible to us.
 1 Cor. 2:9— This verse adds that the mind of God is not
something we can discover. “No eye has seen them”
means that we cannot know the mind of God through
science. “No ear has heard” means that our traditions,
the knowledge that has been passed down to us, cannot
know God’s thoughts either. “The heart of man has not
imagined them” means that not even the best intuitive
insight has revealed these things of God. No man, apart
from God, can know what God is like, His attributes and
His plan
 Because man cannot see God or know His will, man
cannot know how to think or live the way God desires
 God therefore solves our problem by bridging the
communication gap
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2. Revelation
Apart from God, we cannot see Him or know His mind. That is why
the first step of God’s Communication Process is Revelation.
Through Revelation, God reveals Himself to us so that we may see
Him.
A. The Doctrine of Revelation
 Though revelation, God unveils to us that which we
would have otherwise not known
 Example: On a cloudy day, you cannot see the sun or the
moon or the stars above you. They are blocked from your
vision. However, when the clouds go away you can see
everything that you could not see before. That is
revelation. God is lifting the clouds so that we can see
things that we could never see before.
 Deu. 29:29—Out of all the things God knows, He has
chosen to reveal some things to us.
B. Two Categories of Revelation
 As God reveals Himself to us, He does so in two
particular ways: Through General Revelation, and
Special Revelation.
 General Revelation refers to the knowledge that any
human being can grasp of God’s existence and His
attributes from what they perceive in the world around
them.
o Psa. 19:1-6—The first half of Psa. 19 refers to the
general sense of God’s presence that any person can
have from nature and the world.
o Rom. 1:19-20—These verses tell us that God has
given us General Revelation, but the mind of man is
twisted and has not recognized it
o While humanity can have knowledge of God through
General Revelation, this knowledge is not enough for
salvation. That is why we need God’s Special
Revelation.
 Special Revelation refers to the specific message that
God gives to a group of people at particular points in
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time, enabling them to enter into a saving relationship
with Him.1
o Psa. 19:7-11—While the first half of Psa. 19 is
General Revelation, the second half is Special
Revelation. It refers to God’s laws and His teachings
and Scriptures, which all belong to the category of
Special Revelation
o Examples of special revelation include the Bible, or
God’s direct address to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
o While people may know that God exists or that He is
the Creator of the world through General Revelation,
they can only know the Gospel through Special
Revelation.2 Each and every human being needs the
revelation of God’s Word for salvation. (2 Tim. 3:15)
C. Two Types of Special Revelation
 In the same way that there are two categories of
Revelation, there are also two types of Special
Revelation: Personal Revelation and Propositional
Revelation.
 Personal Revelation—This type of special revelation
refers to the very specific revelation of Jesus Christ.
Through Jesus, God revealed himself personally and most
dramatically to the world. (Joh. 14:7, 1 Joh. 1:1-3)
 Propositional Revelation—In addition to revealing
Himself to us through the “person” of Jesus Christ, God
has also given us “propositions” that explain His actions
to us. (Joh. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13)
o The great and mighty acts of God would be difficult
to understand if God did not give us an explanation
of them.
o Example: Imagine you are walking along the road
and you see a man jumping up and down waving his
hands in the air. One person might see this man and
think “That man was stung by a bee.” Another person
might pass by and think, “That man is drunk.” And a
third person might look at him and say, “That man
has been kicked out of the house by his wife.” There
can be as many interpretations of that man’s actions
as there are people walking down the road. However,
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o
o
o
o
we can’t know what his behavior really means unless
he explains it to us.
Similarly, Jesus’ death on the cross was
misunderstood. Some claimed that if Jesus was the
Christ then he should save himself and get off the
cross. They saw a deluded fanatic. Others thought it
was a pity for a great man to give his life in such a
hopeless way. They saw a tragedy.
But God tells us to look at Jesus on the cross and see
the victorious Lord of Glory!
Without God’s explanations or propositions, we
don’t know if Jesus’ death on the cross was that of a
victor or a victim.
In this way, Personal Revelation needs Propositional
Revelation to explain it.
Final Note: Jesus was the apex of revelation. He embodied both
personal and propositional revelation
A. Jesus is a Personal Revelation in that he came to earth as a
person to reveal God to the world
B. However Jesus is also an important part of Propositional
Revelation. Everything in the Old Testament was preparation
for him, and everything in the New Testament was an
explanation of him
C. In this way, the Gospels are the epitome of revelation. In
them, we see one man, Jesus Christ, who brought the Word
of God but also was the Word of God.
3. Revelation Through God’s Word and God’s Spirit
Now that we know how God reveals Himself to us, how do we access
His revelation? We do so with the help of God’s Word, the Bible, and
God’s Holy Spirit.
A. God’s Word—Both the personal revelation of Christ and the
propositional teachings about God are contained within the
Bible.
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


The Bible is the concrete embodiment of revelation.3 Not
only are the words and message inspired, but the stories
of Christ’s life are a type of revelation as well.
Although the Bible was written down by men, its words
are the very words of God
The Apostle Paul does speak, but not with a wisdom of
this age. He instead reflects the wisdom of God. (1 Cor.
2:6-15)4
B. God’s Spirit—Revelation happened in a final and definitive
form in Jesus Christ. But revelation happens again and again
in the experience of the Spirit of Christ.5
 1 Cor. 2:6-15 reminds us that to know the mind of God,
He must tell us. No one knows the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God.
 Joh. 16:7— Although we generally believe that life
would be easier and decisions would be simpler if Jesus
was standing beside us, Jesus disagrees.
 It is actually better to have the Spirit inside us, guiding
and directing our path. We may not have the benefit of
witnessing the personal revelation of Jesus Christ, but we
have something better: His Spirit. (Joh. 14:26)
Conclusion
At the heart of the doctrine of revelation is the knowledge that we are
helpless apart from God. We cannot know about God without His
gracious intervention on our behalf. If we do not insist that God’s
Communication Process begins with Revelation, we stray towards a
religion that emphasizes our own work, ability and intelligence. The
doctrine of revelation therefore explains how we can access God in
spite of our sin, while attributing all glory and honor to the only One
who deserves it, the Almighty God.
Review Questions
1. What does Rom. 1:18-23 tell us about man’s response to
general revelation?
2. What are the two categories of revelation? Cite a Bible
reference for each.
3. What are the five steps in God’s communication process?
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4. Under which category of revelation do Personal and
Propositional Revelation appear?
5. According to the Doctrine of Revelation, what is happening
when you share the Gospel with someone? How might this
knowledge give comfort and confidence to the evangelist?
6. As a church planter, what might be some obstacles to work
through in your place of mission that prevent people from
seeing the revelation of God in the Scriptures? What attitudes
or cultural beliefs would you have to challenge?
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