Editorial Updated 21 Jan 2007,   Book and Books

      In the years 1966-1970 I picked up my hermeneutical approach to the
Bible. It was known in classical  hermeneutical circles as the Grammatical-
Historical approach to scriptures (now looked on as outdated—but I don’t
think so). I studied Terry’s* classical book on it as well as Ramm’s**. And
I also studied Buck Hatch (who had adapted and expanded Robert C.
McQuilkin’s approach to hermeneutics). I adapted Buck Hatch’s approach
and even expanded it by creating task/procedure sheets and popular study
sheets.    

     One of the more important hermeneutical principles is that of Book and
Books stated below.

          Book and Books Hermeneutical Law—

          IN THE SPIRIT, PRAYERFULLY STUDY THE BOOK AS A
          WHOLE IN TERMS OF ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER
          BOOKS IN THE BIBLE (i.e. the Bible as a whole) TO          
          INCLUDE:                  

          a.  its place in the progress of revelation (I am assuming
              two kinds ofprogress—The Drama of Redemption in
              which we study the 7 major revelation types—progress
              both in type of revelation and content revealed— from
              God and The Six Leadership Eras),   

   
          b.  its overall contribution to the whole of Bible literature
               (i.e. its purposes—why is it in the Bible? What would we
               lose if it weren’t? ) and      

          c.  its abiding contribution to present time (how does what
               it reveal affect us today).

   I have carefully worked back through 1,2 Timothy (books I
am doing “base + advance” work on in preparation for teaching 1,2
Timothy at the Clinton gathering this coming August).It is this law
that I see so many present day author’s or exegetes, failing to
capitalize and hence we get things taken out of context and
we see resonance missed. I dubbed this as a great failing in my
MMM for 29 January 2007.  Here is my leadership quote I opened
the MMM with.

     "Biblical Illiteracy, even of those who study the Bible,  is never
      seen more patently than in the lack of recognizing the
      hermeneutical law of “Book and Books.” Clinton

   If you are interested in seeing my hermeneutical system explained,
download  ClintonHermeneutics.pdf  by clicking on the following:  

Clinton Hermeneutics
 

(and in fact I will send you my Special Hermeneutics laws
as well—which are not included in the excerpt above if you ask
me for them).

   My hermeneutical system informs my understanding of each
Bible book I study. I do it first before I ever  start applying leadership
thinking and perspectives to inform what I see. See my Bible and
Leadership Values  in which I apply all the Macro-Hermeneutical Laws
to each book in the Bible.

   My leadership studies follow—after I have ascertained the
hermeneutical findings. 

   Blessings,Bobby Clinton 

*I actually studied through this book twice during the years 1965,
1966. Biblical Hermeneutics:
A Treatise On The Interpretation Of The Old And New Testaments
by Milton S. Terry, S.T.D. (1840-1914) New York : Methodist Book
Concern, c1911.

**I studied through this book once in about 1966, Protestant
Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook of Hermeneutics,
3rd revised edition, Baker Book House, 1970. by Ramm,
Bernard L., (1916-1992) .