Lenses of Context
Reading and understanding the Bible can be challenging. It is a collection of ancient writings composed over fifteen hundred years by more than thirty different authors across three continents, each with its own unique context. The Bible is full of word pictures, analogies, literary genres, and languages that are unfamiliar to us today.
To grasp what God intends to communicate, we must first understand the message that the Bible's authors conveyed to their original audience. Training learners to be responsible Bible readers involves teaching them to engage with the Bible in its original context and equipping them with tools for future study. The challenge for Bible educators is to help learners learn about the Bible's context and to empower them to make these discoveries on their own.
The historical lens helps us understand the setting of the story and what was happening in the world at that time. It helps students learn about the real people, places, and situations during the events described in the Bible.
Cultural
"Love God, Love Others" uses six lenses of context to uncover the original meaning of Bible passages. This framework helps unify learners from all denominations, traditions, and backgrounds to engage in responsible Bible reading and to grow personally and as a community. When we study the Bible through these six lenses, its content and stories come alive with meaning and understanding.
The six lenses of context are historical, cultural, geographical, visual, linguistic, and literary. These lenses will be introduced to learners in the earliest grades through context characters that reinforce their recognition and use. In elementary school, lessons will be taught using these lenses to help learners better understand the biblical text. In middle school, students will practice their interpretation of the Bible using these lenses as a tool for Bible study.
Historical
The cultural lens helps learners understand what life was like for biblical people, including their jobs, education, food, religious practices, marriage customs, clothing, government practices, and social norms. This lens reveals how certain groups viewed the world and what they valued.
Geographical
The geographical lens helps learners understand where events took place. The land and its features are crucial to the story. This lens shows how roads, transportation, farming, trade, soil, climate, and geology impact the biblical narrative. The Bible’s authors assumed their readers knew what the locations of their stories were like.
Visual
The visual lens helps us see the details in the Bible. Photographs or illustrations of locations and events help learners understand all the other context lenses better. Seeing pictures allows students to visualize being part of the story.
Linguistic
The linguistic lens helps learners understand the languages of the Bible. The Older Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the Newer Testament in Greek. Studying these original languages allows for more accurate interpretation of the authors' intended messages.
Literary
The literary lens helps learners understand the Bible’s literature, its categories, and how it is designed and structured. It teaches the different genres of the Bible and how to responsibly interpret them. This lens also highlights the importance of the placement of biblical texts and how the authors communicated their messages through their writing formats.
By using these six lenses, learners can develop a deeper and more accurate understanding of the Bible, transforming their reading into a meaningful and insightful experience.
