Grasping God's Word has proven itself in classrooms across the country as an invaluable help to students who want to learn how to read, interpret, and apply the Bible for themselves. The third edition, revised based on feedback from professors, will continue to serve college-level students and lay learners well in their quest to gain a firm grasp on the rock of God’s word.
Old Testament scholar J. Daniel Hays and New Testament expert J. Scott Duvall provide practical, hands-on exercises to guide students through the interpretive process. To emphasize the Bible’s redemptive arc and encourage correlation across the biblical canon, the authors have included a call to "Consult the biblical map. How does a theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?" as an additional step in the Interpretive Journey. This edition has also been rearranged for clarity and includes updated illustrations, appendices, bibliography, and assignments.
A robust suite of learning aids is available for purchase to be used alongside the textbook to help students excel in their studies. These include a workbook, video lectures for each chapter featuring the authors, and a laminated quick study sheet with key concepts from the book. Free teaching resources for instructors and learning resources for students are available for Grasping God's Word on ZondervanAcademic.com.
Reviews (189)
Good text book great insight
Great book for studying the Bible and a wonderful text book. I disagree with the thought that the Holy Spirit cannot help you interpret scripture, that is found in this book. It says without everything and the way you do their methods of study, then you cannot interpret the Bible correctly. If the Holy Spirit helped them write it, can’t he help us read it?
Not Good if You're Reformed or Lutheran. Good if You're a "New Calvinist" and a Premillenial Dispensationalist.
There is a lot of good stuff here, but my primary gripe is that they deny an important hermeneutical distinction made by Luther, Calvin, and every Reformation Christian that followed in their wake for hundreds of years. What they deny is the proper distinction between Law and Gospel. They also deny that the Law can be divided into ceremonial, civil, and moral categories. This distinction was also held to by all of the Reformers. By denying these crucial distinctions, they are redifining how Protestant Christians read their Bible. The inevitable result will be substantive departures from historic, Reformation Christianity. I think that's dangerous. Where are they, and those following them, going to end up? They're essentially rethinking the Christian faith. The authors are writing from a premillinial-dispensationalist-baptist perspective, so they encourage readers to take the apocalyptic literature of Revelation literally, as much as is absolutely possible. That's interesting, when the authors take all references to baptism and the Lord's supper in the scriptures to be figurative, even when the context is historical narrative (i.e. this is my body, baptism now saves you, etc.). As a general rule, it is a good historical, literary approach to understanding the scriptures. If you are a more traditional Reformed Baptist who holds to Covenental Theology, or if you are more Classically Reformed or Lutheran, then there will be much that you find in this book that is at direct odds with your tradition and your confessional standards. If you are a "New Calvinist" baptist, and a premillenial-dispensationalist, then you'll probably be in essential agreement with the authors, as that is the perspective they are writing from.
A must read book!!!
Had to get this for a class and I'm so glad I got it. It has really helped me to be able to read and understand the Bible. I've been in church since I was 3 years old and grew up in it. But was always intimidated to read and study the word of God because I felt I couldn't fully understand it. Now I'm loving studying the Bible any chance I get. I brag about this book all the time to my friends. A must read. It's also helped with the Bible studies we give. Great material and written perfectly for anyone to understand.
Excellent Resource for Properly Interpreting the Scriptures
This book is worth the investment, especially for all Bible teachers, pastors, and preachers - anyone who has a platform to explain the Word of God in a public (or private) setting. This book provides clarity and foundation for properly interpreting the text objectively so that the Word of God is preached without bias. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Word of God with the proper lenses.
Such a Great Resource!
I cannot say enough good things about this book. This was one of the required textbooks for a seminary and I found it to be very engaging to read. The book is written so well and really gives the reader some practical strategies in how to read the Bible and how to accurately interpret what you read. It is a great resource for anyone waning to dig deeper and get the most out of your Bible study, This is a book that I will indeed hang onto and use as a resource in the future.
I loved this book
This book was required reading in seminary. I loved this book! I learned what it's means that exegesis is an act of love. I also learned how to apply the Biblical teaching that Scripture never contradicts itself. Don't look at verses outside of context, and don't assume that one verse confirms your understanding. Look at various verses, consider the historical circumstances, and the literary type. When I completed my class at seminary, I sold the book but later regretted not having it and bought another copy to use in my personal Bible study.
The book itself is excellent. If you are purchasing the kindle version in ...
The book itself is excellent. If you are purchasing the kindle version in order to listen to the text-to-speech option, be warned that it can be hard to follow. In my opinion, the pausing is messed up. It pauses longer at commas than periods, which is the opposite of how it should be. This makes comprehending the text difficult. Also, reading out the long lists of references is tedious and the reading of the Bible abbreviations can be confusing.
Readable, Understandable, Applicable
If you have an interest in learning more about God's Word, I believe you'd find tis book helpful. It is broken into concise chapters that aid in understanding how to get the most out of relating the Word as it was written in Biblical times to today's world, using a 5 step process that makes sense. Using this book will help you get more from the Bible, and if you apply what you learn, help to build a closer relationship with Him.
Great tools for the serious Bible student.
This is a Bible college level textbook and my first class using an e-book. The Kindle edition is excellent. It is written very well with good illustrations that took a little experimenting to learn how to enlarge. I enjoyed the class that I took using this text very much. I think having the workbook to go along with the Kindle edition would have enhanced my learning experience.
A readable book on a sometimes dull topic.
This is very much a text book but the great thing about it is that it doesn't actually read like one. The layout is very rational as each chapter builds on the other. This being said, the reader isn't fully obligated to start at chapter one and work through; each chapter is thorough enough to stand alone. Speaking of content, each chapter does a wonderful job at dealing with issues and provides clear distinctions between crucial concepts such as approaching Scripture with preunderstandings and helps at identifying some of them. There are numerous exercises sprinkled throughout the book that give a great chance to try out the different study methods and analysis techniques. As far as weaknesses, if the reader doesn't share the same theological principles (especially as pertains to inspirations and inerrancy) then this book won't be much useful. Also, there are a couple of places, especially concerning the role of the Holy Spirit in study, where the reasoning strikes me as somewhat circular. In my opinion, none of these are particularly surprising or disturbing. In short, I plan to keep this volume around for lessons on biblical interpretation at my church and as a resource to get the most out of my bible study while ensuring responsible interpretations. I highly recommend this book.
Good text book great insight
Great book for studying the Bible and a wonderful text book. I disagree with the thought that the Holy Spirit cannot help you interpret scripture, that is found in this book. It says without everything and the way you do their methods of study, then you cannot interpret the Bible correctly. If the Holy Spirit helped them write it, can’t he help us read it?
Not Good if You're Reformed or Lutheran. Good if You're a "New Calvinist" and a Premillenial Dispensationalist.
There is a lot of good stuff here, but my primary gripe is that they deny an important hermeneutical distinction made by Luther, Calvin, and every Reformation Christian that followed in their wake for hundreds of years. What they deny is the proper distinction between Law and Gospel. They also deny that the Law can be divided into ceremonial, civil, and moral categories. This distinction was also held to by all of the Reformers. By denying these crucial distinctions, they are redifining how Protestant Christians read their Bible. The inevitable result will be substantive departures from historic, Reformation Christianity. I think that's dangerous. Where are they, and those following them, going to end up? They're essentially rethinking the Christian faith. The authors are writing from a premillinial-dispensationalist-baptist perspective, so they encourage readers to take the apocalyptic literature of Revelation literally, as much as is absolutely possible. That's interesting, when the authors take all references to baptism and the Lord's supper in the scriptures to be figurative, even when the context is historical narrative (i.e. this is my body, baptism now saves you, etc.). As a general rule, it is a good historical, literary approach to understanding the scriptures. If you are a more traditional Reformed Baptist who holds to Covenental Theology, or if you are more Classically Reformed or Lutheran, then there will be much that you find in this book that is at direct odds with your tradition and your confessional standards. If you are a "New Calvinist" baptist, and a premillenial-dispensationalist, then you'll probably be in essential agreement with the authors, as that is the perspective they are writing from.
