connect the stages of the biblical narrative with the four principles
To be able to understand the biblical narratives, one has to follow every step of biblical narrative but at the same time applying the principles of biblical narrative interpretation. Biblical narrative begins with the creation story in the book of Genesis, where God created everything in six days, and on the seventh day, he rested. God created the earth for a man to live per God’s will and purpose (Klein, Blomberg & Hubbard, 2017). The second stage of the narrative comes with the fall of man. Man sinned against God by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree at the center of the Garden of Eden. God inflicted punishment to the man of suffering and death. Besides, the man was sent to the earth, where he began to struggle. The third part of the narrative is about the redemption story and the plan of God to save humankind from sin. In the process of redeeming human beings, God sends His son Jesus Christ to die at the cross for man to be saved. Lastly comes the story of restoration where the Bible says in the second coming, God will restore man from sinful and evil ways.
The principles of understanding and interpreting the biblical narratives are very crucial. The principles include the careful observation of the content of the text. Secondly, understanding the context of the word, this consists of the parts of the discourses around a word (Klein, Blomberg & Hubbard, 2017). Getting the clarity of a passage is another critical principle in biblical interpretation. Finally, the comparison of one scripture to another is key in getting the flow and clarity of Biblical narratives. The thought process that I applied in connecting the stages of the biblical story and the principles is critical and analytical thinking. According to (Baghaei & Ghaffarzadegan, 2015) analytical thinking involves the separation of the whole thing into its elemental parts to be able to examine the various components and interrelationships involved. Besides, thinking logically in a step-by-step manner while breaking down a more extensive system of information into its parts.
References
Baghaei Lakeh, A., & Ghaffarzadegan, N. (2015). Does analytical thinking improve understanding of accumulation?. System dynamics review, 31(1-2), 46-65.
Klein, W. W., Blomberg, C. L., & Hubbard Jr, R. L. (2017). Introduction to biblical interpretation. Zondervan Academic.
