How to Read
Before you can evaluate what the New Testament says about Jesus, you need to notice how you are reading it. These guides introduce the interpretive habits that make honest inquiry possible — and the common pitfalls that derail it.
Why this section exists
Every reader brings assumptions to the text. That is unavoidable. But there is a difference between knowing you have assumptions and mistaking them for what the text "obviously" says. Hermeneutics — the study of interpretation — gives you tools to tell the difference. Each guide below includes concrete examples drawn from the passage analyses on this site, so you can see these principles in action.
Eisegesis vs. Exegesis
Are you reading out of the text, or reading into it? The most fundamental question in biblical interpretation — and the hardest habit to break.
Anachronistic Reading
When 4th-century theology is projected back onto 1st-century authors. How to spot it, why it matters, and why almost everyone does it.
Proof-texting
Plucking a verse from its context to support a conclusion already reached. A practice so common it often passes unnoticed.
Genre & Literary Context
A hymn is not a creed. A letter is not a treatise. Why the kind of text you are reading shapes what it can mean.
Textual Criticism
Before you interpret a verse, you need to know whether the verse you are reading is what the author wrote. How scholars evaluate manuscript evidence — and why it matters.
Ready to see who's saying what? Continue to Positions →