Torrey's Principles of Biblical Interpretation

Principles of Biblical Interpretation
from Dr. R. A. Torrey

The Importance and Value of Proper Bible Study

1. Get absolutely right with God yourself by the absolute  surrender of your will to Him.
2. Be determined to find out just what God intended to teach and not what you wish Him to teach.
3. Get the most accurate text.
4. Find the most exact and literal meaning of the text.
5. Note the exact force of each word used.
6. Interpret the words used in any verse according to Bible usage.
7. Interpret the words of each author in the Bible with a regard to the particular usage of that author.
8. Interpret individual verses with a regard to the context.
9. Interpret individual passages in the light of parallel or related passages.
10. Interpret obscure passages in the light of passages that are perfectly plain.
11. Interpret any passage in the Bible as those who were addressed would have understood it.
12. Interpret what belongs to the Christian as belonging to the Christian; what belongs to the Jew, as belonging to the Jew, and what belongs to the Gentiles, as belonging to the Gentiles.
13. Interpret each writer with a view to the opinions the writer opposed.
14. Interpret poetry as poetry and interpret prose as prose.
15. The Holy Spirit is the best interpreter of the Bible.

Torrey was, I think, a dispensationalist and pretribulation rapture advocate.  His view of what pertains to Jews or Christians might differ from mine.  I also think people can go nuts on the "exact force of each word" and end up building risible doctrinal mountains out of textual molehills.  Of course, my understanding of New Testament Greek is limited to Strong's Concordance, Vines', and Robertson's Word Pictures, so I wouldn't know anyway. 

Points 1, 2, and 15 are the most critical.  Non-Christians and nominal Christians trying to interpret Scripture generally run aground on #2.  Going in with preconceptions about what the Bible actually says or what something means will rarely result in enlightenment.  Confirmation bias is a human phenomenon and not limited to any particular creed or cult. 

Torrey is coming from a pastoral and instructional perspective.  What I do here is more devotional so I tend to be a little less stringent when I write about a verse.  Context is important, but I will never forget preacher who was struggling with his recovery following cardiac arrest and subsequent surgery.  One day he opened his KJV Bible to Psalm 108, which begins:  O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.  He said that he knew it wasn't what the verse meant, but the healing power of God came through it just the same, and, from that moment on, his heart was fixed.