Writing Strategy

In writing a Bible commentary, there are many different approaches which can be taken. There are two which I would like to employ in this study.

Firstly, my aim is to strive to put aside what I know and look at Scripture with a fresh lens. Any piece of evidence, any theology, any interpretation should be discovered anew.

Secondly, the text of Scripture should, naturally, be the primary point of reference, however other historical references will also be considered, as context is a critical part of hermeneutics. Some investigation will also be done into peripheral topics, such as textual criticism and apologetics, in order to thoroughly test the authenticity of what we are studying.

As is mentioned in my statement of faith, I do hold all Scripture to be God breathed, the inerrant Word of God. For the sake of writing this commentary, I intend on approaching it as one who has not yet come to that conclusion. In this I hope to honestly question everything in a quest for truth. It is my belief that this will lead to the same conclusion, but I don’t want that belief to cloud the integrity of the search.

To that end, I have spoken to several well read atheists, critics of the faith, with whom I have a good enough relationship to speak completely bluntly. I have requested that they proof read what I write and either point out where my existing belief has caused me to presuppose something, or where I should be investigating more critically.

For those of you who wish to find a starting point on logical fallacies and cognitive biases, I recommend taking a look at The School of Thought.

I also invite anyone to join in the discussion or raise an issue in order to keep me accountable to a thorough investigation of the truth. You are also welcome to contribute directly by making changes on a branch and raising a pull request for me to review. I cannot promise that I will take everyone’s contributions onboard, but I will give them as much due consideration as time and priority allow.