Week 1: Preface & Introduction — The Need for Interpretation

1.Fee and Stuart open with the claim that 'the Bible is not a single book but a library of books.' Why does this metaphor matter for how we approach reading Scripture, and how does it challenge a 'flat Bible' reading where every verse carries identical weight?

2.The authors make a crucial distinction between exegesis and hermeneutics. In your own words, what is the difference between these two tasks, and why must exegesis always come before application?

3.Fee and Stuart argue that all readers already interpret the Bible — the only question is whether they do so well or poorly. Does this idea surprise you or make you uncomfortable? Why or why not?

4.The authors identify 'the original meaning' of a text as the necessary anchor for all interpretation. What dangers do they say arise when readers skip straight to 'what it means to me' without first asking 'what it meant to them'?

5.The introduction emphasizes that the Bible is both a human and a divine book — written by real people in real historical situations, yet fully inspired by God. How does taking the human side of Scripture seriously actually honor rather than undermine its divine authority?

6.Fee and Stuart point out that a text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its original readers. How does this principle serve as a guardrail against interpretations that are creative but irresponsible?

7.The authors describe two kinds of 'problems' in Bible reading: matters of content (understanding what the text says) and matters of context (understanding what it meant and means). Which of these two challenges do you personally find most difficult, and why?

8.How does the framework Fee and Stuart establish in this introduction connect to the biblical call in 2 Timothy 2:15 to be 'a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth'? What does 'rightly handling' require of us?