I started Hermeneutics class 4 weeks ago. My brain has been exposed (again) to everything you are suppose to learn in grade school. That’s right folks: Nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions, infinitives, conjunctions, phrases, clauses, and sentences. It is amazing how point of a passage in Scripture becomes clear after it is diagrammed. It does not mean that the passage was obscure before, it simply makes clear what is being said. There are several resources for learning how to diagram sentences on the internet. I have a few links below if you happen to interested.
I have heard some people raise objections to studying Scripture using this method. The thought of dissecting a verse through investigating, could sound mechanical. I would however encourage those that may be skeptical to read the arguments made by the writers of Scripture. I have a few examples below:
Galatians 3:15-16 (Paul as the human author)
15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
Matthew 19:3-5 (Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, Matthew as the human author)
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
I would encourage you to read the full context of each passage that I have referenced above. It is easy to notice that the truth is being defended against error. There is careful attention given to the text that is being referred to, down to the noun as being plural. If we have examples within Scripture for this type of careful study, it is a method worth using. If all Scripture has only “one” meaning, having implications that work out into various applications; then we must know what a text actually says.
If you want to dig deeper into grammar and sentence diagramming, I recommend this online resource: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams2/diagrams_frames.htm
* Image Attribution: Some rights reserved by Jenn Waller
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