Appropriation reveals to men the otherwise unknowable depths of the divine being and life and

the truly distinct characters of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who live it.1 There are
three Christian methods of appropriating Scripture: pneumatic, theological, and original
meaning. 

In the original meaning appropriation method, we first observe what the text says in line with the
original wording of the original author and audiences. It is worth noting that the pursuit of the
original meaning is legitimate. It is the first meaning God-inspired and produced the most
formative moments in the tradition of the church, as suggested by Schenck. 2 When looking at
the original meaning of the text, we consider three key factors in appropriating the original
meaning of a biblical book today. Firstly, the genre and literary contexts that come into play
when appropriating that type. Secondly, the concern of continuity and discontinuity between
time and finally factor of integrating biblical teaching. Schenck identified some weaknesses
mentioned bellow: misunderstanding of what the original author was trying to say to original
audiences in the original text, further, the omission of some of the words of the Bible as was first
spoken orally and later written down. the words of Jesus can thus have slightly different
meanings one meaning would be what he originally meant in whatever specific contexts he first
spoke them and the second meaning is the various connotations his words took on in the
individual gospel accounts. 3 The text opens itself to the uncertainty of interpretation. The
strengths of the original meaning appropriation are mentioned below: all teaching derived from
the Biblical writings subjected to and modified by interpreter’s larger hermeneutical proposal
and it reduces interpreter’s errors in interpreting the given text.

Pneumatic appropriation is the same as reading the Bible as a Christian Scripture. We can study
all the scripture using all of the tools of interpretation, and still come up with different
conclusions other than what the original meaning of what that text is. We need the Holy Spirit
more than all the methods in the world. We especially sense this need when we are moving from
our lives to the text and that the Holy Spirit connects us to the right meaning. The Holy Spirit
brings us together in several common understandings that shape how we hear the words of the
Bible without us even knowing it much of the time, Schenck wrote. 4 The pneumatic
understanding of revelation is holistic and found through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is
central to insights. It focuses on the existence of sins, judgment, and hope through Jesus Christ.
The construal of pneumatic deprivation found in John 14 allows the continuing fulfillment of the
promise context. This method is demonstrated in the event of baptism. The strengths of the
pneumatic appropriation are as mentioned: there is a powerful understanding as the reader is
illumed by the Holy Spirit and it confirms Biblical revelation already stated in the text. The
weaknesses of the pneumatic appropriation: people may wrongly interpret the revelation of the
Holy Spirit and the readers do not engage in the use of other theological resources to explore the
meaning of the text.

Theological appropriation is one of the main contexts to consider when you are reading text. The
literary context is key to this process. The immediate literary context is a matter of the words that
come before and after the verse or verses you want to interpret.5 Beyond the immediate literary
context is the broader literary context of a verse or passage, including the book as a whole. The
historical context is the historical background necessary to understand the original meaning of a
book. 6 The strength of the theological appropriation is: the text remains ever open for the
appropriation of meaning by the readers bringing his or her personal experience, the text was
well structured to support other theological structural themes from other texts as well and proper
attention paid to literary context to produce the intent of the author. The weaknesses of the
theological appropriation are: the fundamental values expressed in the interpretation process
belong to the interpreter’s thinking or what he or she brings to the interpretation process and the
original structure may be temper with thus making the interpreter creating his structure.

1. www.encyclopedia.com>law
2. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth pp. 303
3. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth pp.112
4. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth pp. 81,89
5. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth pp.158
6. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth pp. 175, 199

Bibliography
1. Schenck, Dr. Kenneth. Brief Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Triangle Publishing / IWU
Press. Kindle Edition.
2. William J. Larkin ( 2003), Cultural and Biblical Hermeneutics: Interpreting and Applying
3. Ephraim Radner: The End of the Church: A Pneumatology of Christians Division of the
West.