Bible Interpreters Need to Remember Scripture Isn't Fragmented

[embed width="680" height="383"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU77y7SNPqs[/embed]

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What book, person, or ideas has influenced you the most?

Jay E. Smith, coeditor of Studies in the Pauline Epistles, shares an interesting concept, one I haven't considered before but makes sense as a teacher and exegete.

As Smith explains, "There's this notion sometimes among people in the church that [the biblical documents] are random fragments spun out by these great religious teachers...they're more proverbial. And my job is to read through them and find the verse for the day."

Yet he realized each author is making an argument we need to carefully follow from beginning to end.

Perhaps this seems basic, but this notion led Smith to realize early on that Scripture isn't fragmented, but interconnection—which made an important impact on his life as a teacher.

Watch Smith explore this concept further, and how the continuity of Scripture has great bearing on your job as a biblical interpreter.