Rating: 
Summary: Great Guide for a Better Understanding of the Bible
Review: This is a superb reference work for the lay person and serious student of the Scriptures. Fee and Stuart are quite capable in guiding their reader through a more thorough and careful study of the Bible. This text is a nice hermenuetical tool and is structured in such a way that it makes referring back to it quite an easy task. All the basic necessary elements are covered. For example, the book teaches good translation, thinking contextually and how to apply that to your reading of each passage as it relates to the whole book and also to the whole Bible (context, context, context). Also, the Epistles, OT Narratives, and historical aspects of the Bible are covered. The Prophets, Wisdom literature, the Law, and Revelation is also given special attention. Simply put, the authors provide a very effective guideline (via this book) to help the average reader gain a better understanding about what they are reading when they pick up the Bible. I would recommend this book to anyone who was sincerely interested in further and deeper study into the Word of God.
Rating: 
Summary: How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth: "Context is Key!"
Review: This is a thorough, yet not tedious, work on how to read the Bible properly. It divides each of the 66 books of the Bible into genres, and focuses on each genre: their focus, history, application, etc. Each section also contains a caution as to how each genre may be misinterpreted. Some spelling errors, including the title itself, is the only reason it did not get a perfect score. Humor and helpful step-by-step guidelines make the book enjoyable as well as necessary for any serious biblical reader.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for every Bible-believing Christian!
Review: This is a well orchestrated effort between two Bible scholars of commendable expertise in their areas of biblical exegesis. Written in a remarkably warm and passionate style, this book should be in the hands of every Christian - scholar or layperson, pastor or member. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart embarks on a journey inviting the reader to share their insights and adventure into the literary world of the Bible. With a no holds barred approach to writing, they immediately set the tone of the quest - to explore the wide variety of literary styles in the Bible and the characteristics of each. The objective is to enable the believer to understand the various genre in the Bible and thus to be able to interpret the various texts of Scripture better in the light of the respective genres. Included in the book is an invaluable chapter on bible translations, and how the translation process itself is a form of intrepretation. What makes this book a landmark work is that it is a book of its kind that sets to explore the different kinds of genre in the Bible in a specialized manner that no other writer(s) can. Other books on hermeneutics may touch on this topic skimpily, but still prefer to touch on main and broader topics like the basic rules of interpretation, sermon construction, and the like. Another feature is the incredible easy-to-understand way in which the book is written so that even those who have no interest at all in those "dry and stodgy" theological works will be spellbound within its pages! As compared to Kaiser's "Toward An Exegetical Theology" (truly another good book!), this book is so easy to understand, minus all the in-house jargon and professor talk. I recommend this book to all who love God's Word!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book to learn Biblical interpretation
Review: This is the book I have been looking for, for a long time. It takes the reader through each type of writing within the Bible(Epistles, Narratives, Acts, Gospels, Parables, Law, Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom, Revelation.) Each chapter explains why this type of writing was given, who it was given to, and how it can be understood. The writing is very easy to understand without a lot of theological academic jargon and yet has a great deal of scholarship behind it. Each chapter gives concrete guidelines for intepreting Scripture (something that each of us do instinctively, but perhaps without conscious thought or appropriate context.) Following these guidelines, each chapter provides an example of interpreting a passage of Scripture. This makes the book very practical and easy to understand and use. I wish more academic tomes would add in some practical helps. As with all books about the Bible, not everyone will agree with Fee and Stuart's interpretations, but the methodologies they describe are invaluable for any reader to use in understanding this ancient, wonderful, and mysterious text. Also extremely helpful is the discussion on different Bible translations and study materials (Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and handbooks.) If you are building a library to read and study Scripture for yourself, I would start with this great book on exegetical methods.
Rating: 
Summary: not very good..
Review: This is the foundational understanding that everyone should know before studying the Bible. Although it is written in an easy to understand style it is still full of very valuable information. For example, people often ask why there are so many different translations of the Bible. The authors do an excellent job of showing the complications and difficulties of translating and how different versions of a verse could each be just as viable as an accurate translation. The authors also deal with the problems of interpretation, exegesis, historical and cultural context and literary conventions of the time. They look at the narrative style of the Old Testament and its function as well as Acts, the various parables, prophets, psalms, wisdom literature, and the revelation. You may not agree with every aspect of their treatment of the various books and literary styles, but this is the best treatment of the problems of translation and interpretation that I have come across to date. "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" is highly recommend for anyone interested in Bible translation or interpretation.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best introductory texts available
Review: This is the foundational understanding that everyone should know before studying the Bible. Although it is written in an easy to understand style it is still full of very valuable information. For example, people often ask why there are so many different translations of the Bible. The authors do an excellent job of showing the complications and difficulties of translating and how different versions of a verse could each be just as viable as an accurate translation. The authors also deal with the problems of interpretation, exegesis, historical and cultural context and literary conventions of the time. They look at the narrative style of the Old Testament and its function as well as Acts, the various parables, prophets, psalms, wisdom literature, and the revelation. You may not agree with every aspect of their treatment of the various books and literary styles, but this is the best treatment of the problems of translation and interpretation that I have come across to date. "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" is highly recommend for anyone interested in Bible translation or interpretation.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This was an invaluable resource in my bible school training. It was manditory reading for our biblical interpretation class. This is the kind of book that the reader will likely have to read at least twice in order to get firm grasp on. It is written by very knowledgable people who communicate their theories very well. This book doesn't tell people what the bible says, but give the reader the tools to figure that out for themselves. I've really enjoyed this book, despite the fact it is a little more difficult to sit down and get into. It is full of fabulous information that just isn't taught on a Sunday morning in church. Small group leaders, lay people and others who are in leadership and haven't had a chance to get educated in biblical interpretation need to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Best for Beginning Exegesis
Review: When I was first looking for a book to teach me basic exegetical skills, I ran into Don Carson and asked him for advice. Without hesitation he recommended this book. He was absolutely right. Having come through my M.Div. and not using this book once as an assigned reading, I can honestly say that this book has taught me more about exegesis than any other single work. (Though Carson's book Exegetical Fallacies is excellent as well). One reviewer on this list states that the book has no "redemptive-historical" approach to it. Two things to say in response to this. Firstly, when writing any book on hermeneutics, this is a touchy issue. There are many excellent scholars out there who disagree with this type of approach and to over-emphasize that in a beginners volume will likely get the new exegete into trouble by seeing too much typology. Secondly, the book does address a redemptive-historical approach with the "already/not-yet" tension. The authors handle this issue with great wisdom, I believe. I myself hold to "salvation-historical" hermeneutic and I am very satisfied with this volume. I have given this book to many Christians who are fairly young and not too familiar with biblical interpretation and have been very pleased with the way it has helped them, just as it helped me. I highly recommend this book!
| 
