One of the joys of my job is keeping up to date on resources. Most of the time this can be overwhelming. Making certain that the author or publisher are solid, the information is accurate and what kind of setting would be best for it, not to mention how it stacks up against the other similar resources. Often times in this process I run into quality resources that would be highly recommended. That is just such the case with my current review. When I heard the claim, "Give us 75 minutes and we'll give you a masters level class on hermeneutics", of course I was skeptical. I know Todd Friel and respect his ministry but come on it takes a lot longer than that to get to a masters level in studying scripture. Hermeneutics of course is the art/science of studying scripture. This is an important tool for the Christian as we study, that we come to correct conclusions at the end of our study. I have read many books and debated many people in regards to the studying of scripture and have narrowed it down to one main resource I recommend. That is until now. Herman Who? is the title of Todd's systematic training on hermeneutics. He is very thorough and clear as he teaches us a proper way of studying scripture. He walks the viewer through step by step and sure enough at the end of the video he has equipped the lay person with some heavy arsenal to dig in and study scripture. The claim is for the most part accurate. The thing they don't mention is it will be a lifetime of perfecting as are all methods. Although some think they have "arrived", we never quite growing, learning and perfecting our studies. The thing I really appreciate with Herman Who? is the emphasis on understanding the context and historical setting in which the author writes. Its kind of like the difference of reading today's town newspaper, or a Chinese paper from the mid 1800's. We would immediately understand the context in our local paper but to look back into a time and place we are not familiar with we have many hurdles to jump. We must understand the customs, political, economical, and social aspects to name a few. The more we understand about the author and the surroundings in which he wrote the better we understand the text.
Herman Who?, is well worth the time and effort and would be a valuable addition to your video library.
Until the next time
Pastor Mark
2nd Tim 2:15
