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Biblical Hermeneutics

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PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN<br />

One of the most important underlying theological concepts for dispensationalism is<br />

progressive revelation. While some non-dispensationalists start with progressive revelation in<br />

the New Testament and refer this revelation back into the Old Testament, dispensationalists<br />

begin with progressive revelation in the Old Testament and read forward in a historical sense.<br />

Therefore there is an emphasis on a gradually developed unity as seen in the entirety of<br />

Scripture. <strong>Biblical</strong> covenants are intricately tied to the dispensations.<br />

C. THE ETHNIC DIVISION PRINCIPLE:<br />

"The word of truth is rightly divided in relation to the three classes which it treats, i.e. Jews,<br />

Gentiles and the Church."<br />

The ethnic division principle teaches that the Bible as we have today addresses three different<br />

classes of people viz. the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church.<br />

In the beginning, Genesis chapters one through 11, all the people of the world had one<br />

language and one people. Babel brought about a dispersion of mankind into different races<br />

and languages scattered all over the world. However God's plan was to save the mankind.<br />

for this purpose in Genesis chapter twelve, God called Abraham to be the father of a special<br />

race. God chose Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob to father the nation of Israel.<br />

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