The sixty-six books that comprise Holy Scripture were written by some forty penman over a time span of approximately sixteen hundred years. The writers ranged from kings, lawyers, and physicians to fisherman, tax-collectors, and herdsmen.
The Holy Bible must be studied correctly by taking into consideration: 1) Who wrote the book of the Bible from which one is studying; 2) To whom was this particular book addressed? 3) For what obvious purpose was it written? and 4) In which "age" was it written?
Additionally, the Biblical penman made use of numerous "figures of speech" in order to draw particular attention to a certain subject, or in order to keep certain audiences from immediately understanding the ultimate conclusion of a matter. Therefore, parts of the Bible must be applied literally while other portions should be understood in figures.
