Welcome to the Webinar
Dr. John Fallahee opened the "First Steps in Logos: Hermeneutics 101" session by greeting the audience and outlining how the webinar would blend lecture with hands‑on Logos demonstrations. He reminded viewers that all recordings are saved, and that personal notes are stored as a Logos book for later review. For anyone interested in the training calendar or to suggest future topics, he pointed to the learnlogos.com/events page and the email address webinars@learnlogos.com.
Why Hermeneutics Matters for Gospel Work
The core of the opening segment was a clear statement that "rightly dividing the word" (2 Timothy 2:15) is the only way to know God, please Him, and grasp truth. He warned that mis‑understanding Scripture leads to confusion, error, sin, and ultimately a false gospel that can damn souls. Citing Galatians 1:8‑9, he described the severe curse on any gospel that deviates from the one received, underscoring the eternal stakes of good hermeneutics.
Exegesis and Hermeneutics: A Quick Comparison
Dr. Fallahee distinguished exegesis—discovering what a text means—from hermeneutics—the faithful application of that meaning. He emphasized that the two work together: exegesis provides the foundation, while hermeneutics builds the structure for faithful interpretation. A simple table in the slides highlighted this overlap.
Getting Started with Collections in Logos
He walked the audience through downloading a pre‑made "hermeneutics exegesis" collection. The steps were:
- Open the Documents panel (paper icon).
- Click Public and wait for both windows to load.
- Enter the search term
hermeneutics / exegesis learn logosin the Find box. - When the collection appears, click the blue bar to add it to your docs.
- Select Yours to view the new collection.
Using a collection lets you search for books on a specific topic without pulling in unrelated material, a practical tip for gospel‑focused study.
Searching by Author, Heading, and Meaning
Next, he demonstrated a search using the syntax heading:author meaning. This query looks for headings that contain the words “author” and “meaning,” helping users locate resources that discuss author‑centered meaning—the view that meaning originates with the author, not the reader. Expanding the results revealed articles that examine how the author’s intent shapes interpretation, reinforcing the author‑centered principle.
Core Hermeneutical Concepts
Grammatical and Historical Hermeneutic
- Grammatical: The rules of language—syntax, word usage, and morphology in the original Greek or Hebrew.
- Literary: The genre of the passage (poetry, narrative, epistle, apocalyptic, etc.) and how form influences meaning.
- Historical: Reconstructing the author’s original context—time, culture, audience—to see what the first readers would have understood.
Key Terms
- Apocalyptic: Refers to prophetic, visionary literature (e.g., Revelation, Zechariah), not to false fables.
- Author‑Centered Meaning: Meaning is determined by what the author intended, not by personal preference.
Why Context Is King
Paragraph settings in Logos often create artificial breaks; toggling the “reformat” option shows the text as continuous prose, then re‑enabling paragraph markers for clarity. The Passage Analysis tool (Tools → Passage → Locate Passage Analysis) lets you enter a passage such as Acts 2 and view cross‑references across multiple translations (ESV, HCSB, NASB), revealing how context varies with each version.
Illustrative Biblical Examples
Acts 17:11 – The Bereans exemplified daily, careful examination of Paul’s teaching against Scripture, showing that even apostolic teaching is subject to fact‑checking. Peter’s quotation of Joel was highlighted with speaker and listener icons (Formatting → Markers) that clarify who is speaking and to whom, preventing misidentification of the original audience.
Ten Key Principles for Interpreting Scripture
- Author‑Centered Meaning – Ask what God intended, not what you wish it meant.
- Identify the Context of the Text – Use paragraph settings, passage analysis, and speaker icons to determine the appropriate scope.
- Grammatical & Historical Considerations – Apply original‑language rules, consider genre, and reconstruct the historical‑cultural setting.
- The Five Ws and an H – Who, what, where, when, why, how provide a basic inductive framework.
- Check Full Context – Examine immediate, broader, and canonical context before drawing conclusions.
- Quote vs. Commentary – Treat direct quotes as the author’s own words, not later additions.
- Leverage Collections & Rules – Build custom collections and search by author, meaning, or topic.
- Verify with Multiple Translations – Compare ESV, NASB, HCSB, etc., to see how wording affects understanding.
- Rely on the Holy Spirit – Let the Spirit guide the interpreter toward correct application.
- Apply the Text – Move from understanding to obedient life application.
Practical Tips & Takeaways
- Download and organize relevant books into collections for quick access.
- Search smartly using heading, author, and meaning fields to target concepts.
- Enable speaker and addressee icons to see who is speaking and to whom.
- Re‑format text to see how paragraphs group thoughts, avoiding misreading a break as a new idea.
- Use Passage Analysis to compare translations and sharpen contextual insight.
- Always ask, “What did the author mean?” before asking, “What does this mean to me?”
- Guard against bad hermeneutics; a wrong gospel has eternal consequences.
Overall, Dr. Fallahee equipped viewers with both the theoretical foundation—author‑centered exegesis, grammatical‑historical method—and the practical Logos skills—downloading collections, searching by author/meaning, using passage analysis, and visual markers—to enable accurate biblical interpretation and faithful gospel application.