Fundamentalists are those who believe in the fundamental doctrines by definition, but they were known from the 1925 Scope's monkey trial as those who took the Bible literally, whatever that means. We believe that the Bible is literally true, but not everything is meant to be taken literally. This is a loaded question and you lose either way: Do you take the Bible literally? They want to make a fool of you and prove you don't know how to read a book! We are to learn the basic principles of interpretation and avoid what is called subjectivism. We are to take the Bible at face value and not spiritualize it or think there is some secret or hidden interpretation that God has revealed only to us ("no Scripture is of any private interpretation" means you don't have a monopoly on truth or a secret revelation)--it God doesn't show this to the church body it is not truth and it must stand the test of time as orthodox and not contradict anything already accepted.
lSt. Bonaventure taught that there were seven ways to interpret Scripture and Thomas Aquinas taught four (historical, allegorical, moral, and anagogical). Way back to the church fathers, Origin taught three ways (literal or what happened, moral or how it applies, and spiritual or what it teaches regarding our faith). Erroneous interpretation results when people insist on spiritualizing or not taking something literal that was obviously meant that way. Jesus believed in a literal Jonah, for example. Even the ancient Jews didn't regard Hosea's narrative as an allegory but literal too.
The Word of God is alive but today's understanding of a "living document" like the US Constitution, doesn't apply--truth is timeless! According to Hebrews 4:12, that means it is always relevant and never gets dated or becomes obsolete or passe, and it works on the believer's heart. It doesn't mean that it is alive in the sense that we are free to indulge in modern-day interpretations that are clearly not what the writers meant--you must ask what the writer meant by what he said and not take it out of context (context of the language, the customs, the history, the paragraph, the chapter, the book, and even according to what the whole analogy of Scripture teaches).
There are no special methodologies to interpreting Scripture that you wouldn't use in any other book, except that you interpret it as it is written (this is called genre analysis: regarding poetry as poetry, parables as parables, history as history, didactive portions as teachings, etc.). Sometimes the Bible does use poetic license for instance, but in historical accounts, it is meticulous to be exact and mention details to show how much attention the writer paid to them. All the laws of logic apply to the Bible just as to any book we cannot make illogical deductions on presuppositions or what is called eisegesis or reading into the Bible instead of exegesis or reading out of the Bible what it really means to say. You can make any book say anything you want it too if you ignore the principles of hermeneutics, much more the Bible. Satan was adept at taking verses out of context and trying to use the Word to his advantage.
The Bible is said to be its own Supreme Court because "Holy Scripture is its own interpreter" (or sacra Scriptura sui interpres in Latin): If you don't understand an implicit passage or obscure one, check out an explicit or clear one that is parallel. That's why we have to cross-reference and study Bibles and commentaries: to take advantage of centuries of scholarship by God's people.
There are many basic principles one should heed: We interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and vice versa--you can distinguish but not separate them (before the New Testament was written for the first 20 or so years they considered the Old Testament the Scriptures). We must learn not to make false inferences by taking a verse out of immediate context--it is easy to jump to the conclusion that it is plain as day when that isn't the rest of the story on the subject matter. We must guard against forcing our prejudices into the passage and make it a proof text for what we want to believe--especially if our interpretation depends upon a certain translation and not the Greek text itself.
There are many errors because students don't realize that only the original texts are authoritative in any doctrinal dispute or misunderstanding. We must realize that the Bible uses virtually every figure of speech known and they are to be interpreted appropriately: For instance, a parable cannot be interpreted to the nth degree, but is only meant to teach one main idea. It is a good idea to make sure your interpretation is not way out in left field by checking commentaries of reputable scholars you know you can trust.
NB: Remember that no Scripture is of any private interpretation. The New Testament trumps the Old in case there is a question of authority: For example, if something is repeated in the New Testament it is doubly important, and if ignored, not so (like the example of the Sabbath Day command not being repeated in the New Testament and therefore we are not under obligation to observe it). Gross error often results from not recognizing the recipient and what the author meant to say. Never, and I mean never, make deductions based on isolated texts! Never pit one text against another ("The sum [entirety] of your Word is truth" according to Ps. 119:160).
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the first condition of interpreting Scripture is to know the Author! The Word must not just be important to us, but take precedence. God will not speak to you unless you are teachable: Possessing a willing spirit, an open mind, and a needy heart. It is not the mental faculties that are as important as the condition of the person spiritually. Above all, read with a purpose and pray for God's Spirit to do His job of illumination because we all have the anointing to teach us according to 1 John 2:27.
Remember, as Protestants, we believe in the right to dissent, disagree, and protest and we are not at the mercy of church dogma like Catholics are; however, we are exhorted to "rightly divide the Word of truth" in 2 Tim. 2:15. The key to understanding Scripture is the one it is about--Jesus. You should be able to see Him as the scarlet thread or common motif running throughout the Bible and on every page. One caveat: You will never know the truth if you think you have arrived and have nothing to learn or won't admit you could be wrong--the first step to learning is admitting ignorance!
In principle, one shouldn't rely too much on any one commentary or translation, or make your doctrines dependent upon them. Learn comparative reading if you don't know the original languages. Commentaries are not inspired, though they can indeed br inspiring! Johnny Cash said the Scriptures shed a lot of light on the commentaries! Having a working knowledge of the original tongues or knowing ones way around using a lexicon and dictionary can be invaluable and give you an advantage. It is vital to know what teachers you can trust and teach sound doctrine so you don't err from the truth or go off on a tangent. In resolving a doctrinal dispute don't proof-text or trust some gifted teacher just because he says so--challenge them and learn to think independently. As you grow in your reading you may become partial to one translation and this is all right, as long as you realize that God speaks through all of them and you don't become a student of one version. When you get Bible fatigue or have lost the pizzazz from reading one version too much (overexposure and over-familiarity), it may be helpful to try a new version and see what insights and "Aha!" moments God may give you as you encounter Him personally in the Word.
Interpreting the Bible has no special rules that you wouldn't apply to any book, but hermeneutics is a special problem for us since we live two thousand years after the fact and are of a foreign culture and language and might not know the historical backdrop they were immersed in--so there is a lot of work that may go into interpretation and we are not to think it is some mystical thing that we have a special connection to the Almighty to understand things by "experience" or existential encounter. God may speak to us in an "Aha!" moment but we must be careful to make teachings and doctrines this way. The Bible doesn't "become Word of God" upon an "existential encounter," as Karl Barth believed, but it is the Word believed and experienced or not. Many cults have started because believers felt God was speaking exclusively to them and they were enlightened. The Gnostics taught that you had to have special secret knowledge that only they had and this was one of the first heresies that St. John the Elder refuted.
The conclusion of the matter is that I would be missing the mark if I failed to mention in passing how important it is to see the big picture, i.e., survey the entire Word of God (don't just casually peruse) and be able to put everything into its perspective in the light of the whole analogy of Scripture or the big picture, as it were: Psalms 119:160, NKJV, says, "The entirety [or sum] of Your word is truth...." The NIV says, "All your words are true...."
FINAL CAVEAT: DON'T BASE SOME FAR-OUT OR FAR-FETCHED TRUTH BASED ON SOME ISOLATED PASSAGE! ("NO SCRIPTURE IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION!")
Soli Deo Gloria!
