In contrast to a diachronic approach is a synchronic approach. This constitutes an examination of something at a single point in time. There is no speculation or even consideration of how the phenomenon might have been in the past or how it might be in the future. A synchronic approach is a form of reification, a privileging of one moment in time over all others.

Two examples of diachronic analysis that are very helpful in furthering one's understanding of the messages of the Bible. One is a changing sense of language and languages. The languages that the Bible has been presented in have changed themselves from Hebrew and Greek to Latin and then to a wide range of vernacular languages.

These linguistic changes have shifted the meanings of each passage in the Bible as have the changes internal to each language itself. Languages are living (and dying) creatures, and even...
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