It would be difficult to determine what the most ignored principle of Biblical interpretation has been in recent history. But there is an error very common to our present day. Author's (and Holy Spirit's) intent would be my pick.
No one wants to limit God's Word and thus somehow limit God so they might say something like, "there can be endless applications and meanings for this text." After all, God is a big God. It is our understanding that is limited.
Should we ever limit application and purpose of a text? We ought to limit every passage or verse to what the original intent was. That is except in so far as it can be reasonably applied in parallel practical ways.
My first and often still last question is, What's the point? Many times, it seems to me that, the question people ask is, What's my point?
A mere descriptive, historical note, while it may be helpful for understanding, should never be taken as the main point of the passage and yet it happens all the time. If that's putting limit's on God's Word, color me guilty. God may have applications we will never even think of and yet not be the main point.
So here's the issue. If there is a possible inference from a text or logical inference, it is still not a necessary inference or required inference. So just because a point could be deduced doesn't make it a necessary point to deduce, especially if it is only a minor detail in the text in the first place. It is the explicit before the implicit, and necessary inference before possible inference.
We get in trouble when we over-emphasis the wrong part. And there are entire books written on the wrong part! We do it with verses, passages, whole books and even make things a major theme of the Bible that are simply not even a minor principle.
There are great truths there. Dig, discern and understand. But use the context of the immediate passage and book and the whole Bible before you force cultural issues of our day into God's Holy Word.
