Literal-Grammatical Bible Interpretation
Just like anything that someone writes, the Bible was intended to convey certain messages to certain people at certain times. Although I can't claim to have every passage figured out, I believe the key to understanding the Bible is to view it in its proper context. The more we understand about its purpose and setting, the more we can understand what God is trying to communicate through that particular author. When it comes to interpreting prophecies about future events, there are many different views on a lot of it. Some interpreters say that the things described are just 'spiritual' and not intended to be actual. The millennial rule of Christ on the earth, described in Revelation and throughout the prophets, is a prime example. The problem is that once you start interpreting things this way, you can pretty much make the Bible say whatever you like. There are various literary styles present in Scripture, but it is not wise to take something unclear piece of symbolism and assign our own meaning to it. Instead, we should draw our doctrine out of clear portions of Scripture and exercise extreme care in interpreting unclear passages in light of the rest of Scripture.