I really love discussing and teaching on biblical interpretation. Michael Spencer wrote 10 guidelines for interpreting the Gospels which I find to be outstanding. I've listed them below without comment, but check out Michael's post to see the whole thing.
- Don't harmonize the gospels
- Don't read them as if their words and events happened in the modern world
- Jesus did and said a lot of things that he never explained
- Our modern computer concordances don't help nearly as much as some say
- Beware of anyone who is "out on their own" with an interpretation. Consensus is important.
- Big ideas dominate the gospels. Look for them.
- Textual criticism is important.
- The Gospels were (by and large) written after the Pauline epistles
- The study of the historical Jesus is important
- Make this a lifelong passion
Again, these won't make much sense unless you go and read the whole post.
These are outstanding. The only one that I’m a little hesitant about is #5 because I am slightly worried about the consensus drowning out original thought, emergent imagination, and the voice of the oppressed. But I do think consensus should be favored when making interpretive judgments.