View source for How to read the Bible

Ministers often make remarks in sermons  about the need for personal and family Bible reading and Bible Study. Their  exhortations are based on the conviction that faith and godliness depend on  listening to and understanding the Scriptures. If the Word of God does not  dwell richly in the hearts of church members, the church becomes weak,  susceptible to a host of spiritual diseases. <br>
  
It may be that you have taken the  encouragement of your preacher to heart. You have resolved to be more diligent  in reading and studying the Bible. So it happens one night that you open your  Bible to Genesis and read a whole chapter or two. Perhaps you choose instead to  start with Matthew one. <br>
  
For several days or even a week or two,  you make reasonably good progress. After a while, however, you start to run  into problems. You find a really difficult passage which doesn't make any sense  to you at all. You have no idea what God is trying to convey to you through it.  So you loose the keen enthusiasm you had at the start. Now the nightly reading  becomes a chore. Eventually, you give up the practice altogether. <br>
  
You might ask: when the preacher  encouraged the congregation to read and study the Bible, did he have any idea  how difficult this task was? <br>
  
It is true that Bible Study is hard  work. Preparing for Young People's Society is hard work. However, these are not  impossible works. If we follow some basic guidelines, we can definitely grow in  our ability to read and understand God's Word. <br>

<strong>The larger context</strong>
One of the basic rules for Bible study  is to pay attention to the context. Preachers sometimes remind each other that  &quot;a text without a context is a pretext.&quot; If we don't pay attention to  the material that surrounds our text, we are likely to go astray in the making  of sermons. <br>
  
Also for personal Bible Study and for  Young People's Society, context is a basic concern. In the first place, we may  think of the context of the whole book which you have chosen to study. It is my  belief that nothing will be more helpful and exciting than starting to see the  passages you study as part of a whole book. The Bible actually consists of a  whole library of books, sixty-six of them. Each book has a character of its own  and a unique message. The books of the Bible were meant to be read as a unit.  When we only read a few verses here or there or only a chapter or two, we  violate the unity of that book and are very likely to miss the point  altogether. <br>
  
Thus, I would suggest that when you are  going to study a particular book of the Bible for Young People's Society start  by reading through the whole book in some quiet place of your home. If you  think about it, this should not take too long. Many books of the Bible are very  short and can be easily read within one hour. Others are a bit longer, but even  the longest are far shorter than an average novel. <br>
  
During this first reading, it is  important not to allow yourself to get bogged down in all kinds of problems. If  you don't understand something immediately, don's worry about it. Just keep reading.  Your goal during this first reading is not comprehension of all the details,  but only a general &quot;feel&quot; for the book. You want the wide-angle lens  picture. Later, there will be ample opportunity for close-up shots. Therefore,  keep up a good speed.&nbsp;

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      <td width="414"><p align="center"><strong>Some    of you who read this article will one day be called to serve as elders in    various congregations. Part of your task then will be to ensure that the    preaching in your church is faithful. How can this task be fulfilled if you    are ignorant of the Bible?</strong></p></td>
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After you have read through the whole  book, wait a day or two and then do it again. Yes, read the whole book a second  time! This time, you can go a bit slower. Now it's time to start asking some  questions. Too many people read the Bible in the same way they watch TV;  passively. If we want to honour the author of Scripture, we will have to read  actively and that means asking many questions. During the second reading, you  want to ask yourself questions like this: When was this book written? To whom  was it written? What does the book tell us about the author? Why was the book  written? What was the purpose of the author? What kind of literature do we find  in this book? Is it poetry? Is it drama? Is it historical writing? Is it a  letter? <br>

During this second reading, it is also  important to watch for the major divisions of the book. Watch out for points  when the author seems to move into a new topic or a new phase of the  discussion. Incidentally, it will be very helpful to have a Bible with  paragraph divisions as we find these, for example, in the Harper Study Bible.  When you read an older KJV Bible, you see only a mass of numbered verses  without any break whatsoever. This makes reading more difficult. <br>
  
After you have read your chosen book  for the second time, it's time to get out your special Bible Study Notebook. At  this point, your task will be to write a paragraph or two which describes the  overall message of the book. The point of this exercise is to state the key  thoughts of the book. When you read a novel, you should be able to summarize  the plot. If you read a short story, you will be able to state the theme of  this story. In the same way, a very important part of personal or group Bible  Study in Young People's Society is the ability to state the theme of the Bible  book in discussion. <br>
  
After you have come to your own  preliminary understanding of the part of Scripture you are studying, it will be  time to get out your Bible Study toolbox. In this toolbox, you will find a  number of reference books which can help you to grasp the message of the Bible.  One of the most helpful volumes at this stage of your study will be a Bible  Dictionary. The standard Bible Dictionary is called&nbsp;<em>The</em><em>&nbsp;</em>New&nbsp;<em>Bible Dic</em>tionary  (2nd edition), edited by J.D.   Douglas, and published by Tyndale (retail cost around $30.00). 

If you or your Young  People's Society have saved some money, a very excellent tool is the&nbsp;<em>Zondervan  Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (5</em><em>&nbsp;</em>volumes,  edited by Merrill   C. Tenney,  published by Zondervan, retailing for about&nbsp;<em>$195.00).</em><em>&nbsp;</em>Other items in your toolbox might include study  outlines published by InterLeague-PublicationBoard or other commentaries and  outlines. Most of these have introductory chapters which you should read. You  can also read the introductory articles to each Bible book&nbsp;in  Study Bibles like the New International Version Study Bible. <br>
  
At this stage of your research, you are  still interested in the wide-angle perspective. For example, if you plan to  study Genesis, you can look up the articles under &quot;Genesis&quot; in your  dictionaries. Or, if you are studying 1 Corinthians, you can look up articles  under &quot;Corinth&quot;  (city), &quot;Corinthians, Epistles to,&quot; and even under headings like  &quot;Paul.&quot; Or, if you are  studying Daniel, check articles under  &quot;Daniel,&quot; &quot;Babylon,&quot;  &quot;Nebuchadnezzar&quot; and so&nbsp;on.  If you are going to study the Psalms, check the Bible Dictionary for a  description of the characteristics of Hebrew poetry and for a classification of  the different kinds of Psalms. <br>
  
Finally, in order to finish this stage  of the study, you may wish to get out a Bible atlas, or at least take a good  look at the maps in the back of your Study Bible. Try to figure out where the  action is taking place. Often this will really increase your understanding of  what is being said in a particular book. <br>
  
In the first article, we paid attention  to a preliminary phase of serious Bible study. It was stated that it is very  important to begin Bible Study by paying attention to the whole book you are  studying. There are no shortcuts in this regard. People who want to honor the  Author of Scripture will simply have to take the time to carefully read the&nbsp;whole  book at least once and preferably twice. After you have done this, you will be  able to really profit by reading articles in Bible Dictionaries, Study Bibles  and Bible Handbooks. <br>
  
Thus, the point of the first article  was to encourage people to come to grips with the overall message of each book  they study. I spoke about this as the wide-angle perspective. Now it is time,  however, to take some close-up shots. <br>

</strong><strong>The smaller context</strong><strong> </strong><br>
Once you have developed a  &quot;feel&quot; for the book you are studying, it is time&nbsp;to  move on to more focused study of individual units.-In order to do this, you  will need to decide on the&nbsp;<em>divisions</em><em>&nbsp;</em>of  the book. Hopefully, you will have noticed the basic structure of the book when  you read it from beginning to end. For example, if you read Genesis a couple of  times, you will notice the repeated phrase &quot;these are the generations of&nbsp;....&quot;&nbsp;You  can use this phrase to make an outline of Genesis. Does the job of making your  own outline sound too difficult? In that case, use one provided by the various  Study Bibles or Study Guides. If you read such an outline without having first  read that book carefully, it will seem rather uninteresting. If, however, you have  first read the whole book through and through, the outline will really come  alive and will be of great help in your Bible Study. <br>
  
So now you have your outline. At this  stage, you can begin serious study of individual passages of Scripture. <br>
  
Read the first section indicated by  your outline (usually this will be a chapter or two, though sometimes longer).  Get out your Bible Study Notebook. Write down in a few sentences what seems to  be the main point of the first section of the outline. <br>
  
After this, it will be very helpful to  divide the first section of the outline into even smaller units, namely, into  paragraphs. Again, write down the key thought of each paragraph. Don't be  afraid to write in your Bible. For example, you can number the paragraphs in  each section of your outline. Or, you can number the central points in each  section of the outline, which show the flow of thought. <br>
  
So far, you have divided the first  section of your outline into paragraphs. To take your study further, you now  analyze each paragraph into sentences. Who or what is the subject of each  sentence? What is the main verb? Often&nbsp;this  will be obvious, but still, taking the time to think about it may clear up some  confusion. <br>
  
The last stage of analysis brings us to  the level of individual words and phrases of the text. If there is a word you  don't understand, you simply must look it up in a Bible dictionary (or, in some  cases, in&nbsp;a&nbsp;regular dictionary). Now ask yourself some  questions about the individual words. Are there certain words which are  repeated in the course of the book? Are there key words which take you to the  heart of the book? Perhaps you could make a list of key words for each book you  study. These would be unique words which centre around the theme of the book. <br>
  
A further step of study involves  concordances. There are many of these on the market. The key is to find one  that corresponds to the Bible translation you use. If you use the RSV, it won't  be terribly useful to have a New International Version concordance. The point  of concordance study is to discover the range of meaning a particular word  might have. For example, if a verse in your passage uses the word &quot;preach&quot;  you can look up other occurrences of this word. Usually, you won't have time to  look up every instance, so you can confine yourself to a certain part of  Scripture. For example, if you find the word &quot;preach&quot; in one of Paul's letter, you can look up all other instances in  only Paul's letters, leaving out for  the moment, the letters of Peter, John, James,  Jude and the Gospels. However much  time you devote to concordance study, it will definitely help you to get the flavour  of different words. <br>
  
Most good study Bibles have a reference  column. You can use this tool to find other passages which use the same words,  phrases or express the same thoughts as found in the verse you are studying. It  can be very helpful to write out a number of these cross references in your  Bible Study Notebook. <br>

</strong><strong>The Bible as literature</strong><strong> </strong><br>
  
In the various steps of Bible Study, we  need to be concerned about two questions: first, what is the author saying?  (content) and second, how is he saying it? (method, style). Of course, these  two can never be separated. Often we don't know what an author is saying until  we pay attention to his style. For this reason, I would urge you to become more  sensitive to matters of style. We need to learn to read the Bible as  literature. <br>
  
Here we find a strong incentive to take  English class seriously! In English, we learn to analyze and understand  different types of literature. We learn about drama, poetry, short stories,  novels etc. We learn about symbols, allegories, imagery, metaphors, repetition,  parallelisms, hyperbole, theme, climax, and much, much more. Understanding  literature is important for many reason, but also for this reason: the Bible is  literature! When you sit in English class, you may think that poetry is  irrelevant. But then I would remind you that it has pleased the Lord to speak  to us also by way of poetry. If you want to understand the Lord's revelation  (and who dares say he doesn't), you will simply have to grasp the basics of  poetic style and form. When you do, the poetic parts of Scripture really open  up and become exciting for you! You start to appreciate how lovely the  Scriptures are! <br>

</strong><strong>Study-Guides and commentaries</strong><strong> </strong><br>
  
We&nbsp;come  now to the final stage of your study. This will involve reading the various  commentaries and/or study guides you have available. Notice that this is the  last step of serious Bible Study. I have no objection if you from time to time  quickly consult a commentary to get a clearer view of a passage read, for  example, around the dinner table. But in your serious Bible Study, such as the  kind you should do for Young People's Society, consulting study guides of any  sort will be the last step! Otherwise you will get lazy and&nbsp;will  never develop your own ability to hear the Word of God. <br>
  
The big question is: what commentary of  Study Guide should I use? For a general one volume commentary, the&nbsp;<em>New  Bible Commentary is</em>still hard to beat (published by  Eerdmans, editor D. Guthrie and J.A. Motyer, cost around $30.00). Besides  interesting introductory articles on topics like &quot;The Authority of  Scripture,&quot; &quot;Revelation and Inspiration,&quot; &quot;The History of  Israel,&quot; and even, yes, &quot;The Poetry of the Old Testament,&quot; this  Commentary contains short comments on every passage of the Bible which are  often helpful to clear away difficulties. <br>
  
If you have the&nbsp;<em>New  International Version Study Bible</em>,  the study notes alone make this publication worth its price (around $50.00). In  many cases, the study notes in this Bible are better than most existing  non-academic English commentaries. <br>
  
As far as individual study-guides or  commentaries on specific Bible books are concerned, I would encourage you to  keep an open eye for the many volumes published by the&nbsp;<em>Inter-League-Publication  Board. Recent</em><em>&nbsp;</em>publications include a substantial study guide on  Romans by the Rev. J. Francke,  a revised two-volume study guide on&nbsp;<em>Revelation</em><em>&nbsp;</em>by Prof. J. Selles, and a volume on  the&nbsp;<em>Minor</em><em>&nbsp;</em><em>Prophets</em>&nbsp;by  Rev. P. Lok. When you see these advertised, buy  them! In this way, by the time you are thirty, you will have a very useful  reference library. Most of the socalled study guides available in evangelical  book stores are quite useless and do not reflect a Reformed view of Scripture.  For example, the majority of them are infected with dispensational nonsense. <br>
  
One &quot;commentary&quot; series which  deserves attention is entitled&nbsp;<em>The</em>&nbsp;<em>Bible  Speaks Today (O.T.</em><em>&nbsp;</em>portion edited by J.A. Motyer, N.T. by John R.W.   Stott). I have looked through the  volumes on&nbsp;<em>Revela</em>&nbsp;tion  (Michael Wilcock)  and 1 Peter (Edmund Clowney)  and have found them to be characterized by accuracy and restraint. They take  the text of the Bible seriously and yet refrain from sermonizing. They are easy  to understand for average church members. This series is published by  Inter-Varsity Press. Another series with many excellent volumes is the Westminster&nbsp;<em>Daily</em><em>&nbsp;</em><em>Study</em>&nbsp;<em>Bible.  For</em><em>&nbsp;</em>example, the two volumes by Peter Craigie  on the Twelve Prophets are well worth your money. <br>
  
Other reference material includes the  classic&nbsp;<em>Promise</em>&nbsp;<em>and  Deliverance, by</em><em>&nbsp;</em>S.G. DeGraaf and translated  by Dr. H.  Evan and Elisabeth Wichers   Runner. Unhappily, this four  volume set, published by Paideia, is now out of print. If you can find a copy,  it is very helpful reading for Old and New Testament historical passages. C. vander  Waal's ten volume set&nbsp;<em>Search  the Scriptures</em>, translated by Dr. Theodore Plantinga, is still available and is a  very helpful general guide to the structure and theme of each Bible book. In  addition, these ten volumes constantly stimulate you to compare Scripture with  Scripture so that you build up a sense of the unity of the Bible as the one  covenant book of God (Published by Paideia Press, St. Catharines, ON.). <br>
  
Another very good way to build up a  systematic knowledge of Scripture is to make some notes for yourself when your  minister has a series of sermons on a certain part of Scripture. Later, if you  undertake careful study of that Bible book, your notes will be very helpful! <br>
  
Undoubtedly, I have missed some good  material. I could yet mention Dr. William Hendriksen's  series on the New Testament, published by Baker Book House (since Hendriksen's  death, this series is being completed by Dr. S. Kistemaker). Generally, these are helpful,  but frequently verbose and often going to great lengths to explain fairly  trivial&nbsp;points. I could also mention the nine volumes of  the Korte<em>Verklaring</em><em>&nbsp;</em>which have been translated and now published by  Paideia/Zondervan (Genesis -Ruth,  Isaiah, Matthew) under the title&nbsp;<em>Bible  Student's Commentary</em>&nbsp;. If you can still obtain these, by all means do  so, but it seems that no further volumes will be brought to the press. <br>
  
If you are still unable to find a  proper commentary or Study Guide for the book you have chosen, you may wish to  consult your own minister for some advice. Speak to your local Christian Book  Store concerning availability of any of the titles I've mentioned. <br>
  
Having given our attention in previous  articles to the wider and narrower context in Bible Study, we will now go on to  address a different matter: the personal context. The Bible does not speak in a  vacuum. It is addressed to certain people. We say that the Bible is a covenant  book. This means that it speaks directly to you who are God's covenant people.  It is your book! <br>
  
Well, when God's people read this their  Book, they soon notice that it is not a message which you can ignore. Instead,  it is a Book which makes demands of the reader. It commands them, comforts them  and challenges them. It never leaves them neutral. From beginning to end, this  is a Book which needs a response, not just an intellectual response, but a  response arising from the depths of our hearts. <br>

</strong><strong>Application</strong><strong> </strong><br>
I hesitate to use the word  &quot;application&quot; because of its misuse in certain circles. In various  kinds of evangelical publications (even&nbsp;in&quot;  study Bibles&quot;), you find all kinds of attempts to &quot;apply&quot; a  certain part of Scripture to our lives today. For example, I just heard a  &quot;sermon&quot; about King David  and the matter of Uriah the Hittite (by a wellknown  evangelical preacher). The basic point of this sermon was: if you tell one lie,  you'll soon be telling a lot more. This is the kind of &quot;application&quot;  we don't need. The Bible was not written to teach a great number of moral  &quot;lessons.&quot; If you find a commentary which takes this approach, it  probably isn't worth your while. <br>
  
Also, I think we should resist the idea  that &quot;application&quot; is a special component of Bible Study which we  always do at the end of our study. Often, as we are studying Scripture, we will  find ourselves overwhelmed by the majesty and glory of our God. The salvation  He works in history is astounding. What greater application can there be than  to fall down in reverent wonder before Him who is the Holy One? <br>
  
All the same, there is place for a  separate consideration of application. <br>
  
Allow me to suggest the following  questions as a guide. Ask yourselves: What does the Lord show us about Himself  in this passage? What promises are given in this passage, whether explicitly or  implicitly, which ask for our faith? Ask yourselves: do we really believe these  promises? What does this passage show us about my Saviour (whether explicitly  or implicitly)? What&nbsp;<em>warnings</em><em>&nbsp;</em>are  there in this passage? With what sins in our own lives does this passage  confront,us? What&nbsp;<em>commands of</em><em>&nbsp;</em>God  are there in this passage which we must obey? What must change in our lives  because of what we have learned in this passage? What does this passage say  about the task of the church? <br>
  
In thinking about  &quot;application,&quot; we must remember that the Bible is the account of  God's mighty deeds. Not man, but God is the central character. What God does  comes to a focus in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we may ask at any given  time: where is Christ the Lord in this passage? Once  we can see an answer to this question, we will soon know the answer to a  further question: where am I, a Christian in this passage? For where Christ is, there are His people, too. <br>
  
The whole Bible, although it contains a  library of 66 books, is really one story, the true story of the saving work of  God in Christ   Jesus. When you come to understand  this, you soon feel yourself caught up in the story. When the Lord speaks about  Christ, He is addressing you, too! <br>
  
Finally, it is proper that Bible Study  ends in prayer. In such a prayer after Young People's Society or after your  personal Bible Study, you will thank the Lord for the new or renewed insights  you have received and you will ask Him to give you His Spirit to help you think  and live in the light of the Scriptures. <br>
  
It goes without saying, of course, that  Bible Study should also be preceded by prayer. We ask that the same Spirit who  inspired the Word would also illumine our minds and prepare our hearts to  receive the Word. At the very beginning of our study, we need&nbsp;to  confess that understanding the Bible is possible only for spiritual people (1  Cor. 2:14,15). All the methods and tools described in the previous articles  will not help those who do not first seek the help of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. <br>

</strong><strong>Is Bible study necessary</strong><strong> </strong><br>
Some of you might be inclined to say:  this kind of Bible study is great for ministers, but not for me. I'm just an  average person.. I'm not able to do all the things about which you have  written. <br>
  
In answer to such concerns, it may be  said, first, that we don't have to read the Bible in this way all the time.  There is still a very important place in our Christian lives for regular, daily  Bible reading, for example, at meal times. At these times, we won't always have  opportunity to really delve into the Scriptures or to get out our Bible Study  toolbox. <br>
  
But we are saying that&nbsp;<em>in  addition</em><em>&nbsp;</em>to daily Bible reading, there must also be serious  Bible study. Often this will take place via a Bible Study group. If you go to  Bible Study after preparing in the ways described in these articles, you are  guaranteed a very fruitful and edifying discussion. <br>
  
To go to Bible Study without preparing  yourself in the way described (not necessarily in exactly the same way) would  be irresponsible. When people fail to pay attention to the larger, narrower and  personal context of Scripture, they will be prone to twisting it or, at the  least, missing the point that is being made. Serious, persistent Bible Study honours  the Lord who took such a special care in having the Bible written for us. <br>
  
Furthermore, if only ministers are  studying the Word of God, how can church members test their preaching? Some of  you who read this article will one day be called to serve as elders in various  congregations. Part of your task then will be to ensure that the preaching in  your church is faithful. How can this task be fulfilled if you are ignorant of  the Bible? <br>
  
To further commend to your heart the  importance of Bible Study, I would suggest you read the following passages:  Deut.&nbsp;6:4-7;&nbsp;Joshua 1 :8; Psalm&nbsp;1  :2; Col. 3:16; 1&nbsp;John.&nbsp;2:14.&nbsp;I'm  sure you can find other passages which bring a similar message. <br>

</strong><strong>Is Bible study possible?</strong><strong> </strong><br>
There may be those who still insist  that this kind of Bible Study is only for ministers of the Word. In answer, I  would point out that the kind of study done by ministers reaches even further.  For example, ministers base all their study on the original text of Scripture  which comes in the form of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages.  Furthermore, ministers as a rule have much more time available for this kind of  work. Then, too, they have more study tools at their disposal which may be too  complex for many church members without theological training (not to mention  that they are usually too expensive!). We should also consider the fact that  the minister has been ordained to preach. His study is usually directed to the  proclamation of the Word in the midst of the congregation. <br>
  
In principle, however, the method of  study used by a minister is indeed the&nbsp;same  one which you must use in your preparation for Young People's Society.  Therefore, another title for this series of articles could be: &quot;A Day in  the Life of a Minister.&quot; That there is similarity between what you do to  prepare for Young People's Society and what a minister does in his study need  not really surprise anyone. <br>
  
If you want to understand a novel, you  will have to learn something about the methods used by a professor of English  literature. Indeed, it takes a number of years of training in&nbsp;elementary  and high school to learn how to read ordinary books properly. The more you  learn about literature, the more you will appreciate or abhor the novel you are  reading. Therefore, I would also say that the best training school for serious  Bible Study is the preaching of the Word in your own church. All the points  that have been made in these articles will receive ample illustration from your  own minister. <br>
  
Is Bible Study hard? Of course it is.  Everything really valuable is hard. Does it take a long time to learn this  method? <br>
  
Well, it does take more time than it  takes to watch a hockey game. <br>
  
But to those who are thinking,  &quot;I'll never be able to master all the procedures and methods described in  these articles,&quot; I would say: don't you remember what it was like when you  learned to drive? At first, when you had to look over your shoulder in order to  change lanes, you swerved all over the road. Trying to coordinate the clutch  and the gear shifter proved nearly impossible. Whenever you tried to turn on  the heater, you started the windshield wiper instead. But now that you have  been driving for a year or two or more, you hardly think about all the  different things you have to do. Instead, you can relax and enjoy the  experience of driving. <br>
  
So it is with Bible Study. You must  first learn and practice the rules. This can be frustrating for a while. Even  ministers of the Word have to work very hard to gain understanding of  Scripture. If you persist, however, you will eventually have the exhilarating  experience of reaching new levels of understanding God's Word. </p>
[[Category:Bible]][[Category:Studies and Guides]]