How shall we read the Bible?

[GraceSeeker]

That we are to read and study the Bible is a given within the Christian faith. Certainly Wesley lifted up the importance of searching the scriptures. So has every other leader in the Church. But how do we do it? What is the method (for us Methodists) that we use?


I'm curious if anyone has any good summaries that would be suitable for sharing with the congregation as either a fully developed sermon or a half-page insert I can slip into a bulletin.

 

[GraceSeeker]

Here is an interesting article that begins by making the point "An isolated reader of Scripture is as dangerous as a self-taught surgeon."

Remembering How to Read the Bible



I also appreciate what Disciple Bible Study has to say with regard to their rules of the road for participants in those study groups:

DISCIPLE: Principles for Bible Study

1. The Word of God is Jesus Christ, and the words of the Bible tell us about that Word. Therefore, when we study the words of the Bible we always look behind, in, and through those words for God's Word - Jesus Christ.

2. No Christian has a monopoly on understanding either God's Word or the words of the Scripture. This includes biblical scholars and the most unlearned Christian. All of us must listen to one another as we seek to understand the richness of God's gifts.

3. We must assume everyone has Christian integrity and not accuse one another of being unchristian, no matter how unusual are the opinions.

4. We must further assume that we will arrive at different understandings of portions of Scripture and that that will not disturb God as much as It will some of us.

5. Few of us will know Hebrew or Greek, and we therefore need to use a variety of English versions to try to understand the text.

6. While we accept our differences, we do not feel that those differences are unimportant, or that they should be ignored or treated as if they did not matter.

7. Different biblical understandings can remain among us, but we can still be warm Christian friends. In fact, as we grow to better understand our differences, we can grow in our appreciation of one another.

Adapted from Strengthening the Adult Sunday School Class by Dick Murray. Copyright © 1981 by Abingdon Press. Permission is granted to copy this page for DISCIPLE

 

[Maid Marie]

Could you explain what kind of information you are looking for? Are you looking for a bible reading plan, or something else?

 

[GraceSeeker]

It could be lots of different things.

A Bible reading plan would be one approach. I have a friend who reads Psalms and Proverbs every month reading Ps 1, 31, 61, 91, 121 and Proverbs 1 the first day of the month, then Ps. 2, 32, 62, 92, 122, and Pr. 2 the 2nd day of the month, and so on. So maybe something like that that helps people to read the whole Bible over time.

It could be a way to dig into what one is reading. We are probably all aware of the menomic device of ACTS that helps one to pray.
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication.
Does anyone have something like this for doing one's devotional reading of the Bible.


I am a big fan of Inductive Bible study. I can summarize it as Observation, Interpretation, Application. But to explain what those elements are takes me a full book. Maybe someone else has this condensed better than I do.


But, I'm looking for pretty much anything that I could hand to a parishioner to improve their ability to get something of value from searching the scriptures.

 

[Maid Marie]

Been thinking about this and here are my suggestions:

Lectio Divinia Bible Studies - you can do this with a group or alone.

I have also just read some commentaries devotionally. I love these ones - New Beacon Bible Commentary

Since of one my degrees is in history, I like to read the bible historically. There is This plan or you can get this Chronological Life Application Bible. I have it and just love it.

I like this Lectionary based devotional. It has the bible readings for the day, plus the daily office and a short devotional thought. It is from the Episcopal church.

Or you can read each day: one chapter from Psalms or Proverbs, one chapter from the rest of the OT and one chapter from the NT.

Is this what you are thinking of?

 

[food4thought]

I am not aware of anything shorter than a book that presents the principles of Inductive Bible Study, GraceSeeker... sorry.

But I want to add to the discussion the importance of context, context, context, context!!! For any verse of Scripture there are at least 4 contexts: 1) the context of the historical culture (language idioms, common beliefs, political situations, etc.), 2) the context of the immediate passage (what larger idea is the author trying to convey in this portion of the book, what type of literature is it... historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, etc.), 3) the context of the book (who is the book directed to, what type of literature, what is the purpose of the book), and 4) the context of the Bible as a whole (what covenant is in effect; what other passages deal with this topic, and do those or other passages limit the meaning of this passage; how does this topic reveal Jesus Christ to us).

Hope this was helpful in some way.

 

[GraceSeeker]

I am not aware of anything shorter than a book that presents the principles of Inductive Bible Study, GraceSeeker... sorry.

Don't worry about that;I am. If you're looking for something, may I recommend a book by one of my professors: Bible Study That Works by David L. Thompson. Actually, this particular edition is about twice the size of the version I have on my shelf that he published while I was in seminary.

 

[grayheavens1]

I read what God leads me to. But I tend to dissect the bible alone but also read in a group setting and with my family.

 

[food4thought]

Don't worry about that;I am. If you're looking for something, may I recommend a book by one of my professors: Bible Study That Works by David L. Thompson. Actually, this particular edition is about twice the size of the version I have on my shelf that he published while I was in seminary.

Thanks GraceSeeker... I have a really good text called "Grasping God's Word" that goes into more than enough detail for me. Sometimes all the steps and details in the "observation" section just seem overwhelming, but the end result is as close to a certain interpretation as you can get short of God parting the heavens and explaining the passage for you . Anyone has that happen, be sure to let me know lol

 

[GraceSeeker]

Thanks GraceSeeker... I have a really good text called "Grasping God's Word" that goes into more than enough detail for me. Sometimes all the steps and details in the "observation" section just seem overwhelming, but the end result is as close to a certain interpretation as you can get short of God parting the heavens and explaining the passage for you . Anyone has that happen, be sure to let me know lol

For the original textbook in this field, check out Robert Traina's "Methodical Bible Study."

 

[Bob Carabbio]

When I read the Bible, I always do it the same way.

Start at the beginning, and when you get to the end - Stop.

DO over.

 

[roman2819]

In a book, "Understanding Prayer. Faith and God's Will", I wrote about stydying the Scripture fruitfully in chapter 12. There are various ways such as Character study, Topical study and "Journey through the Bible" where we read through books of Bible in a few years, keeping little concise notes as we move along. Such notes are interesting, and if we happen to stop reading for a while, you can always pick up again (the notes we keep will motivate us to continue).

When we study a book, letter of apsotles (NT) or gospel, before we start to use Greek or Hebrew concordances to understand what words mean in Greek or Hebrew, we must always appreciate the context first. For that, we need to read a letter of NT (for example) many times until you begin to see the main theme, then see how the apostle explained the theme in various sections. This way, we will appreciate the context and meaning of words, otherwise checking out meaning of words in Greek or Hebrew won't help much.

"Understanding Prayer. Faith and God's Will" http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Prayer-Faith-Gods-Will/dp/1503110397

 

[roman2819]

(sorry I post a duplicate ... just deleted it)

 

[grayheavens1]

It sounds dirty but I read by importance. Gospels>Epistles>Prophets>Proverbs&Psalms

 

[roman2819]

But I want to add to the discussion the importance of context, context, context, context!!! For any verse of Scripture there are at least 4 contexts: (1) the context of the historical culture ... 2) the context of the immediate passage (what larger idea is the author trying to convey in this portion of the book, what type of literature is it... historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, etc.), (3) the context of the book (who is the book directed to, what type of literature, what is the purpose of the book), and (4) the context of the Bible as a whole

Thank you Good4 Thoughts, for sharing various kinds of contexts.

Indeed I agreed that context is so important. Trying to find out context of passages or verses gets us thinking, upon which the Bible becomes more interesting, which matters a lot. Many of us lose interests to read Scripture because we are read plainly without trying to grasp context. Reading words and thinking superficially does not produce depth or understanding, which also explains why many of us misunderstand verses about prayer and God's will, and discourage ourselves because they don't work the way we apply.

About how we approach the Bible, I post the following before somewhere in this forum under "What are your thoughts for predestination and free will", #52, 25th Feb 2015 >>

To interpret Scripture correctly, we have to ask questions, think of options and brainstorm different possibilities. As well we have to consciously consider what people back then were thinking (ie the context). All these take time before one realizes the answers, which may take months and even years (for difficult topics); it is not just reading plainly or figuring out verses in 20 mins. Of course, one need not keep looking at the same topic only for a year. We focus on it for a while, stop for some time (w/o the full answer yet), later we happen to come across materials that are related to it, then we are back to it, on and off again ... It’s a learning journey, acquiring knowledge as we go along, until one day we arrive at the conclusion.

Adapted from pg 43, "Understanding prayer, Faith and God's will": Compass for Christian Faith Understanding Prayer, Faith and God's Will: Compass for Christian Faith: Roman Ri: 9781503110397: Amazon.com: Books
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[roman2819]

But I want to add to the discussion the importance of context, context, context, context!!! For any verse of Scripture there are at least 4 contexts: (1) the context of the historical culture ... 2) the context of the immediate passage (what larger idea is the author trying to convey in this portion of the book, what type of literature is it... historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, etc.), (3) the context of the book (who is the book directed to, what type of literature, what is the purpose of the book), and (4) the context of the Bible as a whole

Thank you Good4 Thoughts, for sharing various kinds of contexts.

Indeed I agreed that context is so important. Trying to find out context of passages or verses gets us thinking, upon which the Bible becomes more interesting, which matters a lot. Many of us lose interests to read Scripture because we are read plainly without trying to grasp context. Reading words and thinking superficially does not produce depth or understanding, which also explains why many of us misunderstand verses about prayer and God's will, and discourage ourselves because they don't work the way we apply.

About how we approach the Bible, I post the following before somewhere in this forum under "What are your thoughts for predestination and free will", #52, 25th Feb 2015 >>

To interpret Scripture correctly, we have to ask questions, think of options and brainstorm different possibilities. As well we have to consciously consider what people back then were thinking (ie the context). All these take time before one realizes the answers, which may take months and even years (for difficult topics); it is not just reading plainly or figuring out verses in 20 mins. Of course, one need not keep looking at the same topic only for a year. We focus on it for a while, stop for some time (w/o the full answer yet), later we happen to come across materials that are related to it, then we are back to it, on and off again ... It’s a learning journey, acquiring knowledge as we go along, until one day we arrive at the conclusion.

Adapted from pg 43, "Understanding prayer, Faith and God's will": Compass for Christian Faith http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Prayer-Faith-Gods-Will/dp/1503110397
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