Joint Heirs Adult Bible Fellowship Additional material not presented in class Will Duke, Guest Speaker How to Study the Bible Part 3 Review: I. The Bible Is a Unique Book. We must begin by remembering what we are studying. The Bible is not like any other book. II. Resources to Study the Bible. A. Recommended Bible Translations: 1. Because we don t read the biblical languages, we depend on others to translate them into English. 2. We have available more and better English translations than any time in history. 3. Translations not recommended for serious Bible study include the KJV and the NKJV because of the manuscript collection (the Textus Receptus) they use for translating the New Testament. 4. Recommended translations: a. Recommended Bible paraphrase: The Voice (2012) Use freer translations like paraphrases for devotional reading or getting a general feel for a passage of Scripture, but they will not serve you well for serious, detailed Bible study. For that you need a good, modern English study Bible. That should be your primary tool for Bible study. b. Importance of a good study Bible. A study Bible will assist your Bible study by giving you much information you could only discover with extensive research. (a) A good study Bible will provide you with many of the benefits of a seminary education. (b) I don t know how anyone can effectively study the Bible without a good study Bible. 1
c. NIV Study Bible. (NIV) (2011) Today, the NIV is sold more than any other English Bible in the world. It is a solid translation that tends more to the dynamic equivalence side of the spectrum rather than the formal equivalence side. d. KEY RECOMMENDATION: Use a variety of translations in parallel, alongside each other as you study. e. English Standard Version (ESV) (2001) f. Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (2017) g. The Expanded Bible (EXB) (2011) Not an actual study Bible but provides helpful notes to alert me to issues and concepts that I will want to watch for as I begin my study. h. The New English Translation (NET) (1996-2006) Today s Lesson: B. On-Line Resources: 1. Warning: the Internet is like the Wild West. You can find anything there, good and not so good; helpful or unhelpful; accurate or even misleading. Every possible perspective on the Bible, Christianity, and religion is available, so you have to be careful of your sources. Before you start to depend on what they say, check them out. Who sponsors them? Are they associated with a particular denomination or religious group? Are they politically aligned? Do they provide a statement of faith so you can tell what their commitments are and where they are coming from? Are they a reliable, trustworthy source that can help you understand the Bible better? 2. Search engines: Search engines do not answer your questions; they point you to sources which potentially can answer your questions. To properly use a search engine, this is the question you should have in your mind: Where can I find information on...? a. Google It is the single most used search engine in the world. Over 80% of all Internet searches worldwide are done on Google. (1) Google is where I start my Internet searches. Most everyone knows about and uses Google. In fact, to search on the Internet has become to be called to Google something. 2
(2) Google provides not only information, but also images, videos, maps, and news. They constantly search the information on the entire Internet in response to anything you ask. Consequently, they present you with almost every possible response. Since Google finds thousands of responses to your question, they arrange the responses to make them more useful to you. The first listed responses are there because the sources have paid to have themselves put at the top of the list. Often the list begins with companies which have placed ads to be found. These are usually marked as ads. These are followed by Googles guess as to which you would be most interested in, based on their records of your previous searches. If you continue drilling down into the list, you will find almost anything anyone has said about what you are searching for. This is good if you are looking to see what everybody thinks about something. But you cannot depend on the information you receive as being true or accurate from a Christian point of view. They simply report what others have posted on the Internet. (3) Also be aware, Google tracks what you search for and keeps records on it. This allows them to arrange the results they give you with the things they think you would be most interested in first and send you targeted ads. b. Other search engines include: Bing (Microsoft) the next biggest search engine after Google Yahoo Ask.com Wolframalpha Many others 3. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org a. How it works. The 6 th most visited site on the Internet (465 million unique visitors last April). Anybody and contribute, change, add to, subtract from any article. All free, volunteers. b. This cooperative effort results in usually factually accurate information about just about everything known to mankind, but most contributors are not believers and especially not conservative Christians. Helpful, but take what they say with a grain of salt. c. Use it like you would an encyclopedia. E.g., say I am studying Paul s missionary journeys in Acts, and I want to know who the Roman emperor was at the time. I would go Wikipedia for that fact. Or in our study of Ephesus, Wikipedia provided us with photos of the archaeological ruins of Ephesus. Or if I wanted information of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 3
d. The more your subject matter concerns conservative Christian doctrine, the more suspect the Wikipedia information. At best, these articles will give you a liberal Christian perspective, but often they are even atheistic and anti- Christian is nature. This reflects the personal commitments and values of the editors who control what gets on and what does not. e. Can be very useful, especially for factual materials, but not reliable theologically. 4. Biblical sources. These are the primary on-line biblical sources available that I have found to be reliable and trustworthy and which I use on a daily basis: a. First of all, those tools which help you access the text of Scripture: This is where I spend most of my time and effort in Bible study. (1) Biblegateway.com (There is also a mobile app available.) Great for quick access to the text of Scripture in many translations (57 English versions and more than 150 others). Works especially well to set up different versions in parallel: 5 (on computer) or up to 3 (on mobile device). Powerful search functions. Search by Scripture reference or keyword (like an automated concordance). o Search for phrases and combinations of words, too. o Search in any version you wish. Because I grew up with the KJV, I often start with that version because that is the way I remember the verse. E.g., search for Trust in the Lord o This is not a subject index. E.g. you can search for the word faith. It will give you every verse in the Bible in which the word appears alone or in combination, but it will not give you Pro. 3:5-6 because the word faith is not in the English versions of the passage. See a passage in various translations in parallel. E.g., Jn. 14:1-2. Audio Bibles to listen to Devotionals Bible reading plans 4
The free version is supported by ads. You can upgrade: $3.00/mo; reduced ads and get free access to 40+ study and reference books and devotionals. (2) Blueletterbible.org (also has a mobile app) Search by Scripture reference (Eph. 2) or keyword (faith) Tools: o Interlinear gives access to the biblical languages, even if you do not know Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. o Bibles allows comparison of a given verse between translations o Cross references: what does the Bible teach on this subject in other passages? o Commentaries o Dictionaries o Misc: maps, charts, graphics b. To ask questions about a biblical teaching or doctrine: (1) Gotquestions.org (a) Website says: "Got Questions Ministries seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by providing biblical, applicable, and timely answers to spiritually related questions through an internet presence." GotQuestions.org is a ministry of dedicated and trained servants who have a desire to assist others in their understanding of God, Scripture, salvation, and other spiritual topics. We are Christian, Protestant, conservative, evangelical, fundamental, and non-denominational. We view ourselves as a para-church ministry, coming alongside the church to help people find answers to their spiritually related questions. (b) This is a good source to ask your questions. They provide reliable answers from a Protestant, conservative evangelical, non-denominational perspective. They hold to the full inerrancy of Scripture and all the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, so you won t find them teaching heresy. E.g., search for Eternal Security 5
Even if you don t have a specific question, it is interesting to see what questions other people are asking. E.g., Question of the Week: "How can I believe in the goodness of God when there is so much evil in the world?" (2) Bible.org (a) Conservative, evangelical Christian, believes in the inerrancy of Scripture (b) Publisher of the NET Bible. (c) Here you can study a biblical book, topic, author, or verse. (3) Phone and tablet apps: most Bible translations and on-line study Bibles are available as mobile or tablet apps. 5. Other study resources: I don t use either of these, but I know lots of people who do and swear by them a. Logos www.logos.com. Expensive but comprehensive; everything you need to study the Bible; from several hundreds to thousands of dollars, but provides thousands of dollars of resources; probably the best Bible study set of tools available today. This is the primary tool seminary students use today. b. e-sword (free) (also available as mobile app). III. How To Do Bible Study A. Different kinds of Bible studies 1. Study a book or passage or verse 2. Study a topic or subject 3. Study a Bible character B. Goal of Bible study 1. What is the difference between Bible reading and Bible study? Fundamentally, a writing instrument. 2. Goal: end up with written notes reflecting what God has taught you so that at a later date you can review them and ascertain if you are doing what you learned or 6
if you need to review the lessons. The fundamental difference between Bible reading and Bible study is writing down what you are doing to facilitate learning and retain what you learned. C. Procedure to study a given passage: George Guthrie compares doing Bible study to taking a trip to a foreign culture. The language at times seems foreign. You might have difficulty finding your way around the history or the literature. You see new things that are beautiful or even strange. You then gather up what you have gained from your study time and hopefully grow by the experience. o Bible study plan. Studying the Bible is a cross-cultural experience, so we need a vehicle that can take us where we need to go in order to hear what God wants to say to us through those experiences. This vehicle is a plan for good Bible study. Using this plan, we will see the sights God wants us to see. We will learn to navigate the unfamiliar territories of biblical history and literature. We will read the road signs that mark the main points to which we must pay attention, and we will learn to understand and speak the language of the Bible. o After we have lived in the world of the biblical text for a while and become familiar with what is going on there, persevering through challenges and hearing what God wants us to hear, we then travel back home to our life contexts, bringing with us changed hearts and minds. The vehicle that can bring us home is the process of discerning the principles and significance of what we have encountered in the Bible and then finding specific ways to apply God s truth to our lives. 1. Pack your bags. a. Choose a passage or topic. b. Gather your tools. Study Bible On-line resources Commentaries c. Pray Make sure you are confessed up and that there is no unconfessed sin blocking your openness to the Holy Spirit. 1 Jn. 1:9 Ask the Author to help you understand what He has written to you. You might pray something like this: 7
Lord, thank You for Your Word. I pray that You will give me the discipline to study this passage carefully. Please also give me the discernment to understand the details. Lord, guide me by Your Spirit and lead me into Your truth. I am committed to applying what I find here, and I pray that You will change me by Your Word, bringing my life more in line with Your will and seeing things the way You want me to. Thank You for this time. 2. Read the maps. Maps are vital to navigation you must know where you are to understand how to get to where you want to go. In Bible study, knowledge of the historical and literary contexts give us needed orientation to the biblical neighborhood we are traversing. a. The broad historical context of the Book. You can find this in the introductory material to each book in your study Bible or commentary. You will want to know: (1) Who wrote the book? (2) Who were its original recipients? (3) Where were the author and recipients located? (4) When was the book written? (5) What was the occasion for its writing? What was going on at the time? (6) What was the purpose of the book? b. The literary genre: This is the kind of literature you are studying. The Bible is composed of many kinds of literature. It includes historical narrative, law, poetry and music, drama, stories and parables, personal correspondence, didactic teaching, travel accounts, proverbs, etc. The genre of a given passage will determine how we approach the text and what kind of questions we might ask of it. Different genres are intended to accomplish different purposes and must be interpreted by different rules. Understanding the genre of a passage helps us see how the author intended his writing to communicate to his original audience and how the Holy Spirit was using him. For example: (1) For narrative literature, we want to ask: (a) What is the significance of this part of the story? (b) How does it fit into the wider story of what God was doing at the time and even how does it fit into grand story of God in the Scriptures? (c) Of all the things the author could has chosen to write about, why did he pick this? (2) Poetic literature (Psalms, Song of Solomon, many portions of the prophetic books) is especially good in communicating the full range of human emotions, from the heights of joy to the depths of despair. In poetic literature, we want to ask: 8
(a) What is the emotion being expressed? (b) How is it being expressed? (c) Does it use figurative language? (d) Does it use Hebrew parallelism? (Hebrew poetry does not rhyme sounds; its rhymes ideas.) (3) Proverbs are a unique genre. They are meant to convey general guidelines for living. E.g., Pro. 4:10-12 10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. This is not to be understood as a promise that an obedient child will be guaranteed a long life free from hindrances. It is a proverb saying, in effect, that the best way for as child to live is by seeking out wisdom; this is the path to success in life, and generally speaking, will lead to a long and effective life. Proverbs are not be understood as promises. c. The immediate context of the passage. We want to know how our passage fits into the overall development of thought of the book. The meaning of words often depend on their context. In historical narrative, the immediate context is the events leading up to the passage being studied. In a theologically didactic passage, the writer s thoughts are following a logical progress, so what has just gone before and how does this fit into the author s discussion? 3. Read the road signs carefully. Road signs tell us where we are going. We need to watch for the clues which reveal the author s intentions. a. Read the passage. (1) Read the text you are to study several times and in several translations. Read it silently and aloud, so you can hear your own voice read it. Don t read any commentaries or notes on the passage yet. Just let the Lord impress on you the basic ideas. (2) Read the passage in several different translations. Use on-line resources like Biblegateway.com or Blueletterbible.org to set up different translations in parallel columns. Compare them verse by verse. (3) If we speed over the passage, we may miss the road signs, so slow down and read carefully. Outlining the passage may help you focus on the details. 9
b. Write: ask questions of the passage and write down the answers you discover. (1) What kind of writing is this passage (genre)? Is it history or poetry or music or personal correspondence or prophesy or didactic teaching or storytelling (e.g., parables)? It can be a combination, too. Understanding the genre of a passage helps you see where the writer was coming from and how the Holy Spirit was using him. (2) What is the main subject of this passage? (3) Who are the main characters? (4) What does this passage say about Christ? (5) What is the key or main verse in the passage? (6) What is the central lesson being taught? (7) Are there any promises given? Any that apply to you and that you could claim? (8) Are there any commands given? Is there any action that you think you should take? (9) Are there any errors to avoid? Or sins to confess? (10) Is there an example to follow? c. Read any study notes about this passage in your study Bible. If you are using a commentary on this passage, read that now. Jot down any notes you think are pertinent. (1) You are seeking to understand what these words meant to the writer and the reader when they were originally written in the context of that ancient time, culture, and circumstance. Watch for and try to understand the idioms the writer used. Every language has idioms. Your study Bible can help you spot these. (2) Be alert to figurative uses. Just like our daily language, the Bible is full of figures of speech. The context in which the figure is used will help you determine if a word or phrase is to be taken literally or figuratively. Take the text literally unless it clearly is meant to be symbolic. Don t try to spiritualize the text or try to see secret meanings behind the plain words. 10
4. Learn to speak like a local. To understand the biblical text, we need to have an accurate understanding of how words are used. The meanings of words are determined by the contexts in which they are used. a. This is Tim s word: contexticate. b. When studying a word in the biblical text, we want to: (1) Know the possible meanings for a word or idea in the ancient world. (2) Determine, based on the context, which meaning the author most likely intended. (3) See whether insight on the author s use can be gained by noting how the same word is used elsewhere in the Bible. c. Pick out the key words to study. These are words that may be repeated, terms that are unclear or puzzling, or ideas that seem to be important. d. Consult word study tools such as Blueletterbible.org or commentaries. You want to know how the word you are studying is used in other places in the Bible. This will give you a greater understanding of how the word is used in your passage. 5. Head home: As with any trip, there comes a time to travel home. In Bible study, applying what we have learned is like bringing it home. God never intended that our Bible study simply result in our learning a lot of facts. He intends that our study will result in Christian growth and transformed lives. a. How do we apply what we have learned to our lives? We don t want to be like the man who opened the Bible at random and read So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Mt. 27:5) He didn t like that, so he opened the Bible again and read, So Jesus told him, What you are about to do, do quickly. (Jn. 13:27) b. How can we responsibly apply what we learn from Scripture? (1) Identify the main points and principles of the passage. What truth claims in the Scriptural passage making? Write them down. What principle(s) is it teaching? A principle is a universal truth that applies in all places at all times. 11
(2) Identify how the principles applied in the situation in our passage and think through parallel situations on your own life. Ask God for guidance. (3) Make specific applications to your life. Try to go beyond vague generalities. Don t just write I need to love people more, but write down who you need to love and what actions could you take to express love to them. (4) These applications could be not only something to do, but also could be a change in what you believe, or to burst forth in praise and worship of God for what you have learned about Him. c. If our Bible study does not result in changes to our thinking, our commitments, and what we do, it is little more than an inconsequential hobby like collecting spoons. God wants to use His word to make you more like His Son. Let Him. 12