How To: The Bible

Welcome back again.  I apologize for the lapse in updating.  I was away for a week on a missions trip, and by the time I got back, I was drained.  Anyway, I hope the previous post got through to you.  Because I’m psychic, however, I can hear a few of you through my computer screen:

“Okay, I get it, I need to read the Bible.  But it’s just so... big!”

Yeah, it’s intimidating.  66 books is a lot, but don’t think about it as a whole like that.  Most of you have read that many books by the time you graduate from high school (at least, if you’re being good and doing your schoolwork like I never did).  As with the proverbial elephant, we eat this thing one bite at a time, and here’s a nice list of precepts to keep handy.  These will help you to no end in your study and reading of the Scriptures.  I know they helped me.  Unlike past posts (and future ones, too), today’s lesson won’t feature a whole lot of scripture to back up what I’m saying.  Not that it can’t, but I’m trying to keep these things to a manageable word count here.

1) Prayer

Absolutely never start digging into the Word without opening in prayer.  It doesn’t have to be long, or even all that deep, but start by getting your head right.  Remember that there is always something new to see and learn, no matter how familiar the passage.  Ask God to reveal his Truth, and you’ll be surprised at how often it happens.

2) Did you pray already?  Okay then.

3) Ignore verses, read passages.

I know this seems obvious, but the writers of the Bible never put numbers into their letters, in the same way that Shakespeare never put those little line numbers in the margins of his plays and sonnets.  Those were added at a later date as reference guides and research tools, and they have NO direct impact on the text itself.

The Bible is a series of stories and letters, so read like it.  Read whole sections, or even whole books if time allows.  Imagine that you are receiving this writing as a whole, as the churches did in the past.  By setting too much weight on the numbers and chapters, we’re tempted into taking verses out of context, and letting them stand alone, which by the way...

4) NO verse ever stands alone.

I actually had a gentleman come to my door once to try to get me to come to his church.  The problem was, this gentleman was a heretic, and espousing a completely false doctrine.  He also had exactly one verse in the entirety of the Bible to prove his statements with.  This is almost ALWAYS a problem.  The Bible can never, ever contradict its own theology.  The point is furthered when the passage this young man was quoting to me was preceded not two verses beforehand by a verse declaring it to be “a great allegory”, which of course this sect was taking literally.  This kind of stuff is much harder to do when you’ve trained yourself to see context at all times.

5) The Bible can never mean what it never meant.

Context, context, context.  I can not say it enough.  If you don’t know what the Bible says in context, then you’re so much more likely to fall prey to the twisting of the Scriptures by unprincipled men.  This should also go without saying, but the Bible wasn’t written in English.  Because of the myriad word choice we have in English for similar subjects and ideas, we have different versions of the Bible.  Wherever you see an interesting word choice, or a phrase that catches your eye, I highly recommend you look up the original wording.  My personal favorite site is biblehub.com, where you can look up any passage or verse and get the greek or hebrew concordance for the words.  As a study tool, this site is a must-have.

More important than the specific words, though, might just be the historical context into which the passage was written.  So much of the Bible is written to an audience that has the same reference pool, which we don’t have today.  When the Bible speaks in Revelation of overcomers being given a “white stone”, we have absolutely no idea what to do with that image.  By researching the world of Asia Minor and the Mediterranean in that time, we realize that a white stone was given to victors in the Olympic games as an entry token to the post-race celebrations.  Things like this are why study is so important.

6) The Bible interprets itself when interpretation is necessitated.

While concordances and the writings of scholars are great study aids, they should never, ever be taken above the Word itself.  The Bible (through the Spirit of God) will always reveal its own meaning to those who desire to learn.  While that can sound hokey, the alternative is to leave the Bible open to interpretation by any outside source.  Men who know comparatively little would attempt to define the meanings of ultimate truth and judge omniscience itself by lesser terms!  How can that be?

Some passages in the Bible are unclear.  We run into this most often when dealing with prophecy, though newer Christians can be tripped up by many passages due to the audience being different, as discussed above.  Never try to set your personal doctrine by unclear passages.  Confusion is a prime weapon in the Adversary’s arsenal, and he would welcome a chance to trip you up and get you doing something contrary to the true meanings of Scripture.  If you don’t know, seek counsel from a more experienced brother or sister.  But beware taking outside sources too literally, because...

7) NOTHING establishes doctrine aside from the Word of God itself.

The Bible has very little to say about the minutiae of daily life.  It shouldn’t need to, frankly.  Universal truth and doctrine is found within the 66 books of Biblical canon, and nowhere else.  Your pastor can not tell you with absolute certainty that going to a bar is a sin.  Your youth leader can’t compel you to stop listening to a kind of music by arguing that “God doesn’t like it”.  If it isn’t written in black and white (or especially red!) text, then it isn’t doctrine.

For specific examples in daily life, God reveals his will to each of us personally.  He speaks to us through the Word, but also through his voice and his Spirit, giving us hints as to what we should be doing with our time, money, and energy.  If God tells you that you shouldn’t go to that concert because it’s being played in a nightclub, then don’t!  You absolutely shouldn’t.  But (and this is a biggy, guys), that doesn’t mean that’s true for everyone else.  This is called specific revelation, and what God says to you is for you only, unless he specifically tells you it’s a message for the world or for the church as he did with the prophets of old, like Elijah.  But ask yourself how many prophets like that are around today, and be very, very clear about your calling before you try to step into that roll, becuase God doesn’t take a very kind view to people abusing his Word.

Signs you or someone else is doing it wrong:

- A passage or verse has been modernized to fit a situation.

- A word used in a verse doesn’t match up to the meaning of the original word in the original language.

Man, these just seem so obvious it hurts.  Paul never had a smartphone.  He has no opinions on whether or not they are the devil in disguise.

- There is only one verse in the entire Bible that can be used to back up an argument or philosophy.

This is almost ALWAYS in direct opposition to numerous other passages in the Bible that contradict it, which are always conveniently ignored (looking at you, Jehovah’s Witnesses...)

Anyway, there’s the basics.  Keep this handy, write them in the cover of your Bible if you wish, and you should have a much firmer foundation for reading.  Just remember to read.