Getting Started With Serious Bible Study
Lots of people of faith are interested in becoming a serious student of the Bible -- but they're unsure where to begin. Becoming a serious Bible student needs a real commitment and a systematic approach, but it isn't quite as complicated and confusing as some might have you think. In this column I would like to outline a perspective general recommendations which will help you to begin.
A Definite Plan Desired
Among the most important things to be stressed is that in order to be prosperous in Bible study you must have an organized strategy. Many men and women believe this is past them because they're too busy -- but in fact, the busier you are the more you require a plan! With a strategy in place, even if your time is limited, you will have the ability to know precisely where you left off in your research -- busy folks do not have time to fool around having a cluttered, hit-and-miss strategy. There are, of course, that a multitude of different kinds of Bible study programs and programs which are available -- you can discover many of them from Christian book publishers and from online sources online.
The main thing is to have an organized strategy -- if you're a student in college studying economics, as an instance, your instructor would map out a whole program that will take you through the entire textbook -- and that is the way you need to approach your study of the Bible.
The Value of Context
Ultimately, in your study of the Scriptures, your final goal is to make sense of it all -- to understand it, to interpret it properly. And among those fundamental rules of proper Bible interpretation is to think about the context of a Bible passage. "Context" has several distinct levels: the instant context, which are the verses and passages that encircle the one that you're analyzing, the book context (how a specific Bible passage fits in with the subject or concept of a particular book of the Bible), the literary context (how one prophetical writing, for instance, fits in with the other prophetical writings), and ultimately the overall context of the entire Bible.
Understand the Historical and Cultural Background
It is also important to understand something of the cultural and historical setting in which the writings of the Bible have been given. The documents were written thousands of years ago -- through times far removed from our own, when different countries ruled the earth, also when different traditions and ways of living. None of us is born with a built-in knowledge of those ancient times -- we must take some time to find out about them.
Fortunately, there are a great number of resources available that could help individuals in understanding the historical and cultural histories of the Bible -- Bible study tools such as Bible Encyclopedias and Bible dictionaries can place the huge resources of biblical scholarship at our fingertips.
Get a Larger Perspective
As you examine the Scriptures, attempt to relate the message and significance of a specific passage of the Bible into the total message of that entire biblical book. By way of example, suppose you are studying Exodus Chapter 20, the accounts of the giving of the 10 Commandments. You need to ask yourself questions such as -- who composed the book of Exodus? Who had been the book of Exodus written to? What's Small Group Bible Study of the book of Exodus? Obtaining answers to these questions is essential to gaining a proper understanding of exactly what the Bible is all about.
Use Good Tools
Again, not one of us is born with this advice already packaged inside of our mind -- we'll at some point must look up and explore this backdrop using different kinds of biblical reference tools -- which means that part of your task as a serious Bible student will be to develop, over time, a tiny private or family biblical reference library. It isn't that you're hoping to become a "bookworm" -- you need to see these materials as tools, as any contractor or contractor or a electrician has their set of resources that they need to find the task done.
A Definite Plan Desired
Among the most important things to be stressed is that in order to be prosperous in Bible study you must have an organized strategy. Many men and women believe this is past them because they're too busy -- but in fact, the busier you are the more you require a plan! With a strategy in place, even if your time is limited, you will have the ability to know precisely where you left off in your research -- busy folks do not have time to fool around having a cluttered, hit-and-miss strategy. There are, of course, that a multitude of different kinds of Bible study programs and programs which are available -- you can discover many of them from Christian book publishers and from online sources online.
The main thing is to have an organized strategy -- if you're a student in college studying economics, as an instance, your instructor would map out a whole program that will take you through the entire textbook -- and that is the way you need to approach your study of the Bible.
The Value of Context
Ultimately, in your study of the Scriptures, your final goal is to make sense of it all -- to understand it, to interpret it properly. And among those fundamental rules of proper Bible interpretation is to think about the context of a Bible passage. "Context" has several distinct levels: the instant context, which are the verses and passages that encircle the one that you're analyzing, the book context (how a specific Bible passage fits in with the subject or concept of a particular book of the Bible), the literary context (how one prophetical writing, for instance, fits in with the other prophetical writings), and ultimately the overall context of the entire Bible.
Understand the Historical and Cultural Background
It is also important to understand something of the cultural and historical setting in which the writings of the Bible have been given. The documents were written thousands of years ago -- through times far removed from our own, when different countries ruled the earth, also when different traditions and ways of living. None of us is born with a built-in knowledge of those ancient times -- we must take some time to find out about them.
Fortunately, there are a great number of resources available that could help individuals in understanding the historical and cultural histories of the Bible -- Bible study tools such as Bible Encyclopedias and Bible dictionaries can place the huge resources of biblical scholarship at our fingertips.
Get a Larger Perspective
As you examine the Scriptures, attempt to relate the message and significance of a specific passage of the Bible into the total message of that entire biblical book. By way of example, suppose you are studying Exodus Chapter 20, the accounts of the giving of the 10 Commandments. You need to ask yourself questions such as -- who composed the book of Exodus? Who had been the book of Exodus written to? What's Small Group Bible Study of the book of Exodus? Obtaining answers to these questions is essential to gaining a proper understanding of exactly what the Bible is all about.
Use Good Tools
Again, not one of us is born with this advice already packaged inside of our mind -- we'll at some point must look up and explore this backdrop using different kinds of biblical reference tools -- which means that part of your task as a serious Bible student will be to develop, over time, a tiny private or family biblical reference library. It isn't that you're hoping to become a "bookworm" -- you need to see these materials as tools, as any contractor or contractor or a electrician has their set of resources that they need to find the task done.
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