Bible Study

God speaks to His people primarily through the Bible.

  • God gave Scripture to make fools wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).
  • He does speak in other revelations and visions, but they will always echo the Bible’s messages and be pure, peaceable, gentle, fruitful, unbiased, and genuine (James 3:17).
  • God’s Word always leaves an impact on someone listening, and often includes the speaker (Isaiah 55:11).

Every Christian has the right and responsibility to investigate and interpret God’s Word for themselves.

Spend time daily in His Word:

  • God’s inspiration requires diligent Bible study (Acts 17:11).
  • Set aside time to read, digest, research, and analyze.
  • Pray for His wisdom and sight as you read His word.
  • Grow daily by consistently reaffirming His truths and promises.

Wisely interpret the Bible:

  • God gives progressive revelation as you read back-and-forth across Scripture.
  • The Bible will interpret itself: Scripture explains Scripture.
  • We can only understand and properly comprehend Scripture through faith and the Holy Spirit.
  • Interpret personal experience through Scripture, not the other way around.
  • God wrote the Bible to change our lives, not increase our knowledge.
  • Listen to Scripture’s common-sense interpretation first, then its historical context, and finally Bible scholars’ opinions and commentaries.

Observe and honor the Bible’s grammar and syntax:

  • Scripture only has one literal interpretation, which determines the theology you’re reading.
  • Interpret words with the meaning the author would have used at the time.
  • God wrote Scripture to people at a specific time with specific issues, so note the culture of those times.
  • Interpret a word by its relation to its sentence.
  • Interpret a passage by its context and setting.

Each translation wrestles with language barriers that form a spectrum between precise words and precise thoughts as culturally understood:

  1. Word-for-word – prioritizes translating the exact words and sentence structure (e.g., NASB, ESV, Young’s)
  2. Meaning-for-meaning – prioritizes the same meaning of each of the words (e.g., GOD’S WORD)
  3. Thought-for-thought – prioritizes the same meaning of each of the sentences (e.g., NIV, NLT)
  4. Paraphrase – effectively rebuilds the paragraphs to convey the same ideas (e.g., GNT, NIRV, Message)
  • Even the most rigid translations use italicized words to indicate conjunctions and references that are not in the Bible’s original text.
  • The ideal way to study is with multiple bibles next to each other (e.g., parallel bible, cross-referencing software).

Unless a prophet’s words have an obvious symbolism, interpret the words in a usual, literal, historical sense:

  • Statements are only symbolic if one of the following applies:
    1. An inanimate object describes a living being.
    2. Something’s expression doesn’t match its description.
    3. Specific historical facts or events are symbols of spiritual truth only if Scripture says it is.
    4. The story is a fictionalized parable (such as Jesus’ depictions).
  • If a story is symbolic, the characters aren’t necessarily real and the entire story is intended to convey an important universal pattern.
  • Prophecies sometimes fulfill in installments, where each fulfillment of something else coming.
  • A single prophecy can also fulfill itself to multiple ends (e.g., Revelation refers to both the Roman Empire and the End of Days).

Proverbs have specific attributes:

  • Often figurative and points beyond itself.
  • Poetic guidelines, not guarantees.
  • Worded to be more memorable than precise.
  • Typically teaches how to live much more than about God.
  • Intensely practical wisdom for specific life elements.
  • Though proverbs are designed for selfless living, people can wrongly apply them to selfish behavior.

Swap out study techniques

Some study techniques are better than others, but none of them are “perfect”.

  • Since we’re imperfect, we’ll pick up different parts of the Bible’s truth each time we read it.
  • The following techniques combined are the most thorough approach, but only the geekiest Christians have the time and patience for it.

A. Read a Bible book in one sitting, with at least two different translations, at least 2–4 times.

B. Ask questions about the book as you read it:
  • Main personalities:
    • Who was the author?
    • To whom was he writing?
    • Does the book have any other significant personalities?
    • How do they relate to one another?
  • Historical setting:
    • When was the book written?
    • Who was the book’s historical setting written to?
    • What is the historical background of the recipients?
    • What was happening in that part of the world at that time?
  • Purpose:
    • Why was the book written?
    • If there was a problem to correct, what was it?
    • What was the writer trying to accomplish?
  • Themes:
    • What is the primary emphasis of the book?
    • What are some recurring ideas?
    • What subjects does the author address?

C. Research:
  • Seek reputable sources:
    • Cross-references
    • Concordance
    • Introductions to specific Bible books
    • Bible handbook
    • Commentaries of opposing denominations
    • Bible dictionary
    • Bible encyclopedia
    • Up-to-date Bible atlas
    • Online resources
  • Make your own learning style as you study.
    • Make a book summary with an outline, chart, or diagram.
    • If you need inspiration, use an existing reference book’s outline.
  • Even while they’re written by fallible people, Bible commentaries and theology books are an excellent way to see another perspective you may have missed, especially if the writer was from a different historical period.

D. Find patterns across the text:
  • Style of writing
  • Keywords in the book
  • Lifestyle, culture, customs, and habits of the personalities
  • The geography of the setting
  • Universal characteristics that still apply today
  • Read the original language (Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic) to find even more patterns.
  • Pay close attention to when details were added, and ask why.
  • Observe patterns other people detect, such as the Bible Project or pastors.

E. Apply it:
  • What specific issues do I have right now and how does this passage address it?
  • What should I do with this information?
  • How do these passages distinguish right from wrong?
  • Given these passages, what should I do and be?
  • With all this in mind, where am I going, and where should I be going?

F. Explore unconventional ways to read the Bible:
  • Interpret the Bible as a fictionalized narrative with themes and story arcs instead of as a direct historical document.
    • God designed a mythologizing force into us to interpret the patterns more than the story’s details, so we can discover tremendous truths if we observe the patterns He designed.
    • For example, God could have created the earth in 7 calendar days or 7 million years, but He still formed everything from nothing with (likely) no source material, and He therefore is always a Creator and Maintainer of everything.
  • Read the Bible chronologically from when it was written instead of its canonized order.
  • Study what a specific word meant at the time.
  • Focus on how the Bible refutes a specific heresy.
  • Research claimed Bible contradictions or factual errors.
  • Draw comparisons and contrasts between Christian culture and the Bible.
  • Examine every instance of a Bible word and find associated patterns across them.

Bear in mind that no matter how deep you dig, you’re still expanding on the simple Gospel message.

God (1 Corinthians 1:27), so the best way to understand the themes of the Bible is to read it from the perspective of it being a dramatized story.

  • God designed the Bible to be easily accessible to unintelligent people, so Bible study is simply one discipline among multiple (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).