"I’m not getting as much as I would like to out of my personal Bible study. Do you have any tips on how to study the Bible?"
What advice do biblical scholars give to people who want to improve
their Bible study? “People ask me this kind of question often,” said
Willard Swartley, professor of New Testament at the Associated Mennonite
Biblical Seminary in Elkhart. Indiana. ‘“Usually I ask them if they
have any method for studying the Bible.”
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“In any kind of Bible study, the key is always to ask
questions of what you’re reading. You will process the material only to
the extent that you ask questions.” —Robert H. Gundry, Professor of New
Testament and Greek, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California |
Douglas Stuart, professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, said, “I try to
get people alerted to truly systematic Bible study and the methods that
go with it.”
"Method." The word kept cropping up in the interviews. A method — an
organized procedure or system — of studying the Bible is what the
scholars discussed.
Getting started
“First, I would recommend a couple of English versions of the Bible,”
said Robert H. Gundry, professor of New Testament and Greek at Westmont
College in Santa Barbara, California. “I would use both a more staid,
literally translated version and a more loosely translated one and make
comparisons as I did my study.” Since most of us don’t know Hebrew or
Greek, we read the Bible in translation. Comparing different
translations gives insights into the meaning of the Scriptures.
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"Through meditation, the Scriptures challenge your value structure, and that's where spiritual growth takes place." — John Hartley, Professor of Old Testament, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, California |
Gundry recommends the New Revised Standard Version, the Revised
Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible as good literal
translations. For translations that allow some paraphrasing, he
recommends the New International Version and the Good News Bible.
Checking different translations allows you to see alternatives in text
and meaning. These established versions will give you access to the most
likely variations of text and nuances of meaning.
After you decide on the Bibles you will use, John Hartley, professor
of Old Testament at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California,
recommends you choose one version and read it all the way through. “It’s
important to gain perspective,” he said. “This way, when you read the
Gospel of Mark, you know what comes before it, what comes after it. Or
if you pick up a prophet like Haggai, you have some understanding of
where it is in the whole story of the Bible.”
Hartley does not think the Bible has to be read in order, book by
book. He has known people who have tried to read the Bible in sequence,
cover to cover, who invariably got bogged down, usually in the
ordinances and genealogies of Leviticus, and then gave up. Thus, Hartley
advises that people regularly alternate the sections they read.