Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

Copyright © 2012–2026 DiscipleMakers, except guest articles (copyright author). Used by permission.

You are here: Home / Archives for Peter Krol

A Short History of Bible Clutter

By

How did we get our Bibles? Not just the books of the Bible, but all the apparatus that comes along with it? Chapter and verse numbers, section headings, and cross-references. Two-column format, study notes, and call-out boxes with key ideas. Why do our Bible look so different from any other book (or collection of books) we read?

Desiring God recently posted an important episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast, where Tony Reinke interviews Glenn Paauw, the Executive Director of the Biblica Institute for Bible Reading, a think tank dedicated to studying trends in Bible reading and design. Listening to this interview may be some of the best-spent 30 minutes of your week. Paauw explains how the appearance of the page drastically affects how we read this book—and how we lose the ability to read this book as a book.

I particularly appreciate Paauw’s question: Which of the following is the Bible most like?

  1. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
  2. The Reader’s Digest Guide to Home Repairs
  3. The Collected Papers of the American Antislavery Society

Of course, most of us would pass this test with flying colors. We know the Bible is a collection of writings. But without realizing it, we’ve been trained all our lives not to read the Bible this way. Either we memorize individual verses scattered all throughout the Bible (as we’d handle Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations), or we go to the Bible to learn everything it has to say on a particular topic such as marriage or money (as we’d handle The Reader’s Digest Guide to Home Repairs). And the published presentation of the Bible now serves these market expectations, leading us farther and farther away from reading it like a collection of works.

For this reason, recent uncluttered editions such as the ESV Reader’s Bible have become so important. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. I assure you, it will transform your Bible reading experience.

And listen to DG’s podcast to learn more about how the published presentation is changing the way we approach the Bible. It’s well worth your time.

Check it out!

 

Job: The Wisdom of the Cross

By

Job Wisdom of the CrossSome commentaries trumpet their contemporary relevance; others excel at close observation or textual analysis. Few bring all these skills together, but Christopher Ash’s recent volume on Job is among their number. Weighing in at almost 450 pages of meaty exposition, this tome gives an intimidating first impression. But Job is a long book, and its 42 chapters each receive just over 10 pages of Ash’s attention. This fact makes Ash’s comments fly swiftly and land hard.

Readers of Job often wrestle with lofty questions about the suffering of innocents, the place of lament, and the problem of evil. Asked from a posture of comfort or philosophical whimsy, such questions are what Ash refers to as “armchair questions.” And he contends that the book of Job deals not with armchair questions but with wheelchair questions—those asked from a position of weakness, desperation, and even devastation. Ash walks through Job’s lengthy speeches with a painstaking interest that never gets tedious. He explains each character’s arguments, stanza by stanza, showing that though humanity’s concerns have changed, they have ever stayed the same. And he shows that Job’s suffering makes most sense as preparing the world for Jesus’ suffering. Because bad things happened to a good man, good things might just happen to bad people—we can be reconciled to God.

Crossway advertises the Preaching the Word series as being “by pastors for pastors,” but don’t let this tagline deceive you. Ash’s writing is straightforward and engaging enough to leave no layperson behind. I’ve read more than 50 commentaries over the years, and Ash’s is one of the very best.

It’s available for $30.15 at Amazon and $29.35 at Westminster Books.

Disclaimer: Amazon and Westminster links are affiliate links. If you click them and buy stuff, you’ll relieve a bit of our innocent suffering by sending a small commission our way at no extra cost to yourself.

How to Study a Psalm

By

At the Logos Talk blog, Mark Ward has an excellent piece walking through the observation phase of a study of Psalm 44.

The psalms are a favorite book for God’s people, in part because the study is easier. The meaning of the psalms often, at least, feels plain and practical—even if the application is simply “praise God.” But there is always greater depth in the Bible, and if you want to dig down there you’ll need tools.

I work for a Bible study tool company, but the first tool you should pick up is not necessarily Logos Bible Software. First grab your conceptual tools: observation, interpretation, and application.

We’ll do that in a series of three posts. Today: observation. Next week: interpretation. The next week: application.

Later in the post:

At this stage of the observation process, I don’t want to get bogged down with questions about the meanings of difficult words or phrases—unless they seem necessary for grasping the overall thought-flow of the psalm. Probably the only example of such a phrase in this psalm is “Ordain salvation for Jacob!” in verse 4. This is where Bible background knowledge is likely to be needed. If you’ve read the Old Testament, you probably know that “Jacob” is often a stand-in for the nation of “Israel.” Otherwise this psalm uses fairly simple and straightforward wording. The riches in this psalm are found not so much at the word level but at the structural level. How can I describe such a wrenching shift from praise to despair?

Ward models observation well. Check it out!

In Theological Controversy, What Do You Spew?

By

Last week I argued that our best hope in controversy is to continue in the Scriptures. And yet, the Scriptures are what we so quickly abandon or ignore. When the right hook of controversy knocks out our teeth and adrenaline kicks in, what do we spew? Do we spew Scripture? Or do we spew such things as wit, history, or theology? What we spew betrays what we trust in to carry the battle.

Lesley Mitchell (2011), Creative Commons

Lesley Mitchell (2011), Creative Commons

My inspiration for this post comes from the currently raging controversy among conservative theologians regarding the Trinity. In this controversy, all agree that Jesus submitted to his Father’s will during his incarnation. But is such submission a part of the Father/Son relationship from all eternity, or not? If you’d like to learn more, see the two helpful summaries by Wyatt Graham (here and here). My goal is not to enter the discussion itself, but to reflect on how it has played out so far.

The Scriptures demand a few rules of engagement for theological controversy. If we’re willing to listen, the Scriptures can equip us for a good, good work.

1. Debate is necessary but not sufficient.

We must be alert (Acts 20:29-31) and always ready to defend our hope when we are attacked (1 Pet 3:14-17). We ought to hone our skills at explaining our theology from the Scriptures (Acts 17:2-3). But remember from 2 Tim 2 (last week) that we must avoid the childish passion for quarreling. We cannot rely on well-crafted words, careful argumentation, or higher education to carry the battle. Such things are necessary—I’m not saying we can go without them!—but they are not sufficient. One can be a clear speaker, witty writer, and pedigreed academic—and still be dead wrong. He who meditates on the testimonies of God will end up with more understanding than all his teachers (Ps 119:99).

2. History is necessary but not sufficient.

Let us not fall into the error of ignoring the past (Ps 106:1-13). But let us also not fall into the equally damaging error of living in the past; it is not from wisdom that we do this (Eccl 7:10). We must learn from history, but history alone cannot carry the battle.

3. Theology is necessary but not sufficient.

The Bible teaches many important truths about God, like dots on a grid. And we love to draw connections between those dots to make them all fit together. This work of dot-connecting, we call “systematic theology.” And we must do this, or our thinking will not be rational and our teaching will not be clear. But let us be careful to defend tenaciously the dots of Scripture and not the hand-drawn lines of men. We must consider theology, but theology alone cannot carry the battle.

4. Bible verses are necessary but not sufficient.

Jesus clearly submitted his will to his Father’s will in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). But was Mark’s intention in this passage to teach us about the eternal nature of the Trinity?

Jesus clearly had all glory together with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5). But did Jesus the pray-er (or John the narrator) have in mind exactly what later creeds would call “the unity of the Godhead” in which “there be three Persons of one substance” (Westminster Confession of Faith)?

Please note: I am not questioning the confessional understanding of the Trinity. I am simply questioning how we use Bible verses to defend our positions. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are proof that people can use many Bible verses to support conclusions that are simply false. When we spew, we must spew Bible verses. But let them be Bible verses in context, and according to the intentions of the original author for his original audience.

We’re on much stronger ground when we argue from the main points of passages instead of from possible implications of philosophical presumptions from standalone verses. And when the dots are hard to connect, there’s no shame in declaring: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Ps 145:3).

The Main Message of Your Bible

By

In an excerpt from the ESV Men’s Devotional Bible, Bryan Chapell summarizes well “The Main Message of Your Bible.” Here is a taste:

God doesn’t intend for this divine crusade of redemption merely to interest us. As the apostle Paul writes, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). The history, poetry, symbols, and instructions of Scripture vary greatly in style but not in their intention: all are intended to affect our response to life in our fallen world. Though evil is always present and frequently prevails, we are not to despair. With a patient confidence in God’s ultimate providence, and the assurance of the Scriptures that his redemption is ongoing, we always have hope.

Check it out!

How We Use the Scriptures in Theological Controversy

By

Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. (Matt 9:13)

The fact stands undisputed: When two or three gather in Jesus’ name, there will be wars and rumors of wars. Thus, any two prospective marriage partners can be compatible, because every pair of sinners will in the end find themselves incompatible. No church is the perfect church; as soon as you join it you ruin it. And the problem with any ministry position is never the position; it’s the people. Always the people.

Chris Messina (2006), Creative Commons

Chris Messina (2006), Creative Commons

So we should not be surprised when theological controversy erupts within our Christian communities. God has made everything beautiful in its time, including love and hate, war and peace (Eccl 3:1-11). Even our most trusted confidants will let us down, and we must decide in advance to simply chill out. “Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you” (Eccl 7:21).

Especially, those who are teachers in the church must “flee youthful passions”—and easy to overlook is that most naïve and youthful passion we have for foolish, ignorant controversies that only breed quarrels (2 Tim 2:22-23). The Lord’s servant must remind people of these things and “charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (2 Tim 2:14). “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind…correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim 2:24-25).

So the Lord expects controversy. He expects us to face it and not flee. He expects us to be strong and act like men, and not childishly bluster and bully our way through it. But how does one correct without quarreling? How does one desire mercy without condoning deception? How does one guard the good deposit with tenacious, aggressive, and overbearing…humility?

Have You Never Read?

The missing component in much controversy is the Scripture, and shame on us for it.

As foretold long ago, evil people and impostors are going on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Tim 3:13). Not enduring sound teaching, people continually accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. They quickly turn from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Tim 4:3-4). Now, more than ever, we need soldiers, sprinters, and shepherds who will preach the word, being ready in season and out of season, who reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching (2 Tim 4:1-2).

We’ll be ready to fight (and fight clean) only when we continue in the Scripture (2 Tim 3:14). To continue in the Scripture, we must believe the sacred writings are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:15)—salvation from sin when we first believe, of course; but also salvation from sin today, tomorrow, and the next day as well. To continue in the Scripture, we must expect the Bible to equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:17)—including the good work of engaging in theological controversy. To continue in the Scripture, we must trust the Bible alone to help us recognize and resist the rapidly mutating deceptions of our day (2 Tim 3:10-13)—new and sophisticated deceptions that deserve old and uncomplicated answers.

Jesus often asked his quarrelsome opponents: “Have you not read…?” (Matt 12:3, 12:5, 19:4, 21:16, 21:42, 22:31, Mk 12:26). And when Jesus’ own disciples were uncertain what to make of the empty tomb, Jesus considered their problem to be one of foolishness and disbelief of what the prophets had spoken (Luke 24:25-27). From beginning to end, with any group of people, Jesus clung to the Scriptures. If he’d had a pull string, his predictable mantra might have been “It is written.”

I think most of us know these facts conceptually. But when the right hook of controversy knocks out our teeth and adrenaline kicks in, what do we spew? Do we spew Scripture? Or do we spew such things as wit, history, or theology? What we spew betrays what we trust in to carry the battle. More on this next week.

5 Reasons to Study Old Testament History

By

My church is wrapping up a sermon series through Mark’s gospel, and we’re getting ready to begin preaching through Exodus. To prepare for our preaching team’s meeting to discuss an overview of the book, I’ve been reading and re-reading the book. With my mind saturated in Exodus, I was delighted to see this brief article from David Murray with “5 Reasons to Study Old Testament History.”

Many Christians, according to Murray:

entertain a negative view of Old Testament History; of its usefulness and even of its accuracy. It is often regarded as “far away” and “distant” chronologically, geographically, socially, and theologically. “What can it do for me?” and “Why study it?” are common questions. Here are five reasons to study it and benefit from it.

Murray’s 5 reasons:

  1. OT History is True History
  2. OT History is Selective History
  3. OT History is Relevant History
  4. OT History is Purposeful History
  5. OT History is Redemptive History

Reading Murray’s comments, I couldn’t wait to dive back into Exodus. May it encourage you to pursue studying those many narratives that tell the stories of our people and of our King.

Check it out!

Teaching the Bible to Teenagers

By

This is a guest post by Mark Fodale. Mark loves to influence the next generation, and he has served over 30 years in full-time campus ministry. He also loves teaching and studying God’s word, and he serves as a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Shannon have 4 children. If you’d like to write a guest post for Knowable Word, please see our guidelines.

Though never appearing in the Bible, the word “teenager” can elicit waves of anxious worry in even the most faithful parent or teacher. And too often, this formative time of life gets described as “rebellious,” “uncontrolled,” “distant,” and “exhausting.”

But amazingly, King Solomon viewed the teenage season as one of great opportunity and promise. As his father David had taught him, so he taught his son (Prov 4:3-9) and imparted wisdom to a generation of youths about to assume their roles in society. To borrow a phrase from Paul David Tripp, the teen years are an Age of Opportunity.

What can we glean from Solomon’s wisdom to help us shepherd our teens and spur them to know and love God’s Word?

Yo tampoco (2011), Creative Commons

Yo tampoco (2011), Creative Commons

1. Lead With Your Life

Avoid the temptation to coerce your child into spiritual disciplines. Threats, power plays, guilt manipulation, comparison with other people’s children, and even shouting may seem to work at getting your teen into God’s word. But they don’t really work.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov 15:1)

Lead with your life. In other words, use the power of imitation rather than the threat of intimidation.

What does this look like?

  • You study the Word, regularly, passionately, personally.
  • You listen diligently to sermons as they are preached, or to Bible studies as they are taught. You take notes. You make clear applications to your life.
  • You share what God has been teaching you in His word, not to manipulate your teen into engaging with the Bible, but to honor Christ in your life.

Your teens are watching and (believe it or not) listening to you. And what they hear and watch at this stage is not primarily your words but your life. Are you giving them an example to emulate? Are you leading with your life?

2. Persuade With Vision

In the early chapters of Proverbs, Solomon tells of wisdom’s beauty and promise:

If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. (Prov 1:23)

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than the gain from silver and her profit better than gold. (Prov 3:13-14)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. (Prov 4:7-8)

Solomon persuades with a picture of the future—the overwhelming beauty of wisdom, the unsurpassed joy and benefit in gaining wisdom, and the devastating cost of rejecting wisdom. As you interact with your teenagers, talk about life. Life, both in the here-and-now and in the future. Show them the benefits to be gained then from studying God’s word now.

As I interacted with my teens, I often asked, “What kind of man (or woman) do you want to be someday? What kind of a parent or spouse do you long to become?” As they voiced their dreams with wide eyes, I would then say, “What you do now with God’s word will either help you or cripple you in that pursuit.”

Paul David Tripp says it well:

Keep conversations interesting and to the point … Make the moments of wisdom and correction interactions rather than lectures. Some of us carry invisible portable lecterns with us, which we are ready to set up in a moment. Leave them in the closet. Instead, ask stimulating questions that will cause the teen to examine his actions, his assumptions, his desires, and his choices. Help him shine the light of the word on them. Surprise him with truth. Let wisdom sparkle before his eyes … Engage your teenager in a stimulating conversation that doesn’t flash your authority or the right you have to tell him what to do. Rather, talk to him in a way that lifts up truth and points out its beauty.

3. Seize the Opportunity

The teenage years are a time of transition: from childhood to adulthood, from immaturity to maturity, from irresponsibility to great responsibility, and from more parental oversight to less overt control.

Do you see these transitions as overwhelming threats, or tremendous opportunities?

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. (Prov 3:1)

The season before you, as you consider your teenager, is one of unparalleled opportunity—the opportunity to walk with your teen as he or she transitions into adulthood. The opportunity build depth into a relationship that will reap benefits in the years to come.

With each of my teens, I scheduled a season of weekly breakfasts to discuss a key issue in their lives. For one, it was a pattern of unbridled anger. For another, the fear of man vs. the fear of the Lord. At these breakfasts we studied the word intentionally and with specific application. And we reaped a harvest of trust, accountability, and tangible growth in Christ.

So, seize the opportunity. Again, Paul David Tripp:

Pursue your teenager. Daily express your love. Don’t ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no. Ask questions that require description, explanation, and self-disclosure. Don’t just relate to them during times of correction. Don’t only catch them doing something wrong; catch them doing something right and encourage them … Enter the world of your teenager and stay there. Don’t ever let them view you as being outside their functional world. Teenagers will reject grenades of wisdom and correction lobbed from afar by someone who has not been on site for quite a while.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Prov 25:11). Spend time. Craft special outings. Let them into your life. Listen eagerly and humbly. And pray. Pray for apples of gold from God’s word. And pray for settings of silver in which to place them.

We are called to labor with a vision for launching our teens into God’s world. By God’s grace, they can become men and women who know and cherish God through his word, and who seek to obey him in all things.

7 Ways to Grow in Studying and Teaching Scripture Without Seminary

By

Nancy Guthrie has some really good advice for anyone and everyone who wants to grow at studying and teaching Scripture. She frames her article as 7 ideas for women, but anyone who cares to improve should consider these things:

  1. Keep your passionate heart and inquiring mind engaged with your Bible.
  2. Read some books about interpreting and communicating the Scriptures.
  3. Spend some time studying the geography of the Bible.
  4. Study sound teachers.
  5. Seek out mentors as well as companions for the journey.
  6. Seek feedback on your teaching or leading.
  7. Consider taking online courses from a trusted source.

We neglect such practices to our peril. Even if you’ve been to seminary, your need for growth has not yet come to an end. For more explanation, check it out!

Logos Bible Software, Part 2: Does It Help With Bible Study?

By

Last week, I wrote about Logos Bible Software’s unlimited power to search resources and give historical background on the Scriptures. This week, I would like to ask, “How well does it assist observation, interpretation, and application in Bible study?”

Discipline Required

ICBM

Please use me responsibly

I must confess, Logos has so much power that using it can sometimes feel like bringing an ICBM to a game of darts. Will I hit the bullseye? Without a doubt. But what else might I hit in the process?

What I mean is this: My task in Bible study is to know God through understanding the text, and Logos helps tremendously with understanding the text. But it’s way too easy for me to let Logos help by taking me away from the text to other resources and expert opinions. For example, I’m glad to know what ancient Jewish rabbis and modern scholars have to say about Exodus 1; I must consider such things. But first, I must know what Exodus 1 itself says. And with a powerful tool like Logos I might trick myself into thinking I’ve learned Exodus 1, when in fact I’ve learned more about what others have said about it.

The potential problem here, of course, is not with the software but with the person using it. I’ve written about mistakes we can make with commentaries and the curses of study Bibles. Every one of these cautions applies to a tool such as Logos. For example, word studies and topic studies can do a lot of damage when they take you away from the context of specific passages. And Logos makes it easier than ever to move away from the contexts of specific passages.

OIA in Action

With those cautions out of the way, how does Logos help with observing, interpreting, and applying (OIA) the Bible?

1. Notes & Highlights

I’ve never seen anything like Logos’s ability to take notes and highlight text. I can customize formatting, colors, shapes, and styles. I can go free-form text or copy and paste. I can attach notes to one verse or to many. I can link ideas together. And I can keep it all easily filed and searchable for later use.

2. Reading Plans

I couldn’t be more impressed with Logos’s approach to reading plans. If I want to read the Bible, Logos is going to be where I turn. I can customize a reading plan any way I want. Start and end dates. Defined passage limits and breakdowns. Schedule it every day or just certain days each week or each month. I will use Logos for my annual read-through, as I no longer will have to squish a full-year digital schedule into my speed-reading approach.

Here’s another example. My church’s preaching team is scheduled to meet on August 6 to overview the book of Exodus for our next sermon series. I would like to prepare by reading Exodus 5 times. So I had Logos create a reading plan as follows: “Read Exodus, Exodus, Exodus, Exodus, Exodus every day, in the ESV, divided by story units, beginning today and ending on August 5.” It spit out a schedule with check boxes and breakdowns. Each day, Logos’s home screen (either desktop or mobile, doesn’t matter) presents a link to open that day’s reading. Easy peasy. If I miss a day, I can adjust the rest of the schedule with a few clicks. I can also adjust the translation manually each time I start the book over.

3. Typography

Logos can turn any Bible translation into a reader’s version, with no headings, chapter or verse numbers, or footnotes. Or I can turn those features back on. I can do one verse per line or paragraphs. Basically, I can make the text look any way I want it to look. Whatever will assist my study is there.

4. Quotes and Illustrations

Once I’ve done my own observing and interpreting, I can then turn to my library of commentaries and resources. I can find quotable quotes or illustration ideas to stimulate application. All is easily searchable and well packaged.

OIA on the Horizon

The features I’ve mentioned so far are available in any Logos base package. Logos also has a subscription package (called Logos Now) that gives you access to beta features that will show up in the next version of the software. If you want them now, you can have them for $8.99/month. [August 2016 Update: These features are now built right into Logos 7.]

1. Repeated words

With a Logos base package, I can see a word cloud of repeated words. But I have to guess from the font sizes which ones occur more frequently than others. If I simply want a list of repeated words and their frequency, Logos Now gives me access to the “concordance tool.” And this tool offers much more than a typical concordance. I can get repeated words for a single book or chapter (or any defined text range). I can search within the list for similar concepts. I can print, rearrange, or save the list for later.

2. Auto highlighting

Logos Now has a “corresponding words” tool that will automatically highlight those repeated words for me.

3. Old Testament logical outlines

Logos base packages give you logical outlines for every New Testament passage. These are extremely helpful for tracing the flow of thought within a passage. But to get such outlines for the Old Testament you must subscribe to Logos Now or wait for the new version.

Recommendations

In conclusion, if you have the discipline not to jump away from the text or into a useless sort of word study, you’ll find powerful assistance here for your Bible study.

If your interest in the Bible comes as an academic or theologian, Logos will be indispensable to you. I bet you couldn’t find a better research tool.

If you are a pastor, missionary, or Bible study leader, you may at first find Logos’s price tag prohibitive. However, think of Logos not as luxury software but as your library. If you take what you’ve spent on books and save it up for a year or two, I bet you’ll be able to afford a decently sized package. You’ll likely also want to make future book purchases through Logos. The larger your library, the more power you give to your research assistant.

If you’re an average person studying the Bible without a sizable book budget, Logos may not be for you. You can still do excellent OIA Bible study without it. However, if the search functions and reading options intrigue you, you may want to consider trying the Logos core engine, which is free. You won’t get much of a library with it, but you’ll have access to the biblical text and primary software features. If you like it, you can always grow your library later.

Also, I must say Logos has a steep learning curve. I had to watch 2-3 hours of training videos before I felt like I could control the beast and unleash it in my study. But I am convinced it was worth it. I can’t wait to continue building my library and getting new features.

Use this link or the coupon code KNOWABLE6 to get 10% off a Logos base package. Disclaimer: If you buy Logos with the code or links above, this blog will receive a commission. Thanks for supporting this work so we can help ordinary people learn to study the Bible!