Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
L.T. Greer has a brief piece to help us when we come up against a difficult passage. Instead of yielding to the temptation to skip or ignore it, he encourages us to see how God might use it. He offers the following list of “Three Good Things About Difficult Bible Passages”:
See his article for an explanation of these points, which I find rather compelling and motivating.
One of my greatest privileges at this blog is getting to share the space with one of my longest and closest friends, the sage essayist and mathematician, Ryan Higginbottom. Ryan also blogs at his own site A Small Work. If you haven’t been following him there, you really ought to consider it.
Ryan recently composed a wonderful piece called “The Weight and Wound of the Word,” a brief reflection on the piercing swordplay of Scripture well worth your time. Here is a taste:
While many today look to the Bible for comfort or inspiration, an honest look at the Scriptures reveals that not all of it was given for these purposes. If we randomly dip a ladle into the depths of Ezekiel, the brew that emerges is more likely to be sharp than sweet…
Some—perhaps much—of the Bible was given not for our comfort but for our discomfort. The Scriptures are profitable for reproof and correction, after all; they provoke, unsettle, and rebuke us. Far from harsh, this is a sign of God’s love. It is damaging for our souls—indeed, for our humanity—to turn against God in rebellion. The fact that he steers us away from sin and back to himself is evidence of his care.
Ryan goes on to describe some particular ways we may be prone to dulling the sharp edges of Scripture, thereby throwing ourselves in front of the Holy Spirit’s bulldozer. This is well worth your time and consideration.
I appreciate this brief word from Amy K. Hall on the need to teach what the Bible says before attempting to teach how it applies. As she writes:
Remember that the Bible is primarily there to show us who God is and what Christ has done for us, giving us a 2,000-year history of his works, revealing his character, our purpose and need, and his solution. Sometimes, people who are teaching the Bible try much too hard to be brilliant, giving us their own insights into life rather than letting the brilliance of the Bible speak for itself. Let the Bible speak! I would rather hear one halting, inexperienced speaker show me God in a text of the Bible than hear 1,000 polished pastors give me their three-point, alliterated instructions for life, which are often only loosely based on the actual text.
Laura Denny has some encouraging thoughts on the usefulness of studying the Bible one-on-one.
First of all, one-on-one Bible study opens up opportunities to study the Bible with someone who may not be able to fit into a larger group. Consider those whose schedule is not conducive to a weekly study, who may have social anxiety or concerns, or those who are housebound (like many of us experienced this past year!). If someone is new to the idea of Bible study, they also may be more likely to say yes to an invite if it’s just you, someone they’re comfortable with already.
While larger groups may have the advantage of more input and interaction, a one-on-one setting provides more opportunity—in time and attention—for asking questions and fully understanding difficult ideas and passages. I’m less afraid to admit that I came up completely blank on an answer, or that I’m really struggling to understand or agree with something I’m learning, if it’s to only one person and not a whole group. Yet I also found I’m more likely to put more thought and effort into my study and come up with more thorough answers when I know there’s only two of us in the group.
James Street wrote a marvelous piece overviewing the brief prophecy of Obadiah and explaining why it is important for us to continue studying and teaching today. He explains the historical context (without which the book will be terribly confusing) before walking through the book under three chief questions:
This book makes quite a contribution to our understanding of God’s love for his people, and is well worth your time. As is Street’s helpful analysis.
A few weeks ago, I described the process by which I came to a richer understanding of the structure and main point of Paul’s shipwreck narrative in Acts 27, thanks to the help of my colleague Tom Hallman. Well, Tom just preached his sermon on that text this past Sunday, and I think he knocked it out of the park. Some of you might be interested in seeing how he did it.
Here is a link to the audio of the sermon. (We don’t record video for sermons.) Sadly, the sermon’s introduction was lost, so the recording begins with the reading of the first portion of the text. But the sermon is still worth your time, if you’re so inclined to see how this opaque text can be taught compellingly using the essential tools of OIA study.
As you listen, you’ll want to make sure to have a map handy so you can visualize the narrated events. Here is a free one for your convenience.
I have benefitted much from the scholarship of Vern Poythress over the years. And in this article, he provides an excellent overview of the key issues that shape the way we ought to read the Bible’s opening chapters.
In my Wednesday posts, I usually link to articles much shorter than this one. But despite its length, Poythress’s article is effectively aimed at non-scholars in plain language. He addresses matters such as who God is, who wrote the book of Genesis, what genre Genesis 1-3 is, and how Genesis 1-3 compares with other ancient literature. Here is the abstract, summarizing the entire piece.
ABSTRACT: The beginning of the book of Genesis is not, as some claim, a mythical or poetic account of creation. It is historical narrative, telling the same story that unfolds in the patriarchs, the exodus, and the establishment of Israel. And, being from God, it speaks truly. Modern readers may not learn everything they would like to know about creation from Genesis 1–3, but they will find everything they most need to know. They also will find an account of creation unlike anything outside the Bible. Compared to the creation myths of Israel’s neighbors, Genesis stands majestically alone.
If that piques your interest, this piece is well worth a good look. Check it out!
Doug Eaton has a thoughtful piece on “7 Characteristics of Good Bible Teachers.” He presumes good and accurate understanding of the Bible as a prerequisite, and then posits that good teachers will also demonstrate the following characteristics:
We spend much time at this blog helping you to learn how to get the text right. Eaton’s list is a helpful supplement, enabling us to improve at getting the message of the text across as we teach it.
Pierce Taylor Hibbs has a really helpful piece entitled “Christian, Here’s When You’re Allowed to Apply Scripture.” In it, he laments the way too many of us too often use the Scripture.
Much of the time, we’re pigeons grabbing bread crumbs of information and entertainment. And that crumb-picking habit carries over into our understanding and application of Scripture. We’re not asking questions of a text, working through context in widening circles, or even using our God-given reason to reach understanding. Instead, we’re crumb-picking. We grab a friend’s complaint here, a Facebook comment there, and a Scripture passage we found through a Google search, and boom: we’ve got an “argument,” an arrow to shoot in conversation. And because we’re quoting Scripture, it appears to be biblical. But let’s be clear: Quoting a Bible verse doesn’t mean you’ve made a biblical argument.
He then proposes that what authorizes someone to make use of the Scripture in application is that they have first done the hard work of observing it in its original context and interpreting it in light of the person and work of Jesus Christ. He then walks through a 3-step process, showing how to do this difficult work, with the example of an easy-to-misuse verse: “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7).
This article is well worth your time. Check it out!
I haven’t read Reading the New Testament as Christian Scripture, but I appreciated this interview with its authors. In it, they speak of some of the differences between how we read the Bible today and how the ancients used to read it. We’ve certainly made many great gains in our understanding. But there remain some strengths of yesteryear we ought to be careful not to lose.
Every culture and age has particular insights and blind spots. This applies to biblical interpretation as well. In the West we’re a few hundred years into particular modes and habits of reading the Bible, what we can call modernist hermeneutics. Modernist hermeneutics serve us well in providing a depth of historical background, insights from literary analysis, and a focus on hearing the human author’s intent. But modern approaches to interpreting the Bible often fail to read theologically, canonically, and tropologically (for moral formation). Believing interpreters will also seek to interpret the Bible in these latter ways, but the modern hermeneutical commitments are ironically contrary to these good reading habits.
Premodern interpreters operated with different priorities and sensibilities when reading Scripture. Theological, moral formative, intra-canonical, devotional, and homiletical interpretations were seen as primary and ultimate because this is why God has given Scripture to his people—to shape us to be like him, to be holy as he is holy.
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