Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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How Many People Study the Bible?

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LifeWay Research just posted statistics about how many Christians claim to study the Bible on their own outside of church meetings.  Here’s what they found:

  • 19% read the Bible every day
  • 26% read it a few times per week
  • 14% read it once per week
  • 22% read it at least once per month
  • 18% read it rarely or never

Which category are you in?

Interestingly, they found that the following six things were found to be connected to one’s likelihood to read the Bible more often:

  1. Confessing wrongdoings to God and asking forgiveness.
  2. Believing in Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven, and persevering in this belief over time.
  3. Making a decision to obey or follow God with an awareness that choosing to do so might be costly.
  4. Praying for the spiritual status of people they know are not professing Christians.
  5. Reading a book about increasing their spiritual growth.
  6. Having been discipled or mentored one-on-one by a more spiritually mature Christian.

You can check out the full article here.

Also, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a new Spoken Word video from Zondervan about the Rock Solid Bible.  The artist speaks about the power and sufficiency of God’s Knowable Word.  As I haven’t read the study Bible being advertised, I’m not necessarily recommending it.  But the video is very well done.

Why Does Paul Mention Muzzling Oxen?

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Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition recently posted a great article on the New Testament use of the Old Testament.  He examines how Paul quotes Deut 25:4 in both 1 Cor 9:9 and 1 Tim 5:18.  Moses commanded Israel not to muzzle their oxen while threshing.  Paul wants people to pay their pastor.  How does the first support the second?

From Paul’s use of Deut 25:4, Taylor argues two key principles to keep in mind when a New Testament author quotes an Old Testament passage:

  1. Never ignore the original Old Testament context
  2. Be slow to assume that the New Testament writers are quoting things out of context

These are great principles for Bible study, and Taylor ably demonstrates them from this example.  Check it out.

Why We Study the Bible, Revisited

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Not long ago, I posted a number of reasons for why we study the Bible.  They came down basically to the fact that understanding the Bible accurately enables us to know Christ better and find life in him.

Desiring God just posted a short video interview with D. A. Carson, where he covers similar ground.

You read it here.  Now go listen to the man who’s been doing it faithfully for many decades.  Learn from his example and draw near to God as you study his knowable word.

Interpretation and Truth… in Politics

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The ideas we talk about here at Knowable Word—interpretation, context, the author’s main point—underlie all forms of communication. They don’t often bubble to the surface in our culture’s mass media, however.

This morning, they did. On NPR’s Morning Edition program, a story by Ari Shapiro called Does Truth Matter? began with the common observation that politicians tend to quote their opponents out of context. More interestingly, Shapiro went on to explore whether there’s any use in talking about what the misquoted politician actually meant.

The story provides a secular perspective on some of the key ideas we talk about here, so you might want to check it out.

Videos of Talks from DiscipleMakers Refresh Conference

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This past weekend, DiscipleMakers hosted Refresh: A Conference for Alumni and Friends.  The theme was “Broken Dreams to Restored Hope: The Gospel in the Psalms.”  Videos are available of all the main session talks.

Session 1: Broken Dreams (Psalm 88) – Rhys John (highlight)

Session 2: Broken People (Psalm 42) – Dave Royes (highlight)

Session 3: Restored People (Psalm 32) – Peter Krol

Session 4: Restored Hope (Psalm 103) – Mark Fodale