Matt Smethurst: 3 Common Ways to Read Scripture

I'm always a little skeptical when I hear people talk about reading Scripture "devotionally" rather than, say, "academically" (or vice versa). Who says we have to choose? I wonder.

But while my false dichotomy radar isn't always bad, I have to remember people are wired differently. Humanity is not a sea of sameness. We aren't clones. In fact, as Christians we are "stewards," Peter says, of God's "varied grace" (1 Pet. 4:10).

It shouldn't surprise me, then, when Christians gravitate toward Scripture with slightly different aims. For some, it's easy to approach the Bible with a more "devotional" posture. For others of a more academic bent, though, a studious approach may come more naturally.

Almost two decades ago, Richard Longenecker wrote an article for Themelios (the entire archives can be accessed for free at TGC) titled "On Reading a New Testament Letter—Devotionally, Homiletically, Academically." In it he outlines three common ways of reading Scripture, pinpointing strengths and dangers particular to each. (Longenecker limits his focus to New Testament letters, but I think his basic rubric applies to the whole of Scripture.)

Longenecker isn't opposed to any one of the three readings—just to there being only one. "My thesis," he explains, "is that each of these ways of reading [is] legitimate in its own right, but that all three must be ultimately brought together for a proper understanding." Keep reading