Bible study is such a joy! Imagine, we can read, understand, apply, and teach what God has given us in his written Word. What an awesome privilege! What an engaging opportunity! What a compelling responsibility! During December 2013, two encounters with writers of influence reminded me that good Bible study is still at risk. We all can be vigilant, and be especially wary of those who bring their scissors to Bible study – intent on cutting everything away but their own preconceived, powerless, paper-doll "Jesus."
To be clear, we all have many useful "tools" that can help us learn, understand, and apply what the Lord desires to teach us in his written Word. For example, various translations can help us appreciate multiple aspects of a Bible text. As importantly, it helps tremendously to know other passages of the Bible – and especially other Bible texts written by the same human author – in order to compare and even confirm what we comprehend in the text we are studying. Good reference Bibles help us in that direction.
In addition, a general knowledge of grammar and language and the different uses of literary patterns and genres – these all help enormously, too. Moreover, good commentaries give us historic and cultural backgrounds that can help us to understand and to apply the messages of the Bible texts. For the very serious Bible interpreters, a background in Biblical languages –especially Hebrew and Greek – helps men and women understand more directly what the Lord desires to teach us, within the original language in which each text was written. So many useful tools! So many opportunities to learn and to grow.
However, several recent writers are not content with these and other positive, appealing tools that respect the Bible text and engage our minds, hearts, and spirits. Believe it or not, some people want to use scissors, first! They want to cut back on the text so that there is less to interpret –especially by cutting out miracles, ignoring fulfilled prophecy, and deleting references to Jesus' deity. What they then "allow" to remain in the text is only what they can accept by their own narrowing ideology, their own un-beliefs. Ironically, what they scissor-out and let fall to the floor is generally even more precious than what they choose to keep. Keep reading
Photo: David Sillitoe/The Guardian
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