THE
TESTIMONY

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HOW TO STUDY

Mark Vincent

YOU NEED only four things.

First, prayer. Praying before you study the Bible focuses your mind, and forces you to think about what you are doing and why. Thanking God for His Word and asking for His blessing helps set the tone for the work.

Second, a Bible. Any Bible will do, but one with good marginal references will be best. Not all marginal reference systems are equally good. Different Bibles contain different cross references, and a particularly good set are those that come in Bibles from Oxford University Press. Those in the Interlinear AV/RV are also good.

Third, you need some paper. Scrap paper and note paper is good to carry about on the move as it is important to be able to jot down an idea whenever one occurs to you. For the detailed work at home, good quality, good-sized paper is best. It may sound obvious, but ensure that you give yourself plenty of space around what you write—do not try to cram everything into a small space. A clear layout helps your mind to be clear, and if you give yourself space around your work and set it out clearly, it will help you see where your studies are going.

Fourth, you need a pen. Again, at the risk of stating the obvious, do not be frightened to use it. Write down anything that you think or feel, however unimportant you might think it to be; note down any questions that you might have, anything you might be wondering about. Bible study is primarily a personal thing, so there is no need to be embarrassed about your work.

 

Other tools

Of course, there are plenty of other tools for Bible study. A concordance is almost essential, and only narrowly missed inclusion above. Different Bible versions are also invaluable, and, for the more academic, dictionaries and lexicons are, too. There are also many other books that can help a great deal, and I reviewed some of the ones that I have found particularly helpful in my series in The Christadelphian, "A Christadelphian Bookshelf" (Apr. 1995–Mar. 1996). This Special Issue of The Testimony also contains references to many of the standard Bible study helps, and explains how to use them.

But in terms of what you actually need, the four things listed above are quite enough. You could do a lifetime’s Bible study with just those, and there is a danger that the multitude of other helps can get in the way.

This is quite an important point. In these days of technology and specialism, we must never forget the value of just reading the Bible text and meditating on it carefully and prayerfully, and, as we do, feeling what the Bible is saying (that is, making an emotional response). It is often by doing just this that the most spiritual results are achieved. For those people who do a lot of Bible study and regularly use concordances, computers, technical commentaries and other advanced works, it can be very refreshing to return to just those four things: prayer, Bible, pen and paper.

Bible study is not meant to be a burden! It is, in fact, one of the greatest blessings which God gives us. It is something to be enjoyed and to delight in, and it is important that we perceive it like this.

FINDING A SUBJECT

When you start out, choose a subject you particularly enjoy. You might like character studies, for example; you might prefer to look at a particular book or section of the Bible; or you might choose to trace a theme.

Do not choose too big a subject. It is better to decide on something which you can finish in a couple of weeks, rather than something which will take the rest of your life. The life of David, for example, or the life of Paul, contain far too much material to be manageable. Instead, choose a character like Barnabas, or an aspect of David’s life, for example his life as a shepherd or his anointing as king.

If you choose to trace a theme, do not start off with something enormous, such as the work of the Holy Spirit, or the quotations of the Old Testament in the New. Choose something manageable, at least at first, and try to dig deep. When you become more experienced at Bible study, then you can move on to tackle the bigger and more complex themes. Revelation, a source of endless fascination, even for our contacts in Africa who have not begun to grasp the gospel message, is something to leave at first. Do not try to run before you can walk.

There is a warning here also for speaking brethren, and for those who make up ecclesial plans. If the subject is too big, the speaker will be able only to retell the story of what the Bible says, and probably in less eloquent language at that. Giving young speakers knotty subjects (‘Demon Possession’, or ‘Christ the Creator in Colossians 1’), or giving them subjects which are so broad it is very hard to say anything interesting (‘Rivers in the Bible’, ‘Israel in the Wilderness’), is probably doing neither them nor the audience any favours.

  

Starting off

Imagine that you have got yourself a subject to study (see the box, "Finding a Subject"). What happens next? First, decide on a key portion of Scripture which you will use as a starting point. If you are doing a character study, it will be the narrative that tells your character’s story; if you are studying a Bible book, once again the selection of the passage will be obvious. If you are studying a theme, things might be a little more difficult; for a theme, the best method is to take as a starting point a passage you know, and let your marginal references and concordance take you to other passages from there.

As you progress, you will need to collect together a short list of key passages of Scripture (perhaps between one and ten) which your subject requires that you deal with. Do this with the help of a concordance, from memory, or by using your marginal references. If you are studying Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, for example, your starting point would be the Genesis account, but you would also want to study Romans 4 and Hebrews 11 as well.

You do not need to analyse in detail every passage that mentions the subject (though it would be a good idea to keep a list for reference), but you must choose a number of key passages that you will meditate on and develop as part of your study. An important aspect of Bible study is understanding the way in which the passages which relate to your subject interlock and present a complete picture. Is there a development as you progress from Old Testament to New? Is an event interpreted differently when you turn to a different passage? What is the reason why one passage picks up on the story referred to in another? You should always be looking out for answers to these questions.

 

TRACING THE ARGUMENT

The first priority when studying any passage of Scripture is to understand what its basic meaning is. Only then can you use it as the basis for any conclusions. One of the best training grounds for this is to practise tracing arguments. The best source is the Epistles, especially the Epistles of Paul. Here are four examples:

1 Could you read through Romans 1–4 and summarise the main principle being established? The answer for many of us is probably, Not as well as I would like, at least at first. Following Paul’s argument is notoriously difficult. But it is also an immensely rewarding activity, and a very important skill to develop.
2 Having read through Hebrews 1, could you go on into chapter 2, and explain the "Therefore..." of 2:1? In what way do the practical exhortations of chapter 2 depend on or grow out of the facts in chapter 1? If we cannot answer this, then perhaps we have not appreciated the point or the basic message of either chapter, and we certainly have not grasped the link between doctrine and practical behaviour which Hebrews stresses nearly every time it says, "Therefore...".
3 What does Paul prove by his comparison of Sinai, Arabia and the two Jerusalems at the end of Galatians 4? Why does he introduce this idea, and what is the link with Sarah and Agar? Why is the comparison effective?
4 Is 1 Corinthians 2:10 a simple statement or is it the climax of his argument so far in chapter 2? If the first, why does he say it? that is, what does it add to the context? If the second, then try to explain how the argument develops and what is so remarkable about the conclusion in verse 10.

The first two questions are the sort we should be thinking about every time we read the Epistles. The second two are more specific (and more complex), and these kinds of examples could be multiplied.

 

Understanding the meaning

Your first task is to make sure you understand what your chosen passage is saying. Read carefully, and pay attention. Read the passage again and again until you are familiar with it. When you are, read it in another version to see if it strikes you differently. If there are important differences, then you have more investigation to do.

Do not just read the section you happen to be studying, as though it existed in isolation; read the surrounding sections also, and ask yourself how your section fits into its surroundings. If you are studying part of a Bible book, ask yourself how that part fits into the aims and objectives of the book as a whole. What is it doing there? Context is very important.

Write down, in broad terms, what you see the structure of the passage to be. If it is a passage in the Epistles, trace the argument (see the exercise box) and make sure that you understand how the conclusions follow from the evidence. If it is a narrative, think about what is included and what is not, and why.

One of the most important things to think about is what the passage meant for those who read it at the time. It is not good Bible study practice to think only about what the passage means for today. First you must think about its meaning for those to whom it was written. How would they have understood it? How would they have interpreted its meaning? Once you have thought about these questions, then you are in a position to think about what it is teaching for today.

Understanding the meaning of the passage in its setting is the single most important step in Bible study; and yet, if you listen carefully to some of our talks, you will realise that rather too often this is something which has not been actively thought through. Sometimes passages are referred to by speakers who have not thought about the argument or context in their passages, and we must try hard to avoid this kind of Bible study. As long as you get into the habit of actively asking yourself questions about a passage then there is little danger you will make that mistake.

 

BIBLE MARKING

Some people like marking their Bible, others do not. Amongst those who do, some find it an abomination to write in ink, and others find pencil frustrating and always use a pen. Here are some not entirely unbiased thoughts of my own.

The advantage of Bible marking is that it helps you remember good ideas. Bible passages for cross reference which are not in the marginal references your Bible provides should always be jotted down. Meanings of words are another safe option, though check them if you can; just because someone claims a word means something does not necessarily mean that it does.

Writing down expositions or interpretations of passages in your margin is a much more doubtful activity. This is because whenever you next read the passage, you always read the note as well (you probably do this subconsciously, even if you think you are not doing so). Hence you always see the passage in the light of the note you have written. When this happens, it is very difficult to get fresh insight on what the passage means, and the more you have written the harder it is. You should be particularly careful about copying down long explanations offered by others, and regarding them as authoritative. They may be right, of course, but our whole basis as a community rests on meditation on God’s words, not trammelled thought on the thoughts of others.

For this reason, I would say that the principle of Bible marking courses is seriously flawed. Where is the scope for fresh thinking about God’s Word if (to caricature the situation) we have all copied down identical notes about each passage?

I have gone to the other extreme of not writing anything in my margins, apart from other Bible references. The aim of this is to try to come to a passage relatively fresh each time. That is my personal preference, and, as I have said above, there are clear advantages in taking marginal notes. To prevent the bad situation described above, always keep notes brief. Try to keep to facts rather than interpretations. Never write down anything in your margin which you do not understand.

  

Digging deeper

Having become familiar with the passage, and having thought about what it is saying as a whole, it is now time to both zoom in and zoom out.

The zooming out is done by following up all the marginal references you have, and thinking about how other parts of Scripture throw light on your passage. If you find an interesting reference, write it down; you may want to check the marginal references relating to that verse also. How do the passages compare with each other? Are they teaching the same thing, or do they present different aspects, different nuances, which enable you to build up a more complete picture?

Zooming in is done by focusing in on individual words and themes in your passage. This too is a very important step in Bible study. Check up the meaning of key words, and check their use in other parts of Scripture. You may want to look in commentaries to see if there is any unusual grammar in the passage, or any alternative readings. You should also think about the meaning and purpose of any images, types, symbols or word-pictures the passage contains. All of these aspects are looked at elsewhere in this Special Issue, and I will therefore not dwell on them here.

 

THE BIBLE STUDY THERMOMETER

There is a simple test by which you can tell whether or not you are doing the right kind of Bible study. The wrong kind is that which pursues knowledge as an end in itself, the kind which makes you proud of your learning and erudition, and makes you look down on your brethren and sisters who you assume are not doing as much Bible study as you. There is a right kind which makes you appreciate more deeply how small you are, and how gracious God is in having called you from the road to death.

These, then, are the questions that we must each ask ourselves: Do I appreciate spiritual things more deeply because of my study? Do I understand the mind of God and His Son more clearly because of the hours I spend? Do I feel more inadequate, and in turn more reliant upon God for strength, guidance and all things? Do I long the more for His salvation, and yearn for His Kingdom to come? Good Bible study will produce all of these good things. If our Bible study does not, then something in our attitude needs changing.

    

The important questions

It might sound silly, but the hardest part of Bible study is actually getting started. If you have not done serious Bible study at a desk before, the very thought might seem forbidding. Even for people who have been doing it for years, getting down to study can still be difficult. It can be almost guaranteed, however, that, once you do make that effort, you will be surprised at the rewards. Bible study is something for everyone, and it is something to be enjoyed. The only difficult part is starting off, so it is worth being determined to take that step and so discover more of the riches of God’s Word.

Perhaps as a way to conclude this overview of Bible study techniques, I should outline the main questions that should be going through your mind as you study:

All Bible study should be directed to answering these kinds of questions. The use of concordances, maps, lexicons, commentaries and reference works of all kinds ought to be in order to help us answer them. Those study helps are not ends in themselves, and the most important resources we have are not our libraries or computers, but rather the Book which God has given us, our own time and the concentration of our minds, and the privilege of coming to Him in prayer. With these at our disposal, we are indeed well blessed.

Finally, let me return to the final question in the bullet points above, as it is especially important. What should we do about the Bible’s message when we have studied it? When we have spent hours in Bible study, it ought not to be the case that someone could turn around to us and say, So what? We ought to know the practical consequences of what we have discovered, and we ought to be resolved to put them into practical use in our daily lives. Bible study is for everyday life, because it should teach us how to live. Bible study can help us get into the Kingdom of God.

 

WATCHING WORDS

Word studies have their value, but it is important to relate those studies to an understanding of a passage as a whole. Mechanically performing word studies is not true Bible study, and there is a danger of focusing in too closely on words and missing out on the overall message. Bible students sometimes make this mistake, and spend page after page documenting the meaning of a Greek word which turns out to mean basically the same thing as the English word which translates it.

If you think a particular word is important and deserves an in-depth analysis, then you ought to be able to answer this question: Why did the writer choose that particular word for that particular passage? If you think the word is special in some way, then what does its use contribute to the passage?

All this might sound as if I have a personal grudge against word studies. Not so. Take away the words and you have no message and no Bible. Of course the words are important (see "Word Studies"). But the Bible student’s first task is to think about passages, not isolated words.