5 Questions to Ask When Reading The Bible

9/2/2014

Have you ever wished to better understand the Bible? Do you ever get frustrated when reading because once you finish you immediately have forgotten all that you read? Sometimes I feel like it is hard to get any personal reflections when I read the Bible and I'm not even reading through the genealogies. I believe the problem is that we spend too much time reading and not enough time meditating on the Scriptures. The best way I have found, when reading the Bible, to get application from it is to ask myself questions. So click here for 5 questions to ask when reading the Bible that will help you to better understand the Scriptures intellectually and experientially.

1 Comment

Jim link

9/29/2016 11:25:07 pm

You approach Hermeneutics different than I do. Since it's called "the science of interpretation" then I see it as a sensible and reliable method of interpretation. There are good and bad hermeneutics.
I should write a page on the subject. These are some of the virtues of a good hermeneutic.

1. Use common sense and logic when interpreting.

I think the most valuable virtues of ones method of interpretation is simplicity and logic. I've found in the years I've spent trying to figure things out, that the most simple and logical interpretation is usually the correct one. The bible was written in the old days in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, with some Chaldean words, and then translated into Latin. So if you believe in the inspired Word of God like I do, then it's really simple. Inspired means God breathed or God spoke. God spoke to his servants the PROPHETS IN THE LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE AND UNDERSTOOD.

2. Approach the scriptures objectively and without bias. Don't approach them with the mindset that yuo already have things figured out.
3. Use bible resources like bible dictionary's etc. especially the lexicons and the interlinear....

I was fortunate in the early seventies to have a pastor who took a personal interest in his people. There were about twelve of us who were studying for the ministry under him. We were required to purchase several books to participate. Some of them are...

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance with dictionary of Greek and Hebrew words, an Interlinear NT, Bakers Dictionary of Theology, Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Christian Theology (by Bancroft), Knowing the doctrines of the Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary, Vine's Expository dictionary of New Testament Words, A topical Bible, Halley's Bible Handbook, a book on Exploring the Old Testament, and New Testament Survey, and last but not least, a book on Manners and Customs in the Bible.

These book are invaluable to any serious student of God's Word. Some of these people have spent their life translating the Word from the original text. We're fortunate to have their work available to us as it gives us much greater insight into the original meaning of the text.

4. Weed out interpretations. Sometimes it's profitable to weed out the interpretations that appear MOST contradictory. There may be 3-4 possible interpretations and cancelling out the ones that conflict with other verses limits the possibilities.

5. Determine if a passage is literal or figurative. It's usually determined by the context and looking at the passage logically. In other words, if the literal interpretation doesn't make sense, it's usually figurative, and if the passage doesn't make sense figuratively, it's literal.

6. Look at the dates and look at history.

As previously mentioned on the topic of Preterism, placing Jesus Christ as the rider of the white horse of Rev. 6, and claiming that ancient Babylon is the lion kingdom of Daniel 7 are blunders that could have been avoided by simply looking at dates or realizing that a prophet CANNOT prophesy about a person coming, or a kingdom rising, that already has!

7. Accept the results of your research even when it goes against what you already believe. I've found that Christians just don't care about scriptural evidence, or the lack of it. They fight to support their beliefs even when there's a mountain of scriptural evidence AGAINST what they believe.

I know that there will be other things to add to this page but for now this is what I've come up with.

5 Questions to Ask When Reading The Bible

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