How to Study the Bible Deeper Than Just Reading

 

The Bible is not just any volume. It is God's Word to u.s., given using a number of literary genres, through the stories of a bandage of rotating characters, and over the bridge of a few one thousand years.

So how practice we read such a book?

This question is important when picking up any document, from paperback to newspaper. You wouldn't read a historical novel on WWII the same way you would a nonfiction historical account of the same time. And we read the newspaper'southward forepart page differently than the opinion-editorials (or at least, we ought to read them differently).

How, then, should we read the Bible? It starts with context.

InChrist from Start to Terminate, authors Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum outline half-dozen different contexts—three specific, three full general—to help y'all read the Bible well. For Hunter and Wellum, understanding these 6 contexts is like reading the directions earlier playing a board game:

If you know the rules, the game volition make sense and you might even savour it. Merely learning the rules can exist a scrap tedious and frustrating until you lot kickoff to come across how they fit into the larger game. (41)

The same is true for the Bible. Grasping these rules volition help you read the Bible in context and therefore aid you better study the Bible.

1. Consider the Historical Context

"Every passage of Scripture emerges in the class of history" (47). Which is whyin order to read the Bible in context, we need to read it in its historical context—beginning with the writer and the original audience.

"When thinking nigh the original audition," Hunter and Wellum explain, "nosotros should distinguish the original characters in the story from the original readers, those who were reading Scripture about those characters" (47). For example, we read most Abraham and his journey from Moses' point-of-view as he led Israel through the wilderness on the way to the promised land. An important question to ask, and so, is: "What is Moses teaching the Israelites about Abraham and the Patriarchs?" (47).

The Gospels serve as another example:

[I]n his Gospel business relationship, John tells his post-resurrection readers about events that weren't fully understood until later the resurrection, not only preserving historical accuracy simply also reminding usa that the original audience was reading the Gospel after Christ'south resurrection. (47)

As with the 5 Books of Moses, the Gospels illustrate the principle that the historical context of the Bible is informed both by the original authors and the original audition.

2. Consider the Cultural Context

Coinciding with historical context is the cultural context of a biblical book. This includes the original cultural circumstances that gave ascent to the book, equally well as the cultural features of the time.

Consider Revelation 3:xiv–22, where John wrote to seven churches addressing specific circumstances."We should non forget that these were real churches with real locations in the kickoff century" (47).

And in Revelation iii:fifteen–sixteen, the Laodicean church building is described every bit neither "hot" nor "cold"—reflecting the cultural features of two nearby cities: Hierapolis had hot springs that were of medicinal value, while Colossae had cold springs that brought nourishment and refreshment; Laodicea's water was lukewarm, tasteless, and useless. The cultural features of Laodicea inform the historical circumstances: "the spiritual life of the church had go like her city's water supply— lukewarm and useless" (47–48).

Remember that there were real-life circumstances that gave rise to the Bible'southward narrative books and poetry, the Gospels and the letters. Hunter and Wellum help readers agreement these circumstances forth with the cultural features of the fourth dimension, helping us read the Bible in context.

iii. Consider the Literary Context

"Reading a text in its literary context involves interpreting it in light of its flow of words and the course the words have" (45).

First, considering the texts literary menstruum involves reading a text in terms of the words effectually it. "Words hateful something in the sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books in which they are used" (45). That'southward why we don't start reading a novel in the center, because each discussion, paragraph, and chapter all add upwardly to something of import. And yet this is frequently how we approach the Bible, by starting in the eye with little regard to the literary flow that adds upward to specific meaning. Hunter and Wellum explain:

Since information technology'south a long book and pastors preach out of different sections each week, we get used to entering and exiting portions of Scripture without considering the context of the books in which they are found, let alone their location in the rest of the Bible'south storyline… But this practice tin can also reinforce our tendency to read passages in isolation. (45–46)

The authors offer a solution: "if you take the time to read and reflect on a book every bit a whole, then every part of that book will start to make more sense" (46).

2d, properly reading the Bible in its literary context means because the literary grade the author chose in writing. "The Bible's words are written in the form of minimally three unlike kinds of texts: soapbox, narrative, and poetry" (46):

• " Soapbox texts are simply words spoken or written from 1 person to another" (46)
• " Narrative texts are words that tell a story" (46)
• " Poetic texts …[convey their] meaning through images, and [these texts are] structured" formally; consider English poetry'southward rhyming lines (46)

While these three are often combined, forming other genres, "learning to spot the form or the kind of text the author writes will greatly help yous in your personal Bible reading" (46).

SWITCHING GEARS

That concludes a summary of the three specific contexts for understanding a biblical text. The summary only scratches the surface of what Hunter and Wellum discuss in their volume.

Now nosotros transition to a summary of 3 general contexts:

iv. Look Down at the Close Context

"When we look down at the page, we seek to empathise the words in their immediate context. The close context takes into account the divine inspiration and man grapheme of the words written" (42–43). This general kind of context includes the called words, communicated ideas, and the specific book we're reading, understood within its historical setting. Information technology'south everything nosotros come across when we read the page in front end of usa, both the divine and human aspects of the book.

Scripture as a divine book means it is unified, from i Author, coherent, sufficient, perfect, and urgent. These truths carry several implications for how we read the Bible:

• "Nosotros should read it with creaturely humility considering these words are from our Creator and Lord"
• "We are to read with expectation"
• "Nosotros should too read with caution, recognizing that we are inclined to misunderstand what God has written"
• "We should read the Bible patiently to accurately discern what God has said"
• "We don't stand over Scripture; nosotros stand nether it in submission to God" (44–45)

Since the Bible is too a human volume, we demand to pay attention to its man aspects. We must non focus on the Bible's divine character to the extent nosotros neglect its human ones. Hunter and Wellum remind u.s. that "God speaks to us through what the authors wrote, which demands hard work from us to discern what the authors intended to say. Reading a given text in its close context means reading information technology in its literary and historical context" (45).

Hunter and Wellum remind us to "accept seriously every word and read them in keeping with their divine and human intent" (48).

5. Look Back at the Continuing Context

Since the Bible was written over time and spanning several centuries, "we must await dorsum in the story to discover how a given passage relates to what preceded it" (49). Nosotros demand to discern the deeper shape and period of the story, understanding the movements of characters and events and how they chronicle to the underlying structure of the Bible.

Simply how? One way is just to piece of work through the Bible, starting at the beginning with Genesis. Simply this has limitations because the Bible isn't necessarily compiled chronologically every bit nosotros often think of books. Instead, Hunter and Wellum suggest nosotros concentrate on tracing two of the Bible'southward major divisions: its plot movements and covenants.

First, the Bible'south story can be outlined in four major plot movements, which explains the story of reality: creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. "These four plot movements are helpful because they follow the Bible's ain plot and help united states think well-nigh the Bible'south unique worldview against other worldviews" (51–52), which answers iv major questions:

• Where did we come from? (Creation)
• What went wrong? (Autumn)
• What is the solution to our problem? (Redemption)
• Where is history ultimately going? (New Creation)

2nd, the Bible's covenants bring order, management, and focus to God'due south story. What is a covenant? "A covenant is a chosen relationship betwixt two parties ordered according to specific promises" (55). In our example, God's relationship to humanity and his promises to us. Hunter and Wellum identify five of import covenants that define the contours of the Bible's story:

• God's covenant with cosmos through Adam and Noah
• God's covenant with Abraham and his children
• God'due south covenant with Israel through Moses
• God'south covenant with David and his sons
• God's new covenant in Christ

"As we read the Bible's story, nosotros are always asking ourselves, How does this covenant reveal the God who saves and the Savior he sends?" (62) Hunter and Wellum assist you explore this question and make sense of the covenants.

6. Look Ahead to the Complete Context

"The complete context—what we can also call the canonical context—is where we look ahead to discover the fullness of God's intent in low-cal of the fullness of Scripture's message" (63). There are at to the lowest degree two ways Scripture connects the details of the Bible's big picture.

The start way is the promise-fulfillment theme, which centers on Christ. "There is continuity betwixt the promises God makes and the fulfillment he brings. Hope and fulfillment glue the Bible's diverse phases together. Knowing this helps us discern how a given part of Scripture relates to the Christ of Scripture" (64). The Old-New Testament distinction best reveals the promise-fulfillment structure of Scripture. It reminds us how God's promises are now fulfilled in Christ. In other words: "the One-time Testament is the story of God'due south promise and the New Testament is God'due south fulfillment of all he has promised" (64).

The second mode is the unfolding of typology through the biblical covenants. Typology is the way in which certain thematic patterns are traced through the covenants as the Bible'south story unfolds. These types or patterns "help united states see how the revelatory features of God's unfolding plan in the past chronicle to his new revelation in Christ" (65). There are three full general categories of these types: people, events, and institutions. One example is how Moses points to Christ equally a greater prophet than himself. They likewise outline several characteristics these types share:

• Types are patterns rooted in history . "Types are not only imaginative ideas; they are real people, events, and institutions that signify something greater to come up" (67)
• Types are designed by God . "Types are not random; they are purposeful in God's plan" (68)
• Types involve progression toward fulfillment in Christ . "Every bit types are unpacked through the covenants, they move from lesser to greater in scope and significance for God's purposes, peculiarly as they come to last fulfillment in Christ" (68)

Why We Need to Report the Bible (Not Just Read It)

"If yous've been puzzling over the Bible for a few years, you might be in a identify where you lot're familiar with its many parts simply are unsure of how they fit together" (27–28). This is why we need to take the fourth dimension to study the Bible, with all of its various components and pieces—and not just read it. As the authors explain:

Like a puzzle, the pieces of the Bible—the various books, messages, characters, and stories—do fit together. The Bible contains mysteries, but its significant is not intended to exist mysterious or subconscious from us, especially in its fundamental educational activity. God does not try to hide truth from usa; he reveals it. The Bible reveals more than a film for united states of america to savor. Information technology reveals a person for us to know. (28)

And, like whatsoever puzzle, we need to put the pieces of the Bible together in social club to get a clear understanding of the Bible'south unity and central message. When we do, we volition get more competent in reading the Bible for ourselves—all in order to do as Paul says: comprehend "how wide and long and loftier and deep is the dear of Christ, and to know this beloved that surpasses knowledge—that you lot may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians three:18–nineteen).

Justin Taylor says of Christ from Start to Stop, "In this book you lot'll acquire what Scripture is, how to read it, and how it all hangs together. Who wouldn't want to choice up a book like that?"

Pick up your copy today to better sympathize how every part of Scripture fits together to reveal the glory of Christ Jesus, and read the Bible in its many contexts.

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Source: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/bible-context

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