BaptistLife.Com Forums.

Ed: Thanks Keith Glad to hrar that she is an HUC-JIR Grad. There are thee campuses Cincinnati, New York & Los Angeles.

See HUC.EDU

There have been some interesting posts indicating a wide range of views on the Bible. I thought of another question for discussion.

How do your views on the Bible inform and direct your quantity and quality of Bible study? For example, if you think that the Bible has a number of contradictions, absurdities, and/or morally questionable advice, how does that affect the way you study the Bible and how much time and importance you give to Bible study? Or, if you believe that the New Testament cannot be understood without sufficient knowledge of the Old Testament, or believe that you cannot understand the Old Testament without reading it through the lens of the New Testament, does that affect how much time (comparatively) you give to studying one versus the other? Just a couple of examples to identify what I mean, but not to limit the discussion to those.

Thanks.

I am much more interested in Bible study that is conceptual, and wholistic, rather than a "verse by verse" exegesis with few relevant examples. God is not confined by religious orthodoxy which leads to credalism. If the Bible is intended to be a revelation by God of himself to humans, then studying it becomes a matter of seeing what he revealed, rather than developing an orthodoxy that is simply an imitation of someone else's behavior or a compare and contrast of their theology. The Bible lets us see something about God, in order to be able to think about it, reflect on it, and figure out how to connect with the spirit to make the principle, value or concept relevant and credible in the world that currently exists.

In accord with my understanding the inspiration, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of the Bible, I study it as a source of truth, salvation, morality, ethics and beliefs. This does not mean that I think that there is no truth to be learned outside the Bible. For example, I believe nature teaches us there is a God, but that the Bible reveals that God to us in a way we cannot know by studying nature.

It should come as no surprise that the library of the Bible is my primary reading. I read a good bit of other stuff, mostly about theology, church history, genealogy, and music. If I want fiction I usually turn to a different medium. I read the Bible and study the Bible, which I view as slightly different approaches, though compatible and not always separate. In making the distinction between the two, first, I read through the Bible like I would any other book (or in this case, books). I just read through it for comprehension and understanding of what is written without stopping to "study". I also take time to study a certain book as a unit, study details of words, definitions, grammar and so forth. I read the KJV but like to look up how others have translated certain passages. I sometimes consult the Greek, or something someone has written about the original languages. Though I have studied Greek (a long time ago) I cannot sit down and read Greek with comprehension, so I expect that I can make more mistakes than the benefit I get from it, and only consider that as a matter of interest to which I don't give as much weight. I also consult what others have written, agreeing with Charles Spurgeon, "It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others."

While I disagree with the way I feel some liberals and progressives seem to dismiss the Bible, we are not without problems on the conservative to fundamental end of the spectrum. In studying the Bible I try not to miss the big picture looking for the little picture, not to miss the haystack looking for the needle in it. Or as Jesus put it, we might carefully pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and yet omit the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. I often say to my church, "I don't understand [this or that detail], but let's not miss the big picture.

Anyway, enough rambling, but maybe that presents a little of how my view of the Bible affects my own Bible study.

One of my best experiences that has guided my personal study of the Bible was a one month course on the Devotional Life of the Christian Minister. The teachers of this were a New Testament professor, a theology professor, and a church history professor. It was a guide to using the Bible for personal inspiration and direction as one schooled in the careful exegetical study of scripture and wedded to historical and language studies of its texts. It became the link I needed to keep me from simply running to a devotional style from my past of doing topical daily Bible readings and of looking for simple aphorisms. It was a big picture effort to integrate great Christian devotional literature from Augustine forward and to relate all this to an over-arching theology of who God is and of claiming for scripture what it claims for itself without putting it either in a straitjacket of inerrancy or one of simply relegating it to history and not to the Spirit's work in the present. That has shaped much of my experience since I shared that seminar in January 1972. How we use scripture is crucial to where we end up in our journey. Indeed, how we use it may be more important than simply what we say about it.

Sandy, maybe you can comment on your take on this item I just posted on Facebook. You're not the first I've seen use the word (or the spelling). ""