General Guidelines for Bible Study

Most Christians recognize that they need to study their Bibles, yet many perhaps fall into certain traps when trying to read and understand God's will for them in their lives. Let us look into some general guidelines for Bible study that will help us avoid some of those traps.

Bible study is only successful if one desires to study and to learn. In Nehemiah 8, we read of the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after the exile, and how they gathered and listened to Ezra read the Law of Moses and gave them the understanding "from early morning until midday," (Nehemiah 8:3). The idea of standing and listening to preaching for no fewer than four hours would exhaust most people, and yet the text says that these Jews remained attentive to the reading of the Law (Nehemiah 8:3). Likewise, in the New Testament, we read that the first Christians on Pentecost "devoted themselves to the Apostles' doctrine," (Acts 2:42). The key ingredient that both of these groups possessed was a desire to know the Word of God. If the desire to learn about God's Word and to learn about spiritual things is not there, then Bible study will be a miserable process that will bear much fruit, if any! You can learn as much as you desire to learn-- if you want to learn much, you will find a way to learn much. If you have no desire to learn, then you will not learn. Brethren, we must gain the desire to learn about God's Word!

Bible reading is not necessarily Bible study. It is important to remember that there are different types of reading and study, and that we do not confuse the idea of Bible reading and Bible study. Many times people will read the Bible, and all they have really done is moved their eyes over the pages and really have not gained much understanding. Skimming the Bible is not Bible study. Passing your eyes over the text is not necessarily Bible study. Bible study requires us to not just look at the page but get into the book, ask questions, consider the witness of other texts, be willing to look words up in dictionaries to gain a better understanding, and many times also to speak with others who have studied and discuss the material studied. Bible study is far more involved than simple Bible reading.

This is not high school anymore. I fear that for many people, reading and studying a book brings back bad memories of school. Likewise, many people may approach Bible study like they approached readings in high school: quickly go through all the material to find out what the answer is. Now, reading comprehension tests and other exercises told you to do just that in readings for high school, and unfortunately not a few Bible study materials essentially do the same thing by focusing more on questions and leading people to simply read to find the answers to whatever questions happen to be asked. While you may do well at being able to find the answers, this does not mean that you have become a good Bible student. As we will see below, Bible study is not primarily designed to be an exercise in trying to figure out "the answer," but to understand God's Word.

Bible study is designed for you to better understand God's Word. Unfortunately, many times we get Bible study backwards-- we attempt to figure out the answers to whatever we're seeking and then try to figure out God's Word. If we are going to handle the Bible rightly (2 Timothy 2:15), we need to first seek to understand God's Word and then let whatever answers we seek to flow from that understanding. By understanding all of God's Word, we will come to a more satisfactory understanding of what we need to do to be pleasing to Him.

Bible study must be a habit. One can compare Bible study to physical exercise-- to be effective, it must be done regularly. The mind easily forgets, both in studying itself and the material studied, and constant refreshment and diligence is necessary to maintain the knowledge one has and to grow in knowledge. In the end, there is no better book to study. Let us strive to be disciples of the Word!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

Bible References

Many people struggle when trying to study and understand the Bible because they do not turn to good Bible references to help them in their study. Many may fear that looking at any book beside the Bible may taint them or actually hinder them in their learning.

While it is true that there are many works to avoid, there are many concepts and ideas in the Bible that are difficult to understand, let alone the fact that we live in a different culture with different terms for all kinds of things. Do not think that you are stupid because you need to use Bible references-- the most knowledgeable people about the Bible are the ones who most realize how they need those resources!

Every house should have a concordance, be it Strong's, Young's, or Cruden's, along with a Bible dictionary like Vine's, Easton's, or Smith's. An English dictionary can also help. A Bible atlas can help you figure out where the various places named in the Bible are located. Remember: the Bible has been the most studied book in history. Take advantage of these resources!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at evangelist@norwalkchurch.org.

Please click here to return to the 2006 archive of Good News for Norwalk, or click here to return to the main page of Good News for Norwalk. Thanks!