How do you study the Bible? Is it different than just reading it?

Answer 1

i am on a bible quiz team ! soo i just read a book almost every night and all through the week i continue to read it !!!! soo just re-read !!!

Answer 2

I studied the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses, subject by subject and thought I learned a lot about the Bible. Actually, what I learned was not just the Scriptures, but the Watchtower interpretation of it. If someone tells you that the Bible interprets itself, that is foolish. If that were true, there would only be one interpretation. Even when I was a Jehovah's Witness, we would change our view as to what a Scripture meant...obviously it depended on our current interpretation, not on the Bible 'interpreting itself'.

You really can't study the Bible subject by subject because the Scriptures on a particular subject are not all in the same place. So just read the Scriptures and get the overall picture. If you use outside Bible study aids, be aware that they are written by a man or a committee of men, and are geared toward their own interpretation. Don't believe everything you read without researching it first. Even if it sounds logical, you may not have all the facts. Get different viewpoints and compare different translations.

I am now a former Jehovah's Witness, since I started studying the Bible more and the Watchtower less.

Answer 3

It's much different. Some things in the Bible are hard to understand and are interpreted as inconsistencies because it hasn't been studied properly. Example: Do you know what the word Messiah means? Where did the words Jesus Christ come from? How long is a day in God's time? Is it 24 hours, 1,000 yrs., or a billion years? What holds the universe together? Why doesn't the atom fly apart?
All this is explained in the Bible. To find it, is to study it.

Answer 4

Yes, for me studying is different than just reading it.

When it comes to my personal study, I first look at what is going on in my life and what I need. For example, if I am sick I want to know what the Bible has to say about healing.

I go to the 12-Step recovery Bible, Living Version and look up health, healing or any other related words. I also go to the blueletterbible.org and look up the same words or related phrases. I read as many scriptures as I can on that subject.

I usually start with the KJV because many of the words in the concordance are different in that version than many of the words in a regular dictionary. If I come across anything in the Bible I haven't studied before, I look the words up in the dictionary as well as the concordance at the blueletterbible website. I then read some of the different translations on the website for comparison.

My issues change from day to day. So whatever I am dealing with I try to put it into a word, or a phrase. A thesaurus helps with that.

When I answer questions on Yahoo! Answers, I try to break the subject down into words and repeat the same process as above. I incorporate this into my Bible study time.

Whenever I hear others teaching or preaching the Bible, I take notes. I use these notes to study so I can know If God is saying something to me through that person. I also use these notes if I feel that person is saying something in error. This helps me to know if God was in fact speaking to me through that person, or if that person was out of line for saying what they said.

Answer 5

You can look deeper. When you look at what society was like during those specific times, it casts the scriptures in a slightly different light.

Jesus was a rabbi. If you look into what rabbis were supposed to act like, you find that Jesus was quite the rebel. He didn't choose apostles or students that passed the test. He chose those that had already been cast into the family work. You wouldn't necessarily get that from just reading the Bible.

Also, many words in Hebrew or Greek don't quite have the same meanings as those in English. It's not really that the overall idea is lost, but sometimes learning the original way things were written adds that extra little understanding and takes away alot of the contradictions.

Answer 6

I would say that reading is just kind of skimming over the chapter (or however much you read) and then closing the book and saying Hmm...that was nice. Studying is where you really try to understand what the passage means and could include using different translations or bible dictionaries or that kind of thing. If you want to study a particular book there are tons of workbooks avaliable from Christian bookstores or online. These will guide your studying and ask questions to help you understand the meaning of the passage.

Answer 7

studying the Bible is different from just reading it. to do a study I have found it best to pick a topic and do a in-depth search. keeping in mind the following questions:
1. who was the chapter written to?
2. who wrote it?
3. what was going on at the time?
4. what does the Bible say about the topic?
5. other Biblical verses to back up your conclusion?

Answer 8

Yes. You can read anything. The way I study the Bible is to read it and pray about it, and re- read it. It helps by reading it out loud. I will use a concordance to find passages, and I have an interlinear Bible with the Hebrew and Greek words, that I can look up. I also will look at other English translations, too.

Answer 9

it is good to do a continuous reading of the bible but to study will be different because for e.g you may read about the sabbath in genesis and someone may tell you it is abolish but in order find out you can't just read genesis alone you after use your concordance and see where the word sabbath is mention and look it up, and find out for yourself. also some prophecy in the bible goes along with history so you will take more time to evaluate something that you are not sure about or interested in finding out more.

Answer 10

definitely a difference between reading and studying. one reads a novel or short story without really concentrating on the true and real meaning behind the words as this is more for entertainment and not serious study. when one studies a book one is trying to concentrate on the meaning and reasoning of the information the author was conveying to the reader. one needs to read and examine in a studious manner to gain the intended wisdom and knowledge.

Answer 11

Buddha taught keep the meaning forget the word. Anyone can read the words-only the spiritually awakened can understand the meanings which is why Jesus talked in parables and figurative language rather than plain speech. Read with a desire to learn divine truths with no prejudices about religious doctrines and your spirit will become aware of the important lessons.