Christians (no JWs, please): how do you suggest someone read the Bible to get the most understanding?

Question

is there an order that's better to keep?

Someone's answer in another question made me wonder how others read to better further their knowledge. Thanks in advance.

heavenly eyes, your JW religion has misled so many people, why in the world would I want anything to do your idea on how to study the bible?

uhmm.. you assume too much, Bambi.

Answer 1

In Bible study, exegesis is the process whereby a critical analysis of the given text produces direct, logical conclusions. Often, original texts (Greek and Hebrew) are used, passages must be viewed in context, and time/purpose of writing are taken in to account. This is often accomodated by asking:

• Who wrote the text, and who is the intended readership?
• What is the context of the text (i.e. how does it fit in the author's larger thought process, purpose, or argument)?
• When was the text written? To whom was the writer writing?
• Where was the focus of the text (i.e. Jewish settlements vs pagan areas)
• Why was the text written (i.e. dispel heresy, church sanctification, recordkeeping)?
• What is the cultural, historical context? What was the author's original intended meaning? Why was he saying it?

One interpretation. When the author of a book recorded history, or wrote their letter or gospel, they had a single intended meaning attached to what they wrote. When a person writes a letter, they are not thinking how they can write it so that the receiving person either cannot understand it or comes up with many different interpretations of what the writer meant. One should always be aware of what the authors intended meaning was. This should guide and direct one's studies, and should also safeguard against interpretations that do not fit the thought or flow of the book one is studying.

Regard for genre - Identification

Different literary genres (kinds of literature) are interpreted in different ways, so the first question to ask is: “To which category of literature does the text you are interpreting belong? Below are brief descriptions of the different genres found in the Bible:

Historical Narratives. These describe actual historical events from God’s perspective. They tell us what God is like (His character and nature), what God likes/dislikes, how He deals with people who obey and honour Him, and how he deals with those who disobey and hate Him. Narratives give us principles and lessons, not commands, patterns or laws. Historical Narratives are found in Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. In the New Testament, they can be found in parts of the Gospels, and the book of Acts.

Poetry and Songs. These are expressions of emotion to God. They allow us to express to God our feelings of happiness, joy, trust, hope, security, as well as feelings of discouragement, guilt, suffering, fear, anger, despair and repentance. They also assist us in expressing our love and appreciation for God or our need for forgiveness. Poetry and Songs allow us to relate to God on our own level. They show us how to communicate with God and how to honour and worship Him. In the Old Testament, these writings are found primarily in the Psalms and Song of Songs.

Legal Writings. These writings indicate God’s high moral standard, His idea of justice, principles of common sense government, principles of common sense health and safety, and His pattern and order for acceptable worship. These laws are NOT directly applicable to Christians today i.e. they are not meant to be legalistic instructions and commands to Christians. Such legal writings can be found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Wisdom/Wise Sayings. These writings indicate God’s view of wisdom as opposed to man’s view of wisdom. They contain wise sayings, and practical advice on how to live life and avoid trouble and hardship. Wisdom literature can be found primarily in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job.

Prophecy. Prophecy is God’s message to a particular person, a particular group of people and sometimes to all humanity. It is not necessarily foretelling the future – in fact the vast majority of prophecy in the Bible speaks of the present. Prophecy is found primarily in the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Malachi.

Teachings of Jesus. These are direct statements of truth from Jesus concerning the nature and character of God the kingdom of God/Heaven, what God expects of us, principles of righteous living, and the ways in which Jesus fulfils the OT prophecies. They are not exhaustive ‘DOs and DON’Ts,’ but rather, serve as examples and paradigms (patterns) from which we can derive underlying principles to apply in other situations. These teachings are found in parts of the Gospels i.e. Matthew – John.

Parables. Parables are stories with a punch-line. Parables are not so much illustrative, but rather, provocative. They are designed to draw people in and hit them with something unexpected, in the same way a joke does. Most parables have only one message or central idea, and even if multiple messages are present, one of them will be the chief idea. Note also that they are not perfect analogies! Parables are also found in parts of the Gospels.

Letters. These are generally occasional documents i.e. they were written with a clear purpose to a well identified audience. However, some letters (called epistles) were written to a larger people group. The letter/epistle writer presents arguments to correct, rebuke, defend, instruct, praise and encourage their readers. Letters/epistles form the vast majority of the New Testament from Romans to Jude.
Apocalypse. This includes the book of Revelation, and also large parts of Ezekiel and Daniel. Revelation is a vision of warning and encouragement to the early church as it was going through immense persecution.

Regard for literary devices

"Various forms of Hebrew poetry, simile, metaphor, and hyperbole need to be recognized if the reader is to understand the passage's meaning."

Regard for section of content

Historical Context. The Bible was written over a period of time dating from approximately 2000 BC (Job) to 95 AD (Revelation). It was set in a different country/continent and a vastly different culture and society from our own, therefore we must be careful not to make 20th century “western world” assumptions about the situation. Consult Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks in order to find out about the manners and customs of the various nations at that time in history. Use your imagination and try to put yourself in the shoes of the people involved. Make observations about who? what? when? where? and how?

Literary Context. This is the position of the text you are reading in relation to other texts. What verses come before? What verses come after? What situation, event, statement or argument led up to this passage? What situation, event, statement or argument followed or resulted from this passage? What book is the text in? Whereabouts in the book? What testament is it in? Why is the text in this position? Why is it in the Bible at all? What difference would it make if it was left out?

Answer 2

I always suggest that Christians start with the New Testament. Each Gospel should be studied carefully; then, move on to the Pauline and Hebrew Epistles.

However, I do NOT suggest that a new Christian read Revelation, because a thourough knowledge of the entire Bible (especially the OT) is necessary in order to understand it. Spiritual maturity is required, also -- which is something a new Christian won't yet have. To my view, a person should not read Revelation until they've read the entire Bible at least once, including the major and minor prophets (especially Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel) several times. This is the only book in the entire Bible that carries a blessing for reading and understanding it -- because God knows that the reader must understand His word before it can be meaningful.

Study guides or groups can be helpful, but be sure to ask a mature, Bible-believing Christian for guidance first. There are many study guides that are better left alone, if you understand my meaning ...

It may also be helpful to purchase scholarly books, such as Wayne Grudem's 'Systematic Theology,' which is a classic. Scriptural exegesis is a learned skill and doesn't come naturally to most people.

Answer 3

Dear Pedi,

That is a great question!

I actually don't think there is ONE way to read the Bible to get the most understanding. Read it because you WANT to get to know your heavenly Father better. Don't do it because you HAVE to.

When I was in 10th grade I wrote in my diary one Sunday that someday I wanted to read the whole Bible. At the time I had a KJV and was having a hard time understanding it with the Thees and Thous and Lord and God, etc.

My dad brought me up in a Christian church but my mom was / is a Watchtower witness who kept telling me I wouldn't be saved at Armageddon unless I became a JW. My RC friends were telling me that I wouldn't be saved unless I became a Catholic and my Lutheran friends looked in disdain without comment. I wondered how they could all be telling the truth so I figured that I would find the TRUTH in the Bible.

I figured I might need to be an adult to understand and never ended up reading the whole Bible for decades. In fact it wasn't until my life was falling apart at the seams and one Sunday before church I prayed, "LORD, I just want to read the Bible from cover-to-cover."

Two days later I got laid-off from my job and got 15 weeks of severance pay. I had the Life Application Bible which I was using for study but I knew there was no way I could read that in 15 weeks so I asked the LORD to show me which Bible format I should follow. He led me to The Daily Walk Bible which breaks the scripture into daily readings with an explanation for each reading.

The DWB was SO good that I couldn't put it down and I finished it in 90 days. That was nearly 16 years ago and since that time I've read the whole Bible in a variety of ways. I had previously resisted some Bible reading plans that called for reading a portion of OT, Psalms, Proverbs and NT every day because that had seemed too disjointed for me.

Forgive me for a long story. I think that the best plan depends on the person. There are so many wonderful Bible formats available so the best plan is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your choice.

In 2006 I read The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and for 2007 I'm back to reading The Daily Walk Bible because I've given copies of it to several people and just in case they have questions I want to be able to walk beside them in their reading.

Happy reading. As for me I plan to continue reading God's Word for the rest of my life.

Edit: Welcome to R&S Pusherhombre! Please come back soon.

For His glory,
JOYfilled

Answer 4

I have always referred New Christians to the book of John. The New International Version is the easiest to understand. The book of John is the one that explains the life of Christ most thoroughly. The your local book store can have many very good bible study books. I have shelves of them. One can never know to much. I also would suggest a Bible study class with a group of other believers. God Bless you and happy reading.

Answer 5

I suggest you buy an introductory book on the Bible along with a study Bible. What I use is the New American Bible with annotations and reading guides. A commentary would also be very helpful if you really want to study the Bible seriously.

I always recommend reading a gospel first or the book Proverbs to my friends.

Answer 6

Read the bible through from coverto cover and then in Jerimiah 3:15 answers how God set the order for us to recieve knowledge and understanding from the scriptures. (this is a bible definition of you question, not an interpretaion)

Answer 7

Scripture interprets Scripture. If you are wanting to understand or study a particular subject in the bible, you must read every verse in the Bible about that subject. The best Bibles that are available to study the Bible this way are the "Strong's chain reference Bible" or the "Thompson's Chain reference Bible." It is also very helpful to have a Bible concordance that explains what hard to understand verses mean.

Answer 8

I pray for God's spirit to guide me to get what ever point out of the scriptures that he wants me to learn.
I started in Matthew and read all the way through to the end of Rev.
Then I started in Gen. and now I am in 2 Kings, in context

Sometimes I feel that there is something extra that I need, then I go to the Back in the index, and pick a subject and read all of the scriptures that I can find on a particular subject.

I only use the Bible and never read published materials.


HEAVENly EYES: LOOK at what you are saying..LOL

LOL! Can we add the Jehovah's witnesses to that answer..so funny that He doesn't see what is right in his face....I was wondering who would give me a thumbs down for studying only the Bible, now I am not supprised..LOL




(The Bible is a Book 2 Bee (STUDIED); not just Read ! ! !)

("The Pharisees and Scribes could read AND QUOTE Scripture (just like Satan) ; But they NEVER Understood What they Were READING ! ")

Funny as he!!

Answer 9

I perfer myself to study it. It's okay to read each chapter at a time (start with NT) but I find it gets boring after awhile and it may cause you to stop. I find studying different passages or words (I usually just flip through the bible or pick a book in it to read then study it, meditate on it, really try to see what it means) keeps my attention and helps me to learn more. That's really what we're reading it for. To learn more and get to know God better.

Answer 10

Pick a book like Acts and start reading it.It would be good if you have a chain reference Bible so you can find where it is written about in other books of the Bible.Or pick a subject or word and look it up .

Answer 11

There is a book titled "Meet the Bible" by Phillip Yancey that basically is a daily reading book that puts the bible in chronological order.

I'm sure there are many books like this, but this just happens to be the one I'm reading right now, and I find it really helps me put things in better context when they are in "order".

Just one thought. :)

God Bless