How to Study the Bible – Lesson Two For those of you who were not able to attend last week, we went over and viewed all the different Bible study tools, ranging from book form to Bible software and other “on the go” options. Sunday I was able to give some of you the information we went through and I hope that was helpful. You will find in your binders all the handouts explaining everything we went through and there is a place for notes in the very back if you would like. These binders and the books given to you are yours to keep so feel free to write in them. If you have any questions, I would be happy to go through them with you after the class. This will be a seven week class. In the seven weeks we will learn about the different study tools and have hands on experience using them. Instead of standing here going through all the different types of study methods, which would probably bore you to death, I have printed out a handout to go in your binders for you to read. The different study methods are important but I want to concentrate on the study tools. I am going to be pulling excerpts out of different resources so that you can learn how to get the most out of studying. One thing I do need to say before we delve into our homework is that we want to make sure that when we are studying we do not eisegete the scripture. Eisegesis (from the Greek εἰσηγεῖσθαι; 'to lead in') is the process of interpretation of an existing text in such a way as to introduce one's own ideas. (It is just like it sounds “I”segesis – making scripture mean what you want it to mean) When studying, you should exegete the scripture or draw out the meaning from the text on the basis of the text itself, keeping it within the context of the scripture and the customs of that time. Another thing to be aware of is that the resources you choose are doctrinally sound. You do not want to use a commentary or other reference tool by someone who has different doctrinal statements than yours because they will be slanted toward their beliefs. For those of you who are new, the tools that I have presented to you have been approved by the Pastor. If you have other tools you would like to use and are not sure if they are doctrinally sound, please refer them to the Pastor and he can direct you accordingly.
So with that being said, I am anxious to hear how you did with your homework. We looked at a New Testament Survey of the book of Philippians. What this type of study does is it gives you a synopsis of what the book is about. With this knowledge you will be able to refer back to this book when you have a need in this area or let’s say you are talking with someone and they ask you about a particular subject, you will know from scripture how to help them. You know the key verses, the key themes, who wrote the book, whom it was written to and what were the circumstances surrounding the time period.
So let’s go through our homework and then we will go over what we will be doing next week. -HomeworkLast week we talked about the bench and the tools we used. Depending on how elaborate a bench we wanted to make depended on the tools we used. This next week we are going to need the Wood and the Saw, in other words, the Bible and the Commentary. What I want you to do is read Philippians 4:1-9. Then read chapter eleven of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Philippians. Note how he brings out information about each verse and how he shows you Greek words and meanings.