A Brief Guide to Better Bible Study

Michael Morrison

http://gcs-bible.blip.tv

Bible study is not difficult

Our goals

1. Discover the important angles2. Ask the most productive questions3. Focus our attention on the things most likely

to help us understand

“BEAR”

Three contexts

1. Historical context2. Literary context3. Personal context

A. Military & political history

• F. F. Bruce and David F. Payne, Israel and the Nations (Inter-Varsity, 1998)

B. Culture: customs of the people

• James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era (InterVarsity, 1999)

C. Specific situation

• Two historical settings:– In the ministry of Jesus– In the setting of the early church

ASK QUESTIONS

2. The literary context

• Original message

• Modern audience

• Transmitted by means of a text

• gen·re (zhän'rə) n. A type or class– A category of artistic composition, as in music or

literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.

– A realistic style of painting that depicts scenes from everyday life.

•[French, from Old French, genre, meaning kind, from Latin genus , gener-.]

Themes found in the literary work we are studying

• The flow of an argument– reasons building toward a conclusion– Often, a conclusion followed by a reason– Words such as “for” “so that” “therefore”

• George Ladd, Theology of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1993)

• nice (nīs) adj. nic·er , nic·est Pleasing and agreeable in nature: had a nice time.

•[Middle English, foolish , from Old French, from Latin nescius , ignorant , from nescīre , to be ignorant ; see nescience .]

• run• –verb - 97 definitions listed• –noun - 55 definitions• –adjective – 2 definitions• —Verb phrases – 20 definitions• —Idioms – 9

• Pic of strong’s concordance

• “Why?”• “How?”

• Read the passage carefully, and take notes, and do it again and again

• - it’s repetitious, like playing scales on the piano

• Six times• At least two translations

Write your results

• A one-sentence summary of the passage• Summary of the political situation• Summary of the cultural context• Why was the passage written down?• What type of literature is this?• Does this support a theme of this book?• How does this relate to neighboring passages?

3. Modern context

A. Our cultureB. Our beliefs

C. The Holy Spirit

Community

• Applying what we learn

• There is always a need for more study

1. Historical context2. Literary context3. Personal context