Washed in the Word Part 7 – Inspecting Scripture

February 18, 2024 Leave a comment

After surveying a book of the Bible you should now have a good idea of the themes or topics written about in that book. With these topics in mind and the summaries you have written as a foundation for the context you will need you are ready to look more deeply at each chapter. The things to look for and symbols you can use expands at this point to include all those in the symbol guide pictured here. 

Here we will go over the basic method for inspection and interpretation, understanding what you read, and general things to look for. During the survey we limited what we looked for and the questions we asked but here the field is wide open. Look for every category, ask whatever question comes to mind and think deeply. There are more specific things to look for and questions you can ask based upon the genre and literary devices which deserve their own chapters.  We will address those later down the road. 

The Inspection Journal

Rather than dive right into what to look for and the deeper methods of observation and interrogation let us start with the tools and how to use them. During the survey you used some symbols, colored pens and marking guides along with a few basic questions and recorded the key words and summaries in a Survey worksheet. Now you will broaden your marking and observations in the bible and instead of a worksheet it will be a bit freer form using a Journal similar to what Johnathan Edwards called a Miscellanies Journal. If you have a wide margin bible, you could use that space for a journal but even in wide margin bibles space is still limited. 

The 18th Century Pastor and Theologian, Johnathan Edwards, would take a journal and label it with a letter starting with M for Miscellanies. He would reserve the first few pages for an index and then he would date his first entry and label it with M0001 and the Bible reference he was studying, say Joshua 1. In the margins of his Bible for Joshua 1 he would write M0001 to cross reference with the journal and then record his thoughts and questions about the passages as he read it in the journal. He would then list the journal pages along with the label, reference, and theme in the index. With this method he could write as much as he wanted and years later if he were rereading the passage, he could add to the notes with a new journal just referencing it with its letter and sequence number in the Bible’s margin. 

The Inspect process will use this same tool. For a journal I would recommend an A5 (6×8) dotted or lined journal which are easy to find. After I reached 50 writing and reading smaller text became increasingly difficult, so I started using either a letter/A4 size or B5 (7×10) dotted or lined journal. A dotted journal provides free space and guides if you like drawing diagrams or pictures; yes, draw away. As you look more deeply at a passage marking more significant or important words and drawing lines to see relationships you will then start asking questions and thinking about answers. Write these questions and answers and any other thoughts you may have in a journal. Do not feel as if you must answer every question that comes to mind. If some of your questions don’t seem to have answers write them in the journal anyway and leave some space after the question for a future answer. You may also want to use a colored sticky tab to mark the unanswered questions in the journal.  Look back and review your questions and as you move forward reading the Bible you may find answers to those questions at which point you can write the answer and cross reference it with different color ink to where you are in the Bible using that future entry’s label and reference where you find the answer and then toss out the tab.

If you believe God is saying something significant to us, His People, record it as a thesis statement and use a sticky tab to mark it for further verification. You would then take this idea or hypothesis and reexamine them during the examination phase.

Interrogating the Bible Passage

Let’s get back to asking questions. During the survey questions were limited to finding the setting. Now ask any question that comes to mind. To start let’s revisit the five Ws and a H. Asking where and when is what we started with in the survey but is there anything more we could ask about location and time? If the bible is saying something is happening at a certain time or place is it where or when it should happen? An example is Deuteronomy 6 and 11 where God tells the people to talk about His words at home when they sit down, when they rise up and when they travel.

We talked about asking who are the characters involved and identifying God’s involvement. Who is the author and who is it written to or about? The Bible is God’s word written for God’s people but some words were for unbelievers, those that are not God’s people. In these cases the words used and the practices described will fall into that context and usually are ridiculed or contrasted with what is right. Having a clear picture of “who” becomes critical to understanding what God is saying.

Next what is being described or what is happening? Then the follow up question is why. Why did this happen? Why is God calling attention to this? When you are trying to find the reason or cause for something be prepared to ask why more than once. Why did “A” happen? Well because “B” happened. Why did “B” happen? Well because “C” circumstances were encountered. Why were “C” circumstances encountered? Well because “D” decisions were made. You may have to ask why up to five times to get to the root of the matter. 

Finally, ask how. How did they get to this point? How did they do that and why? How important is this or what is its significance?  Is the Bible saying this is how things should be done or is it just how something was done? If it is how things should be done usually God will be involved either showing his approval or giving a command. Otherwise, God will show his disapproval. If God’s point of view is not clear then be careful not to draw a conclusion or pass judgements when God Himself doesn’t do so.

Coming to an Understanding

The answers to the questions you ask form the basis for your understanding of what God wants to say. The practice of understanding the bible is called interpretation. The methods used to understand the Bible are called hermeneutics. As you are asking questions and making observations there are some guidelines you should keep in mind before you draw any conclusions and as you answer questions.

  • It is not advisable to develop a guiding principle or draw a conclusion based on a single obscure verse in the Bible. An example would be Mark 16:18 “they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them;”. Another verse is 1 Corinthians 15:29 which says, “what will they do those who are baptized for the dead”. Baptism for the dead is obscure and could have several possible meanings but there are no available ancient manuscripts that help explain this verse.
  • The Bible itself is its best interpreter. As the inspired word of God the bible is consistent and coherent. If some passage doesn’t seem to make sense, is unclear or has many possible meanings, especially if they do not align, the correct meaning is the one supported by other passages in the Bible.
  • Understand historical accounts in the Bible by the teachings in the Bible. For example the letters written by Paul and the other Apostles provide explanations and teachings for the church. That should be used to understand the history recorded in the gospels and Acts.
  • What someone does in the Bible should not necessarily be considered prescriptive; the way we should always do things. Unless it is specifically commanded something done may just be the way someone did something and not necessarily the way we should do something. For example; just because Gideon requested a specific sign from God does not mean that is how we should approach God for direction.
  • It is not advisable to pass judgement on what God’s anointed followers do in a passage of the Bible unless God Himself does so either in the passage or somewhere else explicitly in the Bible. If God judges someone’s actions in the Bible do not add to it. Something may sound wrong but could just be from our own modern sensibilities. For example we tend to look down on arranged marriages but most in the Bible were arranged including the very first marriage between Adam and Eve, arranged by God. 
  • Do not let man’s conclusions, methods or principles dictate what the Bible must mean. If you find yourself saying, “Well, the Bible can’t mean that!” be careful that you are not lifting an idea or theology, a system of man above the Bible.
  • If God tells a specific group or type of person to do something that doesn’t mean the scope is limited to that group or type of person. Just because the letters to Timothy were written to a pastor doesn’t mean we don’t need to read them nor that nothing in them applies to us who are not pastors. Just because God tells fathers to do something with their children doesn’t mean mothers are not to do it as well.

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Washed in the Word Part 6 – How to Survey a Book of the Bible

January 17, 2024 Leave a comment

The first goal of the Washed in the Word R.INS.E study method is to Read the book of the bible you are studying chapter by chapter trying to grasp the big picture so that you have a high-level idea of the topics of each chapter. This forms the context that you need to have before you can read any passage in that book of the Bible more deeply. In the survey worksheet the heading of the first page for each book has a form for recording the book name, genre, author, audience, date and location of writing. This is followed by a block section where after reading the book you record its theme and purpose and any other notes or thoughts.

Some of this basic information you may be able to find in each book as you read it otherwise a good study bible or commentary will have this information. To make it easier, at the end of this section there will be two tables, one for the Old Testament and one for the New with this information.

Surveying the Text

Identify

To do a survey you will be concentrating on the setting and keywords which you will mark in brown and God marked in purple. Start by looking for repeated words and their synonyms and circle them. If they match one of the categories depicted in the earlier section, then circle them in that categories color. As you identify key repeated words make note of the genre if it differs from the book’s general genre. Books of law may also have history and poetry. Identify people, places and things that make up the setting and key events or commands and mark these following the symbols guide below. These might be obvious, but they might not stand out. At this point you can start using inquiry or some simple questions to help identify elements of the setting and circumstances. 

Inquire

In English classes you should have run into the five Ws and a H. While surveying and later when you inspect the text you will need to start asking who, what, when, where, why, and how. While surveying the level of questioning doesn’t need to be as probing as when you are rereading the text during the Inspection phase and you will limit yourself to specific questions focusing on the setting and keywords to just gain a basic understanding of the topic that is being addressed in the chapter. 

Start by asking who are the main characters or groups of characters and are they a protagonist or antagonist? What does God do or what does He command or promise? Marking what he does with a purple double underline and God’s promises with a purple arch and His commands with a green exclamation point and underline. What are the main events? Mark antagonists and protagonists with a brown underline ending in an A or P respectively. If it is a king or kingdom draw a blue crown at the beginning. Mark references to God with a purple triangle or angel of the Lord with a red cross. But only mark these when God is actively at work or responding. If the chapter is just talking about God such as saying “we have sinned against God” then these references do not need to be marked. You only want to call attention to God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit when they are an active character in the chapter so you can see when God is responding. The goal here and and more so during the Inspection phase is to grasp what His feelings are about the circumstances recorded.

Then ask where is this happening or where is the author seeing what he is writing? When is this happening? Underline and mark the location with a blue at sign @ and times with a blue circle with clock hands (/). If the author is writing from a particular vantage point rather than use an at sign start with a semi-encircled v into an (V underline. For example when Moses is describing the creation of the world in Genesis 1 where is he? He is with “(V the Spirit hovering over the waters“. 

The vantage point and use of phenomenal language can be key to understanding what the bible is saying. Phenomenal language is the use of words to describe what you see or feel happening from the perspective of your senses and from your vantage point. We use this every day when we say “the sun rose” or “the sun set”. The sun doesn’t really go up or rise nor does it go down or set. When Moses describes the sky as a firmament he isn’t saying it is a solid dome, he is saying it looks like a dome. If you accept that it must be a dome then you run into the problem of a clash with reality that is not necessary at all. While the bible is not a science text book it does describe things that actually happened and that exist. Whatever may be described more precisely or scientifically should be able to match what the author describes if he were to experience it, the bible does not make mistakes. 

Digest / Summarize

Since this is a survey you don’t want to spend much time asking how and why. If an explanation of how or why is apparent take note of it but we will spend time on this during the inspection phase. After you have read the chapter and marked the obvious keywords and setting record the keywords in the keyword’s column in the survey form and in the margin of your bible. Then write a short one or two sentence summary in the middle summary section of the form. If the genre is different from that of the book record that in parenthesis. 

These summaries and the worksheets will become a reference in the future as you inspect and re-examine a passage in the Bible. It will form the context that limits or qualifies what may be understood. Finally, they will help you better remember what you have read and will develop Biblical Intelligence.

“Perhaps the best test of a man’s intelligence is the capacity for making a summary.” – Lyton Stachey
Then the best exercise to develop biblical intelligence is to practice making summaries.

Roll Up into a Breakdown

In the Bible survey worksheet you have been recording the keywords and summaries. Now it’s time to pull it all together. Consider the keywords column from each chapter and the categories they might fall into. Can you group the keywords in any way? Use the breakdown columns to group the chapters and their keywords into categories. You are rolling up the chapters’ settings and key words into main points of an outline which becomes the breakdown of the book. 

You are looking for relationships between chapters and you will need to do this as part of an end of book review but if you notice a change or turning point or transition while reading don’t hesitate to make note of it using a pencil in the breakdown column so you don’t forget it. To use the breakdown columns you will want to turn the page horizontal and draw lines between these changes you see in categories and then write a short title for that break or segment. Some categories or ways of grouping keywords and circumstances of the setting include:

  • Composition or Literary Devices
    • Pivotal Points / Turning Points
    • Progression and Climax
    • Radiation
  • Others
    • Time / Place / Vantage Point
    • Reigns
    • Topics
    • Doctrines
    • Events / Tasks
    • Signs
    • Goals / Objectives

Finally, in the heading block of the worksheet write a theme and purpose for the entire book. The theme can be thought of as if someone were to ask you “write me a title for that book”. Next write down why you think the book was written and any other notes you feel may be helpful. Now you have completed your survey of the book. You will want to keep these surveys for future reference whenever you come back to study a passage in that particular book of the Bible.

Old Testament Books – Author, Date, Location and Genre

New Testament Books – Author, Date, Location and Genre

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Washed in the Word Part 4 – Bible Study Tools

January 1, 2024 Leave a comment

Now that you have set out to study God’s word there are some things you will need and some things you may want to consider adding to your tools for studying the Bible. The first and most obvious would be a Bible. But which Bible is the best choice? As mentioned previously there are many translations. The Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek. What you may not know is that not only are the words different in another language but the order of words may also be different. For example, not only is Hebrew written from right to left but while English sentences have the order subject-verb-object, SVO, in Hebrew the word order in a sentence is subject-object-verb, SOV, and it only switches to subject-verb-object in Hebrew poetry. Further adjectives and adverbs do not precede the noun or verb as in English but come after them. Other differences would be idioms or sayings. In Hebrew they would say “it doesn’t touch me” but in English we would say “It doesn’t ring a bell”. So, when a translator sits down to translate the Bible from its original language, they have a lot to consider communicating the intended meaning. 

Choosing a Good Translation

There are three methods translators use: formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence or paraphrase.

  • Formal equivalent translations have the goal of capturing the broadest meaning of the original language and try to use a single word in English whose possible meanings are as close to that of each word in the original language and then adjust the word order for English and where necessary reword sayings so that we can understand them. The words chosen will often be more academic or formal English words since the goal is the broadest sense of meaning. 
  • The dynamic equivalent focuses more on the meaning and spirit of the original text, rather than rigidly adhering to its structure and form. There are two types of dynamic equivalents. The natural equivalent will approach each phrase making up a sentence and choose the best word or words leaning more toward the formal equivalent where possible. The functional equivalent will look at the phrases that make up a single thought and craft a phrase to communicate the intended meaning using common language or the simplest wording possible. 
  • A paraphrase will take each sentence and write it in English with as many words and descriptions as the translator feels are necessary to communicate what they think the author was saying. 
LSB/NASB/NKJVGNTNLT
I will make you fishers of men.I will teach you to catch people.I will show you how to fish for people!
Matthew 4:19

What are the issues with these methods? A good example is Matthew 4:19 in the preceding table. The NLT translates “make” as “show you how” and this is easy to understand but it doesn’t capture the full meaning of the original language where as “teach” in the GNT includes “show you how” but also involves explanation and opportunities for practice and captures a broader meaning closer to the original. The word “make” however includes all these meanings but also captures the fact that God is in charge and actively working in the lives of the disciples. The simpler translation is missing a lot of meaning. All translations require the translator to understand to varying degrees what the original author was trying to say, which is interpretation. However, you must ask the question; at what point am I just listening to what someone thinks the Bible is saying instead of trying to understand what it is saying for myself? 

This is God’s word to us, and we should want to know what He is really saying. You should always start with reading the bible to get a basic idea of topics and a paraphrase or dynamic equivalent may be good enough but to really study the bible you will need a Natural or Formal Equivalent. The quadrant chart shows bible translations by their reading level and how close they are to the original meaning. The upper right quadrant are translations that have balance between being easy to read and being as close as possible to the original language.

Choosing a Good Bible Format

Once you choose a translation the Bible comes in many formats including digital online bibles as well as journaling, study, reference, and compact printed bibles. The Logos, Olive Tree and Blue Letter digital bibles have many resources and the ability to take notes, and highlight. Blue Letter ScriptureMark and Logos have some marking ability, but most digital bibles do not have the ability to draw lines and symbols. Print Bibles will either have two columns or a single column. Study bibles will have introductions, outlines, references to other similar bible verses either in between columns or in the gutter and commentaries at the bottom of each page. Study bibles have many tools that are useful to help understand the bible however most have so much information that the margins are too narrow to take notes. To study the bible and take notes one of the best formats is a single column bible with the references in the gutter and wide outside margins for notes such as the NKJV wide-margin reference bible, ESV/NASB Inductive Study Bible or Baker Illustrated CSB Study Bible. 

Study BibleJournaling Reference Bible

Bible Marking and Journals

After selecting a bible to start journaling you will need to consider highlighters and marking pens. You will want to decide on a color code so that what you emphasize uses a color with a meaning behind it. Highlighters draw attention to verses that stand out or are significant in a chapter. The problem is many highlighters bleed through thin paper. The gel highlighters meant to solve this problem are more like crayons and do not bleed but leave a waxy film which prevents using pens for marking later and when they warm up in a car the pages tend to stick together. The best highlighters I have found are the Zebra Midliners.  

Still highlighters are limited to drawing attention to a verse. Using fine-liner or gel pens you can focus on individual words or phrases by circling, boxing, underlining, or even drawing symbols and lines may be drawn between these symbols to show relationships. Bible marking helps to show repeated words and to see relationships visually between words and phrases. I have found the best marking pens to be Charsoco or Micron MicroLine pens, Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel pens or Uni Style Fit Gel Pens. The Zebra Clip and Style fit pens also have customizable multi-pen options great for travel. 

While you can journal in your bible even the wide margin journaling bibles are limited with space. You can get A5 or Letter size binders to use custom forms like those in the resource section of this blog. The Survey forms are a good place to start and we will discuss these in upcoming articles. A page numbered dotted grid journal may be used to write further notes and even draw pictures. You can use a code for the journal such as M followed by numbers, 0001, which you write in your bible and then write at the top of the journal page and reference in a table of contents in the journal. With this method you can even journal using a bible with small margins and add multiple notes from multiple journals with different codes as you read God’s word over time. I suggested the first journal as M because this method was invented by Jonathan Edwards and he called it the Miscellanies journal method of bible study. In the next articles we will go over how to use these journals. Additionally you may want to add on some page marker tabs so you can mark questions you’ve recorded in your journal for which you may not know the answer but as you read on in the bible the answer may become apparent. If they are marked then you can come back to them.

Bible References – Commentaries, Concordances, & Dictionaries

Finally, there are many reference tools available that can help you on your journey. Many pastors and scholars have studied the bible and written down notes and their own thoughts about bible passages and these have been published in Commentaries. Many are available online in the Blue Letter Bible, and Bible Hub or you can buy copies in print. Some examples are the Moody Bible Commentary, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Matthew Henry, John MacArthur, the Archaeology Study Bible and Dr. J. Vernon McGee. These tools are good to check your understanding of a bible passage and to learn about the culture and people to whom the bible was written. 

Concordances such as the Open Bible Cross References, Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Thomson’s Chain References and Strongs have lists of references, key words found in the bible or topics and give references to other similar verses in the Bible. This can help you find other passages in the bible that talk about the same topic and would be used to examine scripture with a cross reference study. Word study dictionaries such as Mounces or Vines allow you to look up an English word used in the Bible or if you have a word study bible with Strongs numbers you can look up the original Greek or Hebrew word using a code number and get its definitions and examples of how it used. These are good tools for doing word studies that can be found online at Blue Letter Lexical Resources or may be purchased in print format.

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Are Easter and Christmas Pagan Holidays?

December 28, 2021 Leave a comment

There is a disturbing trend in churches and Christian circles to denounce the celebration of Easter and Christmas as pagan. The video shared here is an example.

These topics were first introduced by Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylon’s and Ralph Woodrow’s Babylon Mystery Religion. However Woodrow has changed his position on many of these conclusions in his new book The Babylon Connection. Woodrow recognized the flaw in logic used by Hislop and himself and illustrated it in this statement

“By this method, one could take virtually anything and do the same—even the “golden arches” at McDonald’s! The Encyclopedia Americana (article: “Arch”) says the use of arches was known in Babylon as early as 2020 B.C. Since Babylon was called “the golden city” (Isa. 14:4), can there be any doubt about the origin of the golden arches? As silly as this is, this is the type of proof that has been offered over and over about pagan origins.”

Woodrow, The Babylon Connection

We can see here the logic is flawed. Further there are variations on these ancient mythologies and looking for similarities you may find something But that doesn’t prove that there is any connection. For example the story of Nimrod is found in Josephus history and a majority of others as Nimrod rebelling against God and promoting other gods. However there are a couple ancient versions of the story which say the opposite, that he fought the other gods. In fact his name translated in the Septuagint means giant hunter and the bible says he was a mighty hunter before the Lord which seems to suggest that the later minority accounts could be closer to the truth.

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What is Faith? One Question to Get Right

April 25, 2011 2 Comments

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My eight year old son, Nolan, had to complete some optional activities for cub scouts.  One that we picked was Faith and Religion.  The book asked him to name some great people of faith.  Nolan asked me, “What do they mean by faith?”  I paused and thought to myself about the best way to explain it to an eight year old.  Here is the definition I came up with.

Faith is what you believe to be right and true and you are willing to stand up for it

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Come in His Name!

September 1, 2010 Leave a comment

John 5:43-44
43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The World may find it easier to accept another name or another identity or a partial identity, but Jesus still came from the Father in His Father’s name; the name His father had given him. Any other identity is not the same nor is it of any use for salvation.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

If we are in Christ we are a new creation and we are commanded to speak and live in His Name. The name must be central, it must be pivotal, it must be foundational, it must be … all. If financial freedom, social activity, motivational methodologies, etc… are what is central so that we can gain the world’s interest then we run into a problem. “If you draw people by carnal means you will have to keep people by carnal means.” -Paul Washer.

WHY – why must Jesus name and Identity be so central?

John 12:28-32
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Because it is Jesus name and its identity with what He accomplished on the cross that will draw people to Christ and bring them to salvation. When we exalt and lift up Christ the World will perceive the value and significance we place in Him. They will ask who is this and what is this about…

World : So what do you have to offer?

Christian: Jesus

World: What else you got?

Christian: Jesus

That’s It!

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