# How to study the Bible

God speaks to His people primarily through the Bible.

- God gave Scripture to make fools wise ([1 Corinthians 1:27](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/1-27.htm)).
- He does speak in other revelations and visions, but they will *always* echo the Bible's messages and be pure, peaceable, gentle, fruitful, unbiased, and genuine ([James 3:17](https://biblehub.com/james/3-17.htm)).
- God's Word always leaves an impact on someone listening, and often includes the *speaker* ([Isaiah 55:11](https://biblehub.com/isaiah/55-11.htm)).

Every Christian has the right and responsibility to investigate and interpret God's Word for themselves.

Spend time daily in His Word:

- God's inspiration *requires* diligent Bible study ([Acts 17:11](https://biblehub.com/acts/17-11.htm)).
- Set aside time to read, digest, research, and analyze.
- [Pray](spiritual-exercises-prayer.md) for His wisdom and sight as you read His word.
- [Grow daily](spiritual-exercises.md) by consistently reaffirming His truths and promises.

Wisely interpret the Bible:

- God gives progressive revelation as you read back-and-forth across Scripture.
- The Bible *will* interpret itself: Scripture explains Scripture.
- We can only understand and properly comprehend Scripture through faith and the Holy Spirit ([1 Corinthians 2:14-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/2.htm)).
- Interpret personal experience through Scripture, not the other way around.
- God wrote the Bible to [change our lives](goodlife.md), not [increase our knowledge](understanding.md).
- Listen to Scripture's common-sense interpretation first, then its historical context, and finally Bible scholars' opinions and commentaries.

Observe and honor the Bible's grammar and syntax:

- Scripture only has one literal interpretation, which determines the theology you're reading.
- Interpret words with the meaning the author would have used at the time.
- God wrote Scripture to people at a specific time with specific issues, so do some research on the [culture](people-culture.md) of those times.
- Interpret a word by its relation to its sentence.
- Interpret a passage by its context and setting.

Each translation wrestles with [language](language.md) barriers that form a spectrum between precise *words* and precise *thoughts* as [culturally understood](people-culture.md):

1. Word-for-word - prioritizes translating the *exact* words and sentence structure (e.g., NASB, ESV, Young's)
2. Meaning-for-meaning - prioritizes the same meaning of each of the words (e.g., GOD'S WORD)
3. Thought-for-thought - prioritizes the same meaning of each of the sentences (e.g., NIV, NLT)
4. Paraphrase - effectively rebuilds the paragraphs to convey the same ideas (e.g., GNT, NIRV, Message)

- Even the most rigid translations use italicized words to indicate conjunctions and references that are *not* in the Bible's original text.
- The ideal way for most people to study is with multiple bibles next to each other (e.g., parallel bible, cross-referencing software).
  - The ultimate ideal is to read ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, but it's not necessary to generally understand the ideas and most people aren't that dedicated.
  - However, by using a concordance (e.g., Strong's) and a dictionary (e.g., Vine's), you can often derive more meaning out of a specific word.

Unless a prophet's words have an obvious [symbolism](symbols.md), interpret the words in a usual, literal, historical sense:

- Statements are only symbolic if one of the following applies:
  1. An inanimate object describes a living being.
  2. Something's expression doesn't match its description.
  3. Specific historical facts or events are symbols of spiritual truth only if Scripture says it is.
  4. The story is a fictionalized parable (such as Jesus' depictions).
- If a story *is* symbolic, the characters aren't necessarily real and the entire story is intended to convey an important [universal](humanity-universals.md) pattern.
- Prophecies sometimes fulfill in installments, where each fulfillment of something else coming.
- A single prophecy can also fulfill itself to multiple ends (e.g., Revelation refers to both the Roman Empire *and* the [End of Days](jesus-returns.md)).

Proverbs have specific attributes:

- Often figurative and points beyond itself.
- Poetic guidelines, not guarantees.
- Worded to be more memorable than precise.
- Typically teaches how to live much more than about God.
- Intensely practical wisdom for specific life elements.
- Though proverbs are designed for selfless living, people can wrongly apply them to selfish behavior.

## Swap out study techniques

Some study techniques are better than others, but none of them are "perfect".

- Since we're imperfect, we'll pick up different parts of the Bible's truth each time we read it.
- The following techniques combined are the most thorough approach, but only the geekiest Christians have the time and patience for it.

A. Read a Bible book in one sitting, with at least two different translations, at least 2-4 times.

- The best way to understand the themes of the Bible is to read it from the perspective of it being a dramatized [story](stories.md), *not* as an exhaustive text that covers every unimportant detail of its subject.

B. Ask questions about the book as you read it:

- Main personalities:
  - Who was the author?
  - To whom was he writing?
  - Does the book have any other significant personalities?
  - How do they relate to one another?
- Historical setting:
  - When was the book written?
  - Who was the book's historical setting written to?
  - What is the historical background of the recipients?
  - What was happening in that part of the world at that time?
- Purpose:
  - Why was the book written?
  - If there was a problem to correct, what was it?
  - What was the writer trying to accomplish?
- Themes:
  - What is the primary emphasis of the book?
  - What are some recurring ideas?
  - What subjects does the author address?

C. Research:

- Seek reputable sources:
  - Cross-references
  - Concordance (e.g., Strong's
  - Introductions to specific Bible books
  - Bible handbook
  - Commentaries of opposing [denominations](conflicts-christian-1_why.md)
  - Bible dictionary (e.g., [Smith's](https://biblehub.com/dictionary/smith.htm))
  - Bible encyclopedia
  - Up-to-date Bible atlas
  - Online resources
- Make your own [learning style](mind-memory.md) as you study.
  - Make a book summary with an outline, chart, or diagram.
  - If you need inspiration, use an existing reference book's outline.
- Even while they're written by fallible people, Bible commentaries and theology books are an excellent way to see another perspective you may have missed, especially if the writer was from a different historical period.

D. Find patterns across the text:

- Style of writing
- Keywords in the book
- Lifestyle, culture, customs, and habits of the personalities
- The geography of the setting
- [Universal characteristics](humanity-universals.md) that still apply today
- Read the original language (Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic) to find even more patterns.
- Pay close attention to when specific details were included, and ask why.
- Note when details were omitted, and ask why.
- Observe patterns other people detect, such as [the Bible Project](https://bibleproject.com/) or pastors.

E. Apply it:

- What specific issues do I have right now and how does this passage address it?
- What should I do with this information?
- How do these passages distinguish right from wrong?
- Given these passages, what should I do and be?
- With all this in mind, where am I going, and where should I be going?

F. Explore unconventional ways to read the Bible:

- Use a digital Bible or, if you've been using Bible software, use a paper one.
- Explore new Bible translations:
  - If you're using an idea-for-idea translation (common for new believers' first Bibles, e.g., [New International Version](https://www.thenivbible.com/)), get a word-for-word translation (e.g., [World English Bible](https://worldenglish.bible/) or [Berean Standard Bible](https://berean.bible/)).
  - Consider a *very* literal translation (e.g., [Young's Literal Translation](https://archive.org/details/ylt_20220401)) or *extremely* idea-for-idea (e.g., [The Message](https://messagebible.com/)).
  - Look at a more eclectic Bible translation to gain a *completely* new viewpoint:
    - [Jesus-Centered Bible](https://www.mylifetree.com/jesus-centered-bible/)
    - [The Israel Bible](https://theisraelbible.com/)
    - [First Nations Version](https://firstnationsversion.com/)
    - [The Emoji Bible Project](https://www.emojibibleproject.com/)
    - [Hawaii Pidgin Bible](https://hipidginbible.org/)
  - Interpret the Bible as a fictionalized narrative with themes and story arcs instead of as a direct historical document.
    - God designed a [mythologizing force](stories-myths.md) into us to interpret the patterns more than the story's details, so we can discover tremendous truths if we observe the [patterns](symbols.md) He designed, which require shifting away from given facts to observe them.
    - For example, God could have created the earth in 7 calendar days or 7 million years, but He still formed everything from nothing with (likely) no source material, and He therefore is always a Creator and Maintainer of everything, and many [conflicts](conflicts-christian-1_why.md) about the length of time sidesteps the plain fact that it was God's unknown doing.
  - Read the Bible chronologically from when it was written instead of its canonized order.
  - Study what a specific word meant at the time.
  - Focus on how the Bible refutes a specific heresy.
  - Research alleged [Bible contradictions or factual errors](evangelism-apologetics.md).
  - Draw comparisons and contrasts between Christian [culture](people-culture.md) and the Bible.
  - Examine every instance of a Bible word and find associated patterns across them.

## You'll never get to the end of it

Bear in mind that no matter how deep you dig, you're expanding complexities regarding the profound [Gospel message](jesus-gospel.md) and God's guidance on [how to live our lives](spiritual-exercises.md).

- God designed the Bible to be easily accessible to unintelligent people, so Bible study is simply one discipline among [multiple](spiritual-exercises.md) ([1 Corinthians  1:26-29](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/1.htm)).