Yesterday I shared a friend of mine says how we needed to engage successfully with the Bible:
I want to focus on the last. “With ordinary means”, today. We talked briefly about this the other night. Essentially, my friend was saying that we do not need secondary sources to engage with the Bible successfully. All we need is a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and a pen. His suggestion was to write down questions that one has as they are reading. That is a great idea.
Earlier in the week one of our friends was sharing online in this series and he suggested that one write down their observations about the text as well as note any signposts that they saw as they read. The signposts to which he referred are much like the structural markers that have been discussed in this blog.
Either practice is good for at least two reasons. First, writing down your reaction to what you are reading in the text slows you down. The simple act of writing down what you think will help you clarify your understanding of what you have been reading. Second, and this is closely related to the first, writing down what you are seeing or what questions you have engages you at a different level of thinking than simply reading. Try it, you will be convinced quickly.
You will note that neither of my friends mentioned using study Bibles or commentaries. They were focused on being in the text of the Bible. After all that is what is inspired. The notes in the study Bible and the commentaries are not. I have written on the use of commentaries a lot, you can skim that content by typing “commentaries” in the “search this blog” field on the top of the column on the right or by clicking here.
- With the help of the Holy Spirit
- With humble effort
- With ordinary means
I want to focus on the last. “With ordinary means”, today. We talked briefly about this the other night. Essentially, my friend was saying that we do not need secondary sources to engage with the Bible successfully. All we need is a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and a pen. His suggestion was to write down questions that one has as they are reading. That is a great idea.
Earlier in the week one of our friends was sharing online in this series and he suggested that one write down their observations about the text as well as note any signposts that they saw as they read. The signposts to which he referred are much like the structural markers that have been discussed in this blog.
Either practice is good for at least two reasons. First, writing down your reaction to what you are reading in the text slows you down. The simple act of writing down what you think will help you clarify your understanding of what you have been reading. Second, and this is closely related to the first, writing down what you are seeing or what questions you have engages you at a different level of thinking than simply reading. Try it, you will be convinced quickly.
You will note that neither of my friends mentioned using study Bibles or commentaries. They were focused on being in the text of the Bible. After all that is what is inspired. The notes in the study Bible and the commentaries are not. I have written on the use of commentaries a lot, you can skim that content by typing “commentaries” in the “search this blog” field on the top of the column on the right or by clicking here.
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