As part of this series about Bible study, we have looked at what our assumptions and attitudes should be with regard to the Word of God; we have looked at (briefly) the topic of hermeneutics, or interpretation of Biblical texts; and last time we looked a little at Bible translations and which one would be recommended for Bible study. In this post I would like to address some other tools I think one needs to have on-hand for any type of serious Bible study.
D.L. Moody was reported to have said, “I never saw a useful Christian who was not a student of the Bible.” Of course, that word “student” probably sends chills down the spine of most people. I am out of school, and I don’t want to study. Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, asked a group of businessmen once, “If you didn’t know any more about your business or profession that you know about Christianity after the same number of years of exposure, what would happen?” One guy blurted out, “They’d ship me out.” Most Christians that I have seen would prefer to read the Bible as quickly as they can so that they can read it all in a year. This is not bad, and does provide an overview of the Biblical themes and the big picture that is often missed in detailed study. I certainly recommend this. However, for in-depth study of a book, for instance, it is not how quickly one reads but how much of the meaning one grasps. This requires time, hard work, concentration, an inquiring mind, diligence, and dedication. All of this is not beyond the capability of most anyone. Bible study that goes beyond the superficial surface reading also requires some tools that will enhance and facilitate your study.
I will discuss software tools for Bible study in the next installment, because I use several pieces of software that are excellent. Some are free, some are inexpensive, and others are a long-term investment, but well worth the cost.
However, in this post, let’s talk about some basic tools that every beginner (and veteran, for that matter) needs for serious Bible study. These are not necessarily in any particular order.
Concordance – The Bible, like any other book, is composed of words. Words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs communicate ideas and thoughts and meaning to us. A concordance is useful to explore the various uses of particular words throughout the Bible. By looking at the various uses of a particular word in the Bible, one can reflect on these various uses and possibly shed some light on the word in the particular passage one is studying. Some Bibles have smaller concordances in the back of the book, but for a detailed analysis, one should look at investing in an exhaustive concordance. The use of words is key to Bible study, and a concordance is indispensible. One like the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is a good choice. It is relatively inexpensive at $13.00 from www.christianbook.com online.
Bible handbook/Bible dictionary – Just as dictionary is critical for researching words, a Bible dictionary is critical for Bible study. A good Bible dictionary is a treasure of articles, maps, photos, and illustrations of all sorts of valuable information on cultural backgrounds, outlines of Bible books, particular contexts in which books were written, themes, special challenges posed by the various books of the Bible, information on geography, archaeology, etc. A great choice is the New Bible Dictionary.
Another good resource is Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. This book allows you to easily access the alphabetized English equivalents of the Greek or Hebrew words from which they are translated. Throughout the text the most significant biblical words are illustrated by Scripture passages, comments, cross-references, ancient and modern meanings, precise etymologies, historical notes, and clearly defined technical information. Each original language is indexed, and the addition of a topical index allows you to access all the dictionary entries pertinent to specific New Testament ideas and teachings. You can explore the meanings of words and get a much deeper and better understanding of how they are used.
Both of these will run you about $50 together.
Bible Atlas – Christianity is based on real events in a part of the world probably unfamiliar to most people. Geography, topography, and weather play a great part in much of the Bible’s narrative accounts. A Bible Atlas is very useful to get an idea of why the Sermon on the Mount was also called the Sermon on the Plain. The routes of Paul’s travels can be mapped out and many things can be discovered. The Old Testament is filled with instances where an understanding of the land will often help tremendously in understanding what the text says. One like the Holman Bible Atlas is a great tool. This will run you about $20 online.
We will get to commentaries later, but first we want to study the Bible for ourselves, without depending on someone else’s walk with God. We want the Spirit to illuminate the Word of God to us through diligent study and prayer.
The above four resources will run about $90 altogether. This may be a drop in the bucket for one, but take a month or two to acquire for others. However, I highly suggest that the Bible student set aside some money to acquire these resources. A cup of coffee at Starbucks costs about $5. Those resources are only a few weeks of coffee at Starbucks, but will serve the Christian for a lifetime. As Nike says, Just Do It!!
Next time, a brief discussion on software, what is out there, what the capabilities are, and what the costs and benefits are. After that, we will jump right in to exactly how I study the Bible and why I find this approach very rewarding.
