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Video
Summary
In this lesson, we examine many practical matters related to Bible reading, such as discussing the utility in re-reading parts of the Bible we have already read, whether we can trust the accuracy of the English Bible translations available to us, how Bible teachers and the Holy Spirit interact with and enhance our Bible reading, the pros and cons of various English versions (like the KJV, NASB, NIV84, etc.), and various other miscellaneous tips and suggestions.
Content
Audio clip from Ichthys
Reading Your Bible
1. Read and Re-Read: The main point is just to get to actually reading your Bible for yourself on a regular basis. The more you read it, especially the more you read it again and again, the more good things start to happen. You find yourself becoming familiar with the contents, the themes, the tone. More and more you discover links between the ideas and teachings scattered throughout this complex and wonderful book of books; more and more of your questions are answered as you build a framework of Bible knowledge that acts to solidify and intensify any accurate Bible teaching you receive (while also providing a hedge against false doctrines and teachings). The more you read it, the more everything begins to make sense. The principles of truth you know are reinforced, illuminated and deepened. You find encouragement and insight into the person of God on every page. The more you read, really open you heart and read, the more you move closer to God in every way. Let the Word of God, sweeter than any wild honey, sink deep into your soul, into the very foundation of your mind and spirit, until the words of God become an inseparable part of all your waking thoughts.
2. Worries about Accuracy: Do not be overly concerned about the issue of the veracity and reliability of the English translation of the Bible you are reading. In the upcoming “Essential Doctrines of the Bible” outline and series, we will have occasion to discuss in some detail the text and canon of the scriptures (see also the note below on versions), but for now you may be assured that your standard Bible will be quite adequate for your purposes. To use an analogy, if we were to become concerned about our dinner and take it to a microbiology lab for exhaustive analysis, we would probably find out that while it did contain some minute impurities, these would not pose any significant threat (and surely the threat of refraining from eating at all would be far more serious!). This is the case with most widely available versions of the Bible. Certainly, before becoming teachers we would want more detailed information (knowledge of the original languages upon which the translations are based, for example). But for personal spirituality and growth, the Bible you have is good, solid food. Not partaking of it is the only serious danger, for by reading it we build our relationship with God day by day as we continue to learn about Him and His Son through the Word He has given us.
3. Help from the Holy Spirit: Just as the Bible is the Christian’s ultimate standard, so the Holy Spirit is his ultimate teacher. As believers, when we read the scriptures (our visible guide), we are assisted by the Holy Spirit (our invisible guide: 1Thes.4:9; 1Jn.2:27). So when we read the scripture, we should not approach it as a chore to be gotten through, but rather eagerly, as an opportunity to learn. We should take time to read for meaning, to stop and think, reflect and consider what we are reading, and to allow the Spirit to teach us about God from the Bible. After all, the Holy Spirit’s ministry to our lives will be most effective when He has something to work with, some spiritual capital and understanding of scripture to use as leverage in guiding and directing us. The Holy Spirit works with truth - not surprising as we are told that the Bible is the “sword of the Spirit”, the weapon with which we believers are to confront all the falsehood and evil of this world (Eph.6:17).
4. Help from Human Teachers: Just as the effectiveness of the Spirit’s ministry is increased proportional to our intake of the Word, so the process of spiritual growth can, should, and ultimately must be accelerated by another essential element in God’s plan: prepared persons with the gift of teaching. Ideally, these three elements work harmoniously together: the individual Christian reads the Bible diligently under the influence of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, while also availing himself of doctrinally accurate Bible teaching on a regular and systematic basis. In fact, if any one of these three elements is removed, spiritual growth suffers (at best). Without the Spirit’s ministry, the things of God seem to be nonsense and meaningless (1Cor.2:14); without proper teaching, the believer is necessarily limited to the more obvious and basic principles that he can glean on his own from scripture (milk, as opposed to solid food: 1Cor.3:2); without a personal program of reading the Bible for himself, the believer is both largely deprived of daily reinforcement and communion with God’s truth, and at the same time vulnerable to inaccurate or untrue teaching (Eph.4:14).
These issues are to be discussed in more depth in our upcoming Essential Doctrines of the Bible series, but for now let the principle stand that all believers should take pains to:
- Maintain fellowship with God in the Holy Spirit (confessing their sins to God whenever necessary that this fellowship be not hindered: Eph.5:18; 1Jn.1:9).
- Maintain the habit of regularly receiving scriptural Bible teaching from a source they have tested (Jas.1:19-21; Heb.10:24-25).
- Maintain the daily practice of reading and searching the scriptures for themselves (2Tim.3:16; Heb.4:12).
5. Versions and their Veracity: As mentioned above, most general versions of the Bible (that is, versions that are not produced by a specific group for the essential purpose of proving that group’s points) will serve admirably as daily companions for scripture reading. Probably the four most popular and widely available English translations of the Bible are:
The King James Version (KJV)
- Advantages: unquestioned scholarship; italics for supplied words; creatively ambiguous, reflecting ambivalent constructions in the original languages.
- Disadvantages: too far removed from contemporary English to be easily understood.
The Revised Standard Version (RSV)
- Advantages: a scholarly production; smooth, homogeneous, literary language.
- Disadvantages: the translation is a bit too vanilla and lacks impact; preference is sometimes given to liberal scholarly theories over the actual original texts.
The New American Standard Bible (NASB)
- Advantages: the best “literal” translation in modern English.
- Disadvantages: a far from seamless style; the very desire to promote literalness over meaning results in instances of obscure and misleading translation.
The New International Version (NIV 1984)
- Advantages: the best “real English” translation available; its insightful approach to translation makes this version the most powerful “read” of the Bible available. N.b.: These comments are applicable only to the 1984 edition, not to the sometimes radically different and in many ways inferior 2010+ edition now in the process of being produced.
- Disadvantages: this is also the most hazardous version to use, because its daring translations often give a misleading sense; when using this version, it is best to keep another Bible handy and double check “surprising” passages.
But why limit yourself to one? It would be helpful to read several, rather than the same version over and over. This will enable you to get a slightly different take and new insights from the different translations. My own feeling is that the NASB is perhaps the best version to read first, the NIV the best to read second.
6. Suggestions on Specific Procedures:
- Try to do at least a little bit every day. Its much better to be consistent with reading a chapter or two of the Bible day in and day out, than promise yourself to do much more (from the best of intentions), then get frustrated and lose your momentum should life interfere with your plans.
- Try to set a specific time and place. Make Bible reading a regular and inviolable part of your routine - like your morning coffee or paper or exercise. Make it a habit, preferably at a set time in the same place where possible. You probably brush your teeth every day, maybe more than once. Reading the Bible every day is at least as important as most of our daily routines (and even better for us too).
- Read several sections at once. A common stumbling block for those who set themselves to read the Bible regularly is the length and complexity of the Old Testament. Consider reading several books of the Bible at once (be sure to include something from the New Testament). A simple approach is to read two chapters a day: one from each Testament. That way you’ll get through the New Testament several times before completing the Old Testament once, but that is perfectly fine since the New Testament is the more concentrated and explicit revelation of Jesus Christ. Many Bible bookstores sell multiple string bookmarks that will easily allow you to read a number of books of your Bible at once without losing your various places.
- Read for meaning and understanding. Don’t rush through your Bible reading time. Better to read one verse and get something from it than three chapters whose contents you can barely recall afterwards just to “get through it”. Reading your Bible should be an enjoyable activity - more like leisure than work, even if it is good for you. Give yourself the chance to understand and be inspired and instructed by what you read. Try to keep a good attitude whenever you sit down to read your Bible. And don’t worry about memorization. It is always more important that you understand what you read than that you can remember it word for word (the two definitely do not go together). After all, you are reading a translation of the original texts; there are many such translations and all are worded differently, so it is clearly the idea, not the exact wording, that should be the focus of our efforts. Memorization can be useful, but if it is a choice between continuing to read or going over the same few verses until they stick, you are better off moving forward with reading.
- How you do it is not as important as that you do it. For spiritual safety and spiritual growth, there is no substitute for reading the Word of God.
Summary points
Read and re-read:
- Reading the Bible consistently does wonderful things for us, in all sorts of ways. As we build up the store of biblical truth in our hearts, we will have a much easier time keeping it constantly in our thoughts and hearts, and using to guide our path in life according to God’s Will.
Worries about Accuracy:
- Most widely available translations of the Bible are of high quality, and will not cause many problems. This doesn’t mean they are perfect, but it does mean that it is much better for us to err far, far more on the side of reading the translations (and cross-referencing others here and there if something seems “surprising”) than to turn our nose up at them (and thus all Bible reading, as a consequence) because of minor imperfections.
Help from the Holy Spirit:
- The Holy Spirit quickens our understanding of spiritual truth—not only convicting us as to what is true, but also helping us understand the truth, and apply it in our lives. This is not some academic process we engage in on our own, but is guided from first to last by the influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And in this, the Holy Spirit is able to help us more effectively the more spiritual truth we have learned and believed in our hearts; it is no exaggeration to say that the truth of the Bible is the “capital” by which the Spirit operates in our lives. If we add more truth to our “storehouse”, the Holy Spirit is better able to work within us as individuals, and also use us to accomplish God’s purposes in the world.
Help from Human Teachers:
- If the Holy Spirit is our primary helper in the process of spiritual growth, then Bible teachers are the teaching assistants. The Bible, the Holy Spirit, and gifted/qualified/prepared Bible teachers (who teach the Bible accurately and in-depth) are all three essential parts of learning and growing in the truth, with none being optional. Without the Spirit’s ministry, the things of God seem to be nonsense and meaningless (1Cor.2:14); without proper teaching, the believer is necessarily limited to the more obvious and basic principles that he can glean on his own from scripture (milk, as opposed to solid food: 1Cor.3:2); without a personal program of reading the Bible for himself, the believer is both largely deprived of daily reinforcement and communion with God’s truth, and at the same time vulnerable to inaccurate or untrue teaching (Eph.4:14).
Versions and their Veracity:
- Different versions/translations have their own pros and cons. At the time this study was initially written, Dr. Luginbill listed some pros and cons with regards to the KJV, the RSV, the NASB, and the 1984 NIV translations of the Bible into English. Nowadays, we also have the NKJV, the ESV, the NLT, the 2011 NIV, and the HCSB/CSB, among others.
- Some versions are more “literal”, and seek to preserve exact wording more. Others try to go for translating overall meaning rather than specific words. The former approach can make translations seem a bit “wooden” (since, for example, English tends to do things a bit different from ancient Greek in terms of word order and general phrasing), while the latter can lead to very misleading and straight up wrong translations if those translating somehow misunderstand the meaning of the text they are translating (since this approach sort of inherently involves a degree of interpretation “at translation time”, so to speak). Both types of translations have their pitfalls, in other words, so the best approach is typically to not limit oneself to just one translation or type of translation, but to compare widely between many options. Nowadays, computers make this very easy to do, so I highly recommend doing so.
Suggestions on Specific Procedures:
- A little bit every day (or at least very consistently): spiritual momentum is very important. Slow and steady wins the race.
- Try to set a specific time and place: habit formation largely operates on the idea of consistency.
- Read several sections at once: this helps break up monotony. It makes sense to prioritize the New Testament somewhat more highly, and to always be reading something from it in any given time. I think the same is generally true of the Psalms.
- Read for meaning and understanding: quality over quantity. In general, the goal is understanding, not memorization. For the truth to “be real” for us, we need to ensure we give it the focus and time it needs to penetrate deep into our hearts and minds.
The main takeaway point: how you do it is not as important as that you do it. For spiritual safety and spiritual growth, there is no substitute for reading the Word of God.
Follow-on topics
There are many different directions we could take things here.
One initial thing that jumps out at me is the question of if there are “right” and “wrong” ways (or maybe “better” and “worse” ways) to do one’s Bible reading. Some people like doing their Bible reading early in the morning; some late at night. Some truly do every day; some do every couple days when they can dedicate a whole afternoon to it without distractions (e.g.). Some like harnessing the new abilities that computers give us to speed up looking up verse references; some like keeping technology out of it more in order to better avoid distraction.
To re-emphasize what I consider to be the core point: while there are certainly some practical advantages and disadvantages to weigh with different approaches (and I think these are definitely worth considering), how we do it is less important overall than that we do it. I think it very easy to let the perfect become the enemy of the good here, and I think that is generally more dangerous than any potential compromise from failing to use a hypothetically slightly superior approach.
With that said, here are some considerations I think are worth talking about:
- Audio Bibles vs. reading text
- Ease in staying focused between the two mediums
- Text makes it easier to compare passages/verses, relative to audio
- But audio Bibles can be used when you are driving, when you are doing dishes, etc.
- Some parts of the Bible better lend themselves to audio (e.g., narrative passages, and the Psalms) since they are either shorter (so have less overall risk of losing some long train of logic if you have to pay attention to traffic for a bit, or whatever), or are less complicated overall = are also just inherently not as vulnerable to getting lost if you have these sorts of brief periods of inattention.
- The idea of making “playlists” of specific types of verses (rather than only ever using audio Bibles to listen to contiguous chunks). For example, you can make a playlist containing a bunch of comforting verses about God’s care for us to listen to when you get stressed out.
- Many Bible study apps let you listen to an audio Bible while reading along in the text at the same time. I like this a lot, personally.
- In my opinion, you don’t have to make an exclusive choice here, nor should you. You can use audio Bibles when reading isn’t otherwise practical, for example, and then read text Bibles the rest of the time.<!– — –>
- Computers vs. paper Bibles
- Speed in looking up Bible verse references
- Searchability of digital copies
- Using search engines (and AI chatbots too, nowadays) to do reverse lookups on Bible passages = you give the search engine/AI chatbot a paraphrase, and it gives you the passage reference. This is very useful for making sure you support messages you write with good scripture references.
- Cross-linked original language lexicons and concordances. For example, see the free online tool called the STEP Bible App.
- It is easier to get distracted using a computer/phone relative to a paper Bible. Restricting internet access can help a good bit though, if that is possible.<!– — –>
- Comparing Bible translations when some verse seems “surprising”
- The website BibleHub is very good for this. For example, you can compare all the different translations for the verse John 3:16 here.<!– — –>
- Formal Bible reading plans
- I made a spreadsheet system to track my progress, without being particularly wedded to a specific daily schedule (such that you get “out of sync” if you miss a day here or there). Personally, I like this still-organized-yet-less-rigid approach best. On the other hand, it makes it easier to end up missing days in practice, relative to a system that more formally maps reading chunks to specific dates.<!– — –>
- Study Bibles/Bible handbooks, and things like that
- Can be very helpful for getting an initial overview of things, without taking too much time to go through, or being overly interpretive in and of themselves. So I can recommend these things a lot. However, I am in general less a fan of commentaries proper, since they tend to be much more long-winded and interpretive overall.
We might very easily go on. I find this sort of “tool and process/workflow analysis” fascinating, and very much worthy of examination. In general, I think being organized is a good thing, as is befitting of this very important responsibility we have as soldiers upon the spiritual battlefield. But at the same time, we never want to make it so onerous that we forget the joy of taking in God’s Holy Truth.