Topic 7 of 33 - Your Place in the Learning Journey
Why Should It Be Understood?
Understanding the Bible more deeply will give your faith a foundation that goes beyond feeling - something you can think about, reason through, and hold onto when feelings are absent. It will help you read a passage in its context rather than in isolation. This can change its meaning dramatically. It will better help you recognize when the Bible is being misused to support conclusions not supported by the text.
For the Christian in particular, understanding the Bible is not optional. It is the primary written record of what God has done, what God has said, and who Jesus Christ is. To love God with all your mind - as Jesus commands in Mark 12:30 - requires engaging that record seriously. These guides are one way to do that.
You do not have to be a scholar. You do not have to know Hebrew or Greek. You just have to be willing to look more carefully at something you probably already believe is important. The topics ahead are designed to help you do exactly that.
What Deeper Understanding Gives You
| When You Understand the Bible More Deeply | What It Gives You |
|---|---|
| You read a passage in context | You understand what it actually says, not just what it sounds like in isolation |
| You know the background of a book or letter | You understand why it was written and who it was written for |
| You understand the difference between genres | You read poetry as poetry, history as history, and apocalyptic as apocalyptic |
| You know where a text fits in the larger story | You can trace how God's purposes unfold across both Testaments |
| You recognize misuse of Scripture | You can identify when a text is being applied in ways it was never intended |
| You engage the Bible with your mind as well as your heart | Your faith is grounded in something that holds when emotions do not |
Explore Further
Faith and Knowledge
Some Christians worry that too much study crowds out faith. This page explores the relationship between knowledge and belief, and why the two are not opposites.
Read more →Love God With Your Mind
Jesus names the mind as one of the faculties with which we are to love God. What does that command mean in practice, and what does it ask of the ordinary believer?
Read more →Why Context Matters
A verse taken out of context can mean something very different from what its author intended. Examples of common misreadings and what happens when you read them in context.
Read more →Recognizing Misuse of Scripture
The Bible has been used to justify slavery, oppression, and exclusion. How does Bible knowledge help us identify and resist such misuse?
Read more →The Ordinary Believer and the Bible
You do not have to be a pastor or a theologian to engage the Bible seriously. What does meaningful Bible engagement look like for someone with no formal training?
Read more →The Bible and a Thinking Faith
Christianity has never been anti-intellectual. A brief look at the long tradition of Christians who took both their faith and their intellect seriously.
Read more →