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"Let us remember therefore this lesson: That to worship our God sincerely we must evermore begin by hearkening to His voice, and by giving ear to what He commands us." -John Calvin |
The Difference between Studying and Reading
What is "Hermeneutics?"
The term "hermeneutics" finds its roots in Greek mythology. Hermes was the messenger of the gods. He would take the messages from god to god, or from god to man. His task involved listening to and understanding what the message was, then communicating it to the recipient. In time, those who interpreted messages were known as hermeneuts. So hermeneutics is simply the science of interpretation.
Why Study?
The high level of biblical illiteracy
A recent Barna survey asked people to rate themselves in various aspects of their faith. The category where most people ranked themselves the lowest was in "Bible Knowledge." R.C. Sproul recounts an experience that he had in seminary:
I was shocked when I took a test in biblical knowledge for entrance to the theological seminary from which I graduated. After I completed my exam, I was deeply embarrassed, ashamed to hand in my paper. I had taken several courses in college that I though would prepare me for such a test, but when it came I was not ready. I left question after question blank and was certain I had failed. When the grades were posted, I discovered that I had received one of the highest grades in a group of 75 students. Even with the grades scaled there were several students who scored less than 10 out of a possible grade of 100. My score was poor, yet it was one of the best of the bad.1
I have found the same in my own experience. I ran across an exam for pastors and elders. It was a self- administered exam. I decided to take it to see how I would do. I was rather embarrassed by the results. I have not yet gone through and graded it, but I got the same feeling as Sproul. I left many questions blank, and my overall feeling was one of failure.
The worthiness of the Bible 2
Thinking back to your high school English Lit courses, what were some of the works that you studied? Why were those books chosen? Why didn't your teacher pick other books? If Earnest Hemingway was worthy to be read and studied, how much more is the Bible?
The Uniqueness of the Bible: It was written by 40 different authors over 40 generations. It was written on three different continents and in three languages. It was written in times of war and times of peace; at the heights of joy and the depths of despair. It contains hundreds of controversial subjects, yet there is complete harmony from Genesis to Revelation.
No book in history has been translated into more languages than the Bible. The entire Bible has been translated into 340 different languages, with one or more books of it having been translated into an additional 1614 different languages and dialects (my source is from 1991). The Bible is the best selling book of all time with an estimated 6 billion printings as of 1992. No other book even comes close to this. H.L. Hastings said:
Infidels for eighteen hundred years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before. When the French monarch proposed the persecution of the Christians in his dominion, an old statesman and warrior said to him, "Sire, the Church of God is an anvil that has worn out many hammers." So the hammers of the infidels have been hammering away at this book for ages, but the hammers are worn out and the anvil still endures. If the book had not been the book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and Popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers have all tried their hand at it; they die and the book still lives.3
Bible study is essential to growth (1 Peter 2:2)
1 Peter 2:2 says, "like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." One of the cruel things that I have done with each of my children, early in their life, is to brush their cheeks with my fingers and watch them root. There is a strong desire for milk. They instinctively look for it. But in case one thinks that spiritual immaturity is ok, the author of Hebrews has a stern rebuke for such a one in Heb 5:11-14. Ephesians 5:18, 19 says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." The parallel passage is found in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
In Ephesians 5:25-26 Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word." It is through the preaching of the Word that we are saved, and it is through continued exposure to the Word that we are sanctified.
Bible study is essential to spiritual effectiveness (2 Tim 3:16-17)
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." If we desire to be effective in our service to God, then we must be in the Word.
The Bible says to (2 Tim 2:15; 1 Peter 3:15)
2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."
1 Peter 3:15 says, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." We cannot really give an answer to people if we are not familiar with scripture. Our exposure to scripture is the only reason we even have a hope within us to defend.
Finally, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
There is a difference between reading and studying
How many people have read Shakespeare? How many people would say that you are a student of Shakespeare? One can read without necessarily studying. Reading is great, and I highly recommend it. In fact I think that a great many problems in the church would be resolved if more people would simply read the Bible. However, while we are to read, we need to do even more. We are also to study. This requires more effort. It requires diligence. A.W. Pink wrote, "Our age is marked by industrial loafing and mental slackness." If it was true in his day, how much more is it true today? In fact, one of the signs of the times is found in the title of a book by Os Guinness called Fit Bodies, Fat Minds. Since scripture calls us to more, since it calls us to love the Lord with all of our mind, since it calls us to be diligent in our study, I pray that as good Christians we will heed these commands and commit ourselves to the task of studying scripture.
On the flip side of this, many people study without ever reading their Bible. I do not think that genuine study can happen this way, but there is a kind of pseudo-study that occurs this way. There is nothing wrong with it, it is just incomplete. We study in this way by reading books other than the Bible. We read books on marriage. We read books on evangelism. We read books on the cross. We read books on every conceivable topic that is found in the pages of scripture. All of this is good, but it is often done in the place of reading the Bible. We are so busy reading the other books that we seldom crack open the cover of our Bible unless it is to look up a reference that one of these other books mentions. This is not to take away from the value of these other books (cf. Eph. 4) but it is to highlight the fact that these other books can never take the place of scripture. These other books should not be studied to the neglect of scripture.
Homework
Read "Study the Bible like Noted Scholars"