Tag Archives: Bible study

Do more people prefer the KJV?

10 Replies

OK, I fell for USA Today’s headline. “Bible readers prefer King James version,” it said. And the story itself even said: “82% of those who read the Good Book at least once a month rely on the translation that first brought the Scripture to the English-speaking masses worldwide.” Now, as Peter Kirk over at Better Bibles blog pointed out, unless the USA Today is talking about the Geneva Bible, that sentence isn’t very accurate. But it’s inaccurate for another reason: the Lifeway Research study on which the article is based doesn’t say that!

Here’s how Lifeway put it:

Among those who read the Bible regularly the percentage of KJV owners is even higher. A full 82 percent of Americans who read the Bible at least once a month own a KJV.

That’s a far cry from saying that 82% prefer the KJV. Lots of people own a King James Bible; how many of them read it? How many prefer to read it? That’s not reported. Which is why the USA Today headline was totally misleading.

I’m not looking to bash the KJV. I’m merely pointing out the fallacy, which I fell into, of relying on second-hand media reports. When possible, check the original source. As I’ve said before, I’m uneasy when someone says “Paul says…” or “the Bible teaches…” unless what is reported is a direct quote from the Bible. Because you always run the risk of someone misinterpreting a passage and reporting it as the truth from the Bible. Like USA Today did with this report from Lifeway.

Photo by Ove Tøpfer; from Stock Xchange

Why study the Bible?

3 Replies

A friend who is a reader of this blog called me on Thursday after reading what I had posted. He felt that I had overlooked a basic question: “Why study the Bible?” His argument was that many conservative Christians have made a sacrament of Bible reading, feeling that they are somehow inferior Christians if they aren’t reading daily… and these Christians often try to pass that guilt on to others.

Though we differed on the direction that his question was leading, I think my friend raised a good point. At times we take Bible study and make it sound like an obligation, a duty to be grudgingly performed. We need to find a way to present it as an opportunity, a chance to continue to grow and understand the Word of God.

Years ago, as part of his work with Herald of Truth, Glenn Owen wrote a book called “The Adventure of Bible Study.” It’s an excellent little book that I have kept in my library for years. I love the whole concept of Bible study as an adventure.

I love growing to see connections between different passages. I thrill at coming to see more and more the unified flow that goes through the entire Bible. I love as the Word becomes part of me and comes to have more and more influence on who I am and what I do.

In our phone conversation, my friend and I discussed other ways in which God reveals Himself to us. I am a strong believer in God speaking to us through different media, be it nature, be it other Christians, etc. But, as I told him, I am convinced that the Bible is the most objective of those voices, the standard by which I can interpret the truth and validity of other sources of “God talk.”

Paul spoke to Timothy of the holy writings that Timothy had known from his youth. Timothy’s mother and grandmother had raised him in a context of Scripture. Paul tells Timothy that those writings, what we know as the Old Testament, were the perfect guide for the Christian, able to make him “wise unto salvation.” He also said that these holy words, breathed on by God, would equip the godly man for everything he needed to do. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

That’s how I want to know God’s Word. I want to know it so well that it not only helps me teach, but that it speaks to me for my daily life.

Why do you study the Bible?

How would you teach people to study the Bible?

8 Replies

One item that has consistently remained on my “To Do” list is the development of a Bible study guide to send out to listeners of the radio program I do (which is entitled “Read The Bible”). There are lots of guides out there, so what I have in mind is probably out there. But so far, everything I’ve seen leaves me dissatisfied.

These courses are typically offered as a guide to studying the Bible, but most of the ones I’ve seen are merely designed to present a certain doctrine. I want to develop a Bible study course that tries to teach people the basic principles of biblical interpretation.

If what I believe is based on the Bible, I shouldn’t be afraid to allow people to study and reach conclusions on their own. If it’s not based on the Bible, I have no business teaching it.

If you were putting together such a course, what would you want to see in it? What do you think people need to know as they begin to study the Bible?

Right now, I’m envisioning the following:

  • Description of basic attitudes necessary for effective study
  • Guidelines for personal devotional reading, personal Bible study and group Bible study
  • An overview of each book of the Bible
  • Some basics of biblical history and geography, along with discussion of importance of context
  • Study of biblical genres
  • Overview of biblical themes (basic theology)

As you can see, that’s already quite a lot. But I’m sure there’s plenty more that could be there. What suggestions do you have? Have you seen a basic course that covers these sorts of topics?

When original isn’t good

23 Replies

Photo by Ove Tøpfer; from Stock Xchange

I got a message on Facebook the other day, asking me to look at some Bible studies someone had prepared concerning Jesus’ return. This person told me: “I show things completely differently and in a different way than you have seen before…”

When I hear something like that, little alarms go off in my head. When it comes to Bible study, originality is not a good thing. When I reach a conclusion that I’ve never heard before, I try to find someone else who has reached that same conclusion in the past. Failing that, I show my tentative interpretation to others (sometimes here in this blog), asking them to show me where I’m wrong.

The fact is, it’s hard for me to believe that so many godly people could have studied God’s Word for years without someone arriving at the right interpretation. If I come up with a truly original interpretation, odds are that I’m truly wrong.

When it comes to Bible study, originality is not a good thing.

Condemned by the Bible

16 Replies

Photo by Ove Tøpfer; from Stock Xchange

I’ve been thinking about a common expression I hear. People say, “The Bible condemns ____.” Seems like we don’t use that verb in that sense very often, yet I hear it frequently in connection with the Bible.

What do we mean when we say that? I mean, I know what it means to condemn something. But at what point do we say that the Bible condemns something? I hear that applied to things that the Bible speaks negatively about, even when the Bible doesn’t say those things are actually sinful.

The problem I see is that we confuse the different meanings of condemn. We hear it said that the Bible condemns a certain something and somehow begin to connect it with salvation. Saying “The Bible condemns…” seems to add unnecessary weight to any given argument.

It seems to me, in my rarely humble opinion, that it would do us well to avoid this phrase. What do you think?