After 40+ years of teaching the Bible at all levels–(in church, online, at colleges, seminaries, and in doctoral programs, at home and abroad, via Zoom, Stream Yard, and various other vehicles– You Tube, Intensives, Lectureships in the U.S. and Abroad), it is time something should be said by way of advice, especially since Artificial Intelligence has made its presence known, and the temptation to let AI do your work for you, write your papers, etc. is great.
Firstly, there is nothing better than having in person contact, face to face, with your teacher or teachers. Why? Because it’s not just about a transfer of data, knowledge, or even wisdom, though that is involved. It also about spiritual formation of the learners, listeners, students. Frankly, proper spiritual formation cannot happen without real personal interchange between the teacher and the learner. Nor can the teacher evaluate the spiritual growth and maturation of a student, if they never meet in person, never have deep conversations with one another, and if the teacher is never expected to provide a model of how to not merely grow in knowledge, but also grow in Christ. We are exhorted in Scripture to be imitators of Christ, but notice that Paul in 1 Corinthians is also prepared to urge his converts– ‘be imitators of me, as I am of Christ’ (1 Cor. 11.1). Imitation was essential in ancient education, and it should be today as well, but not in the superficial sense of literally imitating how the teacher speaks, how he pronounces words, his mannerism in class, etc. No it has far more to do with paying attention to how he or she studies the Bible and how he or she follows Christ.
For those not, or not yet able to study the Bible in its original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek),picking an accurate, readable translation in one’s native language is crucial. I still cannot commend any translation more highly than the NIV, which has been and is constantly being revised and improved since the 1970s. But one has to remember that every translation is also already an interpretation, and no translation into any non-Biblical language is perfect. Bible translators make mistakes, which is why it is always better to go with a good team translation, rather than an translation done by an individual, since no one person is an expert in every Bible verse in the original languages.
In the debate about literal vs. idiomatic, vs. periphrastic, idiomatic is the best option, especially for beginning students of the Bible? Why? Because what is all important is not just what the text says, but what the text means in one’s receiver language. There is nothing wrong with having several Bible translations, say one that is more literal (NASB, NET), one that is more of a periphrase (Eugene Peterson’s I can commend) and one more Idiomatic, (the NIV- translating sense unit by sense unit, since meaning is created through combinations of words and phrases).
Too often fledgling Biblical students assume that words have meaning in isolation, and even worse that ‘in the beginning was the dictionary’. Wrong. Dictionaries come from the close study of how words are used in various different contexts. To give but one meager example– take the word row. This could be a verb telling someone to paddle a boat. It could also be a noun, referring to a row of seats in a stadium. In some English contexts it could also refer to a loud argument and a fight. Words do not really having meaning in isolation from contexts, or if they do, they are exceptional and not normal everyday words, for example like the made up names for various drugs, which make no sense at all, unless in a conversation about what medicine to take. Imagine having to use the word ‘imodium’ in a non-medicinal context. You really can’t.
In the old debate between inductive and deductive study of the Bible, this should not be an either-or matter. Frankly, all too often Bible studies at churches appear on the surface to be inductive, so everyone can contribute to the study, but without a good facilitator who has done their own deductive in depth study of the Bible alas, it will be an exercise in pooling ignorance. There is a difference between personal opinions and the actually meaning or meanings of a text of Scripture. And there are certain things texts absolutely cannot mean.
A literal reading of a highly metaphorical text is a violation of the way meaning is conveyed in that type of literature, say for instance in a parable, or an apocalyptic prophecy full of symbolic language and analogies (it was like, it was like, it was like…..). And furthermore one needs to know not only the different types of literature in the Bible and how they convey meaning (historical narrative, poetry, wisdom literature, laws etc.), but one needs to know WHAT ARE THE SUBJECTS THE BIBLE INTENDS TO TEACH US ABOUT.
The Bible touches on many, many different subjects, but the Bible does not teach geometry (n.b. there were no arabic numbers in Biblical times— letters of the alphabet served as numbers– e.g. in Latin I, V, C, D, M are both letters and numbers). The Bible does not teach us cosmology, or anthropology. (the heart is simply a blood pump, but various ANE cultures saw it as the center of thought, feelings, will– in short as the control center of the personality– ‘cleanse the thoughts of my heart’. We now know this is at best metaphorical language, for it is the brain where all that activity takes place).
What then are the actual subjects the Bible intends to teach us about? There are basically only four— 1) salvation history (not just any kind of history but rather the history of God’s dealings with and relating to humankind); 2) theology; 3) ethics (see 2 Tim. 3.16– for training in righteousness), and 4) spiritual formation, teaching us how to love God, neighbor, fellow believers, and even enemies by means of God’s grace. Bible studies will undoubtedly deal with all sorts of fascinating subjects that the Bible raises question about. But it is important for the Bible teacher to make the main subjects of the Bible the main focus of the Bible study.
Remember my mantra: A text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want it to mean. But guess what? God has already encoded a meaning into these inspired texts hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and it is your job to find out what it is. While Biblical texts can have different applications and implications for different people, they do not have different meanings for each individual. For all the talk about ‘what the text means for or to me’ one has to keep in mind that the text already had meaning, before you ever encountered it, and it is not your job to find something you think is meaningful for you in the text. It is your job to submit to the inspired meaning of the text, and to be shaped by God’s Word.
Enough said for now. Make it your New Year’s Resolution to be a better student of the Bible in 2026.
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