How To Read And Study The Bible

How To Read And Study The Bible HOW TO READ AND STUDY THE BIBLE
DON H. MORRIS THE SUBJECT that has been assigned me for this morning’s discussion is “How to Read and Study the Bible.” Shall I call your attention to its importance except to quote “The entrance of thy word giveth life.”—Psalms 119:130; and “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”— Psalms 119:105; and except to say that the turning through of a Bible, and even the perusing of its contents, is not necessarily study, and that the mere calling of words of the Old or New Testament—even with the proper enunciation and pronunciation is not reading the Bible. This is a much neglected subject. I checked the questions asked the editors of one of our leading religious papers over a period of forty years, and not one of these questions—though they had all to do with religious matters—mention the study or public reading of the Bible. There were questions on Christmas trees, degrees in Heaven, and the teaching of the Bible in classes; but the matter of the study of the Bible and its natural corollary, the public reading of it, was either overlooked by these people who asked questions or taken for granted. It is quite possible that the right kind of Bible study, together with a better interpretation of the scriptures by those who read from them to audiences, would have helped to answer many of the questions that were asked.

There has been some, but not much more interest in this important subject in the last few years. I find as an encouraging exception to this rule the suggestions made by Brother G. Dallas Smith and some others on the study of the scriptures. The public reading of the Bible is, or should be, an important part of the church service. May I begin by mentioning a few common mistakes made in the reading of the scriptures:
(1) There is the man who puts his head in the book and never looks up to help himself give the audience the feeling or truth of the passage he is reading. There is the man who does not read loud enough, who puts no life or too much into his reading; the one who reads too fast or the one who reads too slow. Sometimes we forget that reading and speaking are common sense matters and that our methods can very often be decided by the use of a little judgment. This principle certainly needs to be applied to the reading of the Bible.
(2) Another mistake commonly made in the reading of the Bible is that where the reader does not correctly emphasize his words. He reads that “a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of Jesus” or that “a certain man had two sons,” or that (a more common mistake) ‘‘but for Adam there was not a help meet for him” (Genesis 2:20.), instead of “but for Adam there was not a help meet (suitable) for him.”
(3) Then there is the reader who reads in ministerial times or tones, reciting the scriptures in a kind of regular rhythm or in a jerky way with emphasis at regular intervals in the sentence whether the meaning demands such or not. What a travesy it is and how far from the real meaning of the scripture to read “And Paul—stood in the midst—of the Areopagus—and said ‘Ye men of Athens,—I perceive—that in all things—ye are very religious.’ ” Some readers have the habit of jerking out, in a kind of whip-cracker fashion, the last or next to the last word in every sentence. This is wrong from the standpoint of both emphasis and phrasing.
(4) Perhaps the biggest mistake and yet one of the most common made by public readers of the Bible is the one where the reader talks in an affected stilted style, in a sonorous tone that sounds important; or where the reader over-enunciates every word that he calls. Many a good speaker or reader turns the record over when he mounts the stand and reads to his congregation in a manner entirely different from the one he would use in any other place. Why should there be any difference between reading “Jesus wept” or “Thou art the man” in the church house and somewhere else, if the meaning to be given is the same? In reading the Bible the same rules of expression should be followed as in reading anything else of the same feeling and sense. The elements or factors of interpretation, as pause, touch, change of pitch, inflection, movement, and tone color, that are found listed in most any book on the fundamentals of speech must be used in the reading of the Bible. The Bible itself is not entirely silent on this subject. Thirty-three times in the New Testament the word “read” is found, and in practically every time it refers to the reading of the scriptures or to the knowledge that comes as a result of such reading. Perhaps the best Biblical example that can be found of the proper reading of the scripture is in Nehemiah 8:8—a verse that everyone who reads the Bible in public or who quotes from it should know. The verse is: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and they gave the sense so that they understood the reading.” Do you not see there the element of true interpretation? “They read dis-tinctly—they gave the sense so that they understood the reading.” May I offer some simple rules for the correct reading of the Bible in public:
First, you should approach the reading in as simple a manner as possible. You are not looking for a hard task or an opportunity for show, but you are about to read a message to a group of men.
Second, learn the meaning of the passage, the meaning of its words, it sentences and its background.
Third, watch for common mistakes in pronunciation—not that pronunciation in itself is such an important thing, but
that mistakes in pronunciation take the attention .of the audience away from what you are reading. Standards in pronunciation must be adhered to just as rules in grammar on construction must be followed and as correct spelling must be used. Avoid saying saith (sayeth) for saith (seth), wont (want) for wont (wunt), and again (again) for again (agen). Certainly you should be consistent in pronunciation.
Fourth, enunciate clearly and distinctly. The running of words together and the skipping of sounds and syllables1 in words are a detriment to the conveying of any message. All good readers and speakers speak distinctly and clearly.
Fifth, forget that you are a speaker, a public reader or a preacher, and simply read the passage that you have selected.
Sixth, give the message of the passage. If it is a narrative, tell the story; if it is a beautiful description, put that in your reading and in your tone color; if it is a statement of fact, simply say the thing; or if it is an expression of a truth or the feeling of God for man, say your words in such a way as to give this meaning to the audience. May I illustrate: if you are asked to read a letter written by a mother to her blind son, how would you read the letter? Would the idea be to say your words in such a way as to impress the boy of your ability as a reader? Would it be to show him the importance of the occasion, or would the purpose simply be to convey to this boy the contents of the letter?

There is a story of a boy who ran away from home and landed in a western mining camp. His father had rebuked him severely many times, but upon hearing that a friend was to go to the western town, he said, “if you see my boy, tell him that I still love him.” The friend found the young man in a gambling den and said, “I have a message from your father.” How do you think he delivered that message? If he delivered it in the right way, he said, “Your daddy said to tell you that he still loves you.” And it should have been in much the same way that we quote today “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”

Let us remember that the reading of the Bible is not just a form, that it is not just for the introductory part of the sermon; but that the reading of all passages and all quotations in. or out of the sermon should be done as found in Nehemiah— “and they read in the book in the law of distinctly, and they gave the sense so that they understood the reading.”

Then how to study the Bible: I know of no better way to introduce this part of the subject than to quote Acts 17:11, “These were more noblq. than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so.” This is the more basic and more fundamental part of the subject I am discussing, because if there is the proper study and the •right kind of understanding of the Bible, the reading of its passages will to some extent take care of itself. Somebody has said that everybody expresses himself. I doubt if that is entirely true, but I do know that much of the poor reading of the Scriptures is a result of a lack of understanding of them.

During this series of lectures on the Bible, delivered as they are on the Four-hundredth Anniversary of the first printing of the English Bible, there has been a great deal said about adhering to the pure Gospel. There are some people in the world who might criticize us for emphasizing such a principle, but may I say that the emphasis on the Gospel and the Truth is not a new doctrine. You can begin in the New Testament with the book of Romans, and in the first chapter of every epistle and every book through the remaining part of the New Testament there is a reference to the Gospel or the Truth, with the teaching stressed that Christians should follow it and it alone. Certainly, then, we should not only teach that where the Bible is silent we will be silent, and where the Bible speaks we will speak; but we—all Christians —should give time to the study of this Gospel, and careful consideration to the methods to be followed in such study.

Let it be known that, while many men work a full lifetime with the Bible and still know little about it, this book can be learned. Much of the failure to understand its contents comes from lack of effort on the part of the student, but from the use of poor methods in study.

There are two ways to study the Bible:
First, it may be studied according to subjects, topics, persons, characters, and so on, as one would take up the study of faith or a study of the names of the church, or the life of Abraham, or the sin of neglect.
Another way to study the Bible is to read it by passages or by letters or books, as the student might study the book of Hebrews or the letters to the seven churches of Asia. Both of these methods should be followed, because each is the complement of the other, and neither should be neglected. For example, one can not thoroughly study the sin of division without reading the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, and in the same way he can not study the Corinthian letter without g^ing rather fully into the sin of division. Certainly both of these methods must be used and followed by the close student of God’s Word. In the use of either of these two methods there are certain rules or principles that should be followed. These rules should be remembered in the study of any passage and, if followed diligently. I believe will help the student of the Bible to know more thoroughly the eternal truths contained in the Book.

First: One should study the Bible as he studies any piece of literature. He should ask, “What do these words, these sentences, these paragraphs mean? What does1 this passage of Scripture say? And may I add that the easiest; simplest interpretation of a verse or passage is always the safest and the best unless there is a special reason for making another inter-pretation. The second general principle that I would lay down for the study of the Bible is that the reader must know under what conditions, by whom, and to whom the passage was written or spoken. Was this passage written to the Christians at Corinth, or was it written or spoken to the Jews as they came out of the slavery of Egypt? The student must ask, “What law is this a part of?” In deciding the import of a civil law, we want to know whether it was passed by the Texas Legislature, the Congress of the United States, or under the Articles of Confederation. Why not use the same judgment and diligence in the study of the Bible? Not long ago in Abilene, during a heated discussion over a vital issue, the preacher of one of the best known churches quoted in support of his proposition, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” A lawyer who spoke next at the meeting calmly reminded the audience that the old law was nailed to the cross, and of course there was very little that the preacher could say.
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Another important principle, especially in the study of the Bible, is that one should take into consideration all the evidence written on the subject. We all know that John 6:47, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life,” does not give us all the information we need on the subject of faith, or belief, but sometimes we fail tq-follow this simple rule in the study of even more ambiguous passages. After all, the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, and one can not afford to reach a conclusion on a subject until he has exhausted the material included in the Book on the subject. A fourth principle in the study of the Bible is that it should be studied continually, repeatedly. Learning a great truth and certainly learning all of the great truths in this book is not exactly like memorizing your ABC’s, although even that requires some repetition. One must read the Bible carefully, patiently, reverently, and prayerfully. And may I say that one of the temptations of the church member in the modern world is to study the Scriptures only when he has a lesson for Bible School or a sermon to preach. The truth uttered in Deuteronomy 11:19, “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou ariseth up,” is still applicable, and applicable to adults as well as to children.

Fifth: The great principle to follow in the study of the Bible is to go to its pages to find the truth, regardless of what the student believes or has been taught. This principle can not be over-emphasized and needs to be followed as long as one has sight to read and mind to study the Book of Books. Possibly all of you have heard the Scriptures wrested from their meaning, even sometimes in the defense of truth. One great teacher said to a class of young boys who questioned the orthodoxy of his teaching, “My young friends, what is more orthodox than truth?” This is the one principle the following of which will do away with creeds and. dogmas, and upon which the restoration of New Testament Christianity depends.

Sixth: The sixth and last principle that I would ask you to follow in the study of the Book of Books is that you should go to it to find God’s will with the purpose of obeying it. We must remember that this is no dead pile of words or unmeaning phrases. The Bible is not just a theory or system to be studied, understood and preached. It is the word—and we must remember this is our study—it is the word of Him who reigns above, the message of the Prince of the kings of all the earth, and is to be believed, lived and practiced.

There are of course some necessary aids to the proper study of the Bible. First of all, the speaker must have an understanding of the English language, or of the language in which the book happens to be written, and its laws of expression. Since no one ever masters the language completely he should have at his command an up-to-date English dictionary, and should refer to it at any time the meaning or various meanings of a word in the Scriptures is not entirely clear. At this point, of course, a knowledge of the original tongues in which the Bible was written will me of great help. Second, the student must have two or more good translations, certainly the American Revised and the King James, for his use. Third, he needs for his study a good concordance, a standard Bible dictionary, and such recognized commentaries as are available. But whatever helps and aids the student may have, he must always remember that they are helps, that he is studying the Bible, and that it is to this Book that he must go for the final word in the expression of God’s will. The one who diligently studies the Bible will find that his faith will be strengthened, because “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” He will find that his joy will be increased and that his spiritual life will be nourished, because “we grow thereby unto salvation.” The one who reads the Bible in public—who transmits its holy contents to those who hear—has the asssurance that he is giving these same blessings to others, because the book contains the will of God. the truth of the ages, and the hope and salvation of man.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so.”

“They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and they gave the sense so that they understood the reading.”