How To Study The Bible
How To Study The Bible
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE.
BY G. DALLAS SMITH The importance of Bible study was discussed and emphasized in Lecture IV. It was suggested that we should study it as a means of knowing God the Father, Jesus Christ his son, and the great plan of salvation. Further, that we should study it because of the fruit it has borne and is bearing, and because we are to be judged by it in the last great day. We may add, furthermore, that the Bible should be studied because it is the medium of all spiritual light. David says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalms 119:105). And again he says, "The entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." (Psalms 119:130). As far as we know, or have reason to believe, there is never one ray of divine light blesses this old world except that which comes through God's word. And he who is ignorant of the Bible is in the darkness even until now, regardless of his attainments otherwise. Again, we should study the Bible because it is the basis of all divine faith. Paul declares that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17). And Peter says, "Ye know how that a good while ago the Lord made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe." (Acts 15:7). It is just as impossible to have faith or to believe without a knowledge of God's word as it is to raise a crop without planting the seed. It takes the seed to produce the crop, and it required a knowledge of God's word to produce faith. The Bible is not only the medium of all spiritual light and the basis of all divine faith, but it is also the ground of all genuine hope. Paul says we are saved by hope (Romans 8:24), and that it is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." (Hebrews 6:19). But this sure and steadfast hope comes only through the study of God's word. So, of course, the study of the Bible is of first and supreme importance.
Then the question, too, of how to study the Bible is paramount. We cannot place too much stress on this question since our eternal destiny depends on our knowing the scriptures. I confidently believe that much of the little time that is given to Bible study is wasted for the lack of a systematic plan of study. An old brother who had been an elder in the church for many years, and a teacher of the advanced class on Sunday mornings for twenty-five years, told me a few years ago, that after studying the Bible all his life he was still fearfully ignorant of it —that he did not know anything about it, to use his own words. Now what was the trouble with this old brother? The Bible can, in a large measure, be learned; and this old brother was capable of learning; but still, with a lifetime study, he knew almost nothing about it. Evidently this old brother's trouble lay in his method of study, or rather in his lack of a method. So I repeat, the question of how to study the Bible is of paramount importance.
Perhaps the most common way of reading the Bible among the masses is to allow it to fall open at random and read, without anything definite in view'. This common way of reading the Bible is without plan, method or system, and is but little better than no Bible reading. One may open the Bible today at the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, and tomorrow, or the next time it falls open, at the story of Joseph of Arimathea, a rich disciple; and the reader, knowing but little about the Bible and its characters, may get the two Josephs mixed. Or he may open the Bible today and read about Saul seeking the life of David, and the next time he opens his Bible he may chance to read where Saul was "yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples." (Acts 9:1). In this way he may get the two Sauls mixed. Again, he might open today and read about the "kingdom" in the Old Testament, and the next time it may chance to open in the New Testament and he may read, "Repent ye; for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), and so he may get the two kingdoms mixed. Yes, these are extreme cases, and may but crudely illustrate the point, but they do suggest the importance of a more systematic plan of Bible study. If in our literary schools the pupils should be allowed to deal with their textbooks in this hap-hazard, unsystematic manner, it is doubtful if they would ever be able to turn out any graduates. And so it is doubtful if anyone will ever be able to know the Bible, even in a very limited sense, by reading and studying in this hap-hazard, unsystematic way.
Others think the only way to read the Bible profitably is to read book by book —from "lid to lid," in order. And while this is admittedly much better than allowing the Bible to open at random, still this is not entirely satisfactory, and will not produce the best results. The arrangement of the books of the Bible, as they appear in our Bible today, does not give the story of the Bible in connected order. For instance, in reading from Genesis to Revelation —from "lid to lid," one reads the account of the return of the Israelites from Babylon, as told by Ezra and Nehemiah, before he reads the very interesting story of their sojourn in Babylon, as told by Ezekiel and Daniel. This is not the fault of inspiration, of course; but a blunder of uninspired men who compiled the Bible. Why they thus arranged the books I do not know; but I do know that it is always best to study events in the order of their occurrence —at least until the story is well fixed in the mind. After this it does not matter so much.
Many others are contented to follow, year after year, the International Sunday School Lessons, limiting their Bible study almost altogether to this. The International Lesson plan, to my mind, far from being perfect; in fact, it is distressingly defective. I seriously doubt if one would ever be able to get a clear and general grasp of the Bible as a whole by following the International Sunday School Lessons. It is largely a skip, hop and jump plan. Frequently there is but little or no connection between the lessons which follow in rapid succession. And this makes it practically impossible to ever get an intelligent hold' on the word of God. Understand me. I am not criticising those who prepare the comments on the lessons. It is the unsystematic plan we are, by common consent, forced to follow, that I am criticising. I do not believe this plan will produce satisfactory results, it matters not who prepares the lesson helps. But I do not want to be misunderstood; a Bible class in which these lesson helps are used is a thousand times better than -no Bible class. To my mind the analytical method of Bible study is the method of all. One needs, in the very first place, to see the Bible as a whole. He needs to see it in all its parts, its divisions and its subdivisions —to get a bird's-eye view of it, if you please. Until one is able to thus see the Bible in its general outlines, he is unprepared to properly appreciate the study of the individual text. Some years ago over in Memphis, Tennessee, I was permitted to stand and gaze with pleasure and admiration on a very famous painting. It was a picture of the "Village Blacksmith," and was possibly some twenty feet square. The painting had recently sold for $42,000.00, and was then being displayed by one of the great department stores as a means of advertising their business. I saw this picture as a whole —saw it in all its parts, its divisions and subdivisions, so to speak. I saw the shop, the anvil, the hammer, and the stalwart form of the smith himself. I saw wagon wheels, plows, hoes and rakes. I saw the glow of the fire as it was fanned by the bellows, lighting up the whole shop. And I saw the clear eye and the brawny arm of the smith as he stood at his anvil, a representative of honest toil. I got a bird's-eye view of the whole picture; and although I am neither an artist nor the son of an artist, and was not accustomed to studying fine paintings, still I was able to enjoy that picture immensely. But had I undertaken to study that painting, a square inch at a time, without ever seeing it as a whole —studying a square inch here and there, moving from place to place, and from side to side, without any practical plan, I am sure I never would have formed any conception as to how it looked. I might spend years on that painting, studying a square inch at a time, jumping from place to place —-from side to side, without ever seeing the whole picture, and I am sure I could not give an intelligent description of it. I must first see the picture as a whole; then descend to its parts, and finally come to the square inch plan. So, in the study of the Bible, one must first see it as a whole —see it in all its divisions and subdivisions; he must first get a general grasp of the whole book; then descend to its divisions and subdivisions, and finally come to the individual text. This analytical method will surely produce results if faithfully followed, and it makes the study of the Bible both pleasant and interesting. But regardless of the plan or the method of study, there are a few rules that are indispensable to profitable Bible study. These rules should always be kept in mind. First, we should remember that, while the Bible is all inspired; while it is all the word of God, yet it is not all applicable to us. This does not license one to go through the Bible and weed out, so to speak, the things he dislikes and declare these are not applicable to him. But it is an important fact, which all should understand, that everything in the Bible does not apply to us. There is an old song which says:
"No book is like the Bible for childhood, youth and age;
Our duty plain and simple we find on every page."
It is true that there is no book like the Bible for childhood, youth and age; but it is not true that we find our duty plain and simple on every page. Many pages are purely historical, dealing with genealogies and long lists of names. There are many, many pages on which we cannot find our duty, of course. There are many commands in the Bible which we are not required to obey, to be sure. For instance, there is a command requiring all the males among God's people to assemble at Jerusalem three times a year— at the feast of the Passover, at the feast of Pentecost and at the feast of Tabernacles. But while this is a positive command from the Lord, it has no reference to us whatever. This command was given to the Jews when they dwelt in the land of Palestine, and is now applicable to no one. There is another command which says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." This is another positive command, but it was never of general application. It never was a command to the Gentiles, of course. There are even commands in the Bible which it would be a sin for us to observe. If we should chance to see a man gathering up sticks to make a fire on Saturday, and should kill him for this, it would be considered a great crime against the law of the land, and a great sin against high heaven, and so it would be. Still there is a command in the Bible which requires the killing of a man for this very thing; but it was never of general application —never did apply to us. We are accustomed to send missionaries to idolaters —to those who are pleased to worship the sun, moon and stars. Still there is a command in the Bible requiring such people to be stoned to death. But this command was given only to the Jews, and for the purpose of preventing the spread of idolatry at a very critical period of their existence as a nation. This command was never of general application, and it would, of course, be sin to obey it today. There are some things, even in the New Testament, which do not apply to us. I read a book a few years ago on the second coming of Christ, in which the author urged the reader to enter upon the study of the subject in full assurance of faith; "for," said he, "God has promised to send you the Spirit to guide you into all the truth." Of course, this promise applied only to a select number of men, and never was of general application. It is a clear misapplication of scripture. Again, when Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit; whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:22-23), he did not speak this for all people, and for all time; not even for all preachers.. Nor is it applicable to the priests of Rome today, the Catholic contention to the contrary notwithstanding. And these are only a few of the instances in the Bible where the language does not apply to us. But these are sufficient to emphasize the importance of the rule which says, "Always observe to whom the language is addressed."
Another important rule in the study of the Bible is this:
' Study each passage in its proper setting. It is quite easy to take a passage out of its connection and apply it as you choose, and be able to prove almost anything thereby. And this is quite a common way of proving things by the Bible. For instance, if I were making a speech on prohibition, and wished to convince my audience that it is wrong to touch, taste or handle the vile stuff, I might quote Paul's language to the church at Colosse, "Touch not, taste not; handle not" (Colossians 2:21), and declare the Bible says so; and so it does, in the plainest language. But if we will study the passage in its proper setting —in its connection, we will discover that Paul was not speaking of strong drink when he said, "Touch not; taste not; handle not," and so it proves absolutely nothing as far as strong drink is concerned. The Bible does condemn strong drink, of course; but in this passage Paul is discussing the doctrines and commandments of men, and says, "Touch not; taste not; handle not" —have nothing to do with the doctrines and commandments of men; for they all are to perish with the using. Again, if I were making an argument on the duty of a sinner to pray, I might quote the language of Peter to Simon, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." (Acts, 8:22). Here it is, and from the mouth of an inspired apostle. But study Peter's language in its proper setting, and it appears at once that Simon is not a sinner in the broad sense of that word. Simon had believed on Jesus and had been baptized, and was therefore saved; for Jesus says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." So, Simon was a child of God who had sinned, and not the sinner out of Christ. The passage therefore proves nothing as to the alien sinner's prayer. A few years ago I heard an old preacher trying to defend the direct call to preach. He said a man's ability to preach did not depend so much on his training in school, all of which he said was well enough, but that it depended on the divine call. He then quoted, "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." (Hebrews 5:4). And the audience seemed to drink it down as if it were the truth. But if we study this passage in its proper setting —in its connection, we will see that it does not even touch the subject of a direct call to preach. When Paul said, "No man taketh this honor unto himself, save he that is called of God, as was Aaron," he was discussing the High-priesthood, and not the call to the ministry. So I repeat, it does not even touch the subject, and this is a very fruitful way of proving false doctrines. Almost anything can be proven in this way. Why, I can prove, in this way. that it is right for a man to go out and hang himself, and do it quickly. Just take three passages, somewhat disconnected, and we read, "Judas went out and hanged himself; go, thou, and do likewise; and what thou dost, do quickly." How easy it is! But if we will study these texts in their proper setting, it will put an entirely different face on the whole matter, of course.
Again, in our study we must let the Bible speak fully and freely on every subject; for we must remember that while every passage tells the truth, it takes every passage of scripture on any particular subject to reveal all the truth on that subject. So, to select one passage on a subject and refuse to listen to others on the same subject is to deal unfairly with the word of God. If a juror, who has been sworn to decide a certain case according to the evidence produced, should, after hearing one witness, refuse to hear others, saying he had made up his mind already, while there were a number of other witnesses to be examined, he would be summarily dismissed by the court as incompetent. And yet this is the very way many deal with the sacred —the divine witnesses. Take, for example, Matthew, Mark and Luke as witnesses to the great Commission. Matthew says, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18-20). Now, this statement of Matthew's tells the truth, of course; but it does not tell all the truth respecting the Great Commission. He says go teach all nations, but he does not say what the nations are to be taught. He says the taught are to be baptized, but he does not say what baptism is for and says nothing about the necessity of faith or repentance. So, it is clear that this passage does not tell all the truth on this subject. Mark's testimony gives additional truth on the subject. He says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:15-16). So Mark tells what is to be taught, and preached, and he makes it clear that faith, or belief, is necessary, and he shows furthermore that baptism is a condition of salvation. And Luke's testimony reveals the fact that repentance is to be taught as well as faith and baptism. The same is true with respect to the recorded cases of conversion. No one of these accounts gives all the truth on the subject. We must take what all the witnesses say to get all the revealed truth on conversion. For example, in Acts 16:30-31, in answer to the jailer's question, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved," Paul answers, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Now Paul tells the truth here, of course; but lie does not tell all the truth in these words, to be sure. Yet many people absolutely refuse to hear anything further, and make up their minds from this testimony alone. It says not one word about repentance or baptism, both of which we have learned were incorporated in the Great Commission. But turn to the account of Peter's work on the great Pentecost, and we hear Peter say to believers, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38). Here Peter makes it plain that one must not only believe but repent and be baptized to be saved. So, in order to learn all the truth on conversion, we need to study every case of conversion. Again, in (Romans 5:1), Paul says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Evidently this is the truth; but it is not all the truth on justification, for James says, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." (James 2:24). Paul says nothing about works or obedience, and many desiring to prove that salvation is by faith only, have accepted Paul's statement as including everything essential to justification, and are therefore led to reject James' statement —when both these witnesses are inspired. Paul and James do not contradict each other; they rather supplement each other. But men have made Paul contradict James by adding the little word "only" to his statement.
Finally, we must always approach the Bible with an honest and open heart. What one sees in the Bible depends, largely, on what he is looking for, and in this way only can we account for the many conflicting and contradictory doctrines in the world today. Unless we honestly seek for the truth, we shall hardly find it; and if we are prejudiced against it we are certain not to find it. lie who conies to the Bible honestly seeking for the truth—only this and nothing more, is certain to find it; while he who comes seeking support for his peculiar doctrine is almost as certain to find that, too —at least he will find something that will serve his purpose to his own satisfaction. We should come to the Bible to find our doctrine —not to prove it. Any other course is fraught with serious dangers. We must be perfectly willing to accept what God says, whether it is to our liking or not. The importance of this rule is set forth in the case of Balaam.
Many years ago when the Israelites, en route from Egypt to Canaan, pitched their tents in the land of Moab, the king of that land (Balak) fearing they would lick up everything as the ox licketh up the grass from the field, sent messengers to Balaam, a prophet of Jehovah, asking him to come and curse the Israelites that he might be able to overcome them. Balaam received the messengers and entertained them overnight, the while waiting to see what God would advise in the matter. During the night the Lord appeared unto him and said, among other things: "Thou shall not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed." (Numbers 22:12). This should have settled the matter with Balaam for ail time, and would have settled it, had he been willing to abide the Lord's decision in the matter. These messengers returned to Balak and reported that Balaam had refused to come with. them. But Balak, knowing the weakness of the human race, sent unto Balaam messengers "more and more honorable." saying, "Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me; for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people." Now when these "more honorable" messengers reached Balaam with that very flattering proposition of wealth and honor, he, knowing what the Lord had said, that he should not go; that he should not curse the people, "for they are blessed," Balaam, knowing all this, said to these "honorable" gentlemen, "Tarry ye here also this night that I may see what the Lord will say unto me more." Remember, the Lord had already spoken plainly to Balaam, forbidding him to go; but he is unwilling to abide this decision, and wants the Lord to say "more?' He wants the Lord to tell him to go. Just like an unruly child, after the parent has forbidden him to go some place, he comes and renews the request — not willing to be submissive to the parent's will. So, Balaam, after the Lord has forbidden him to go, wants the Lord to say more —he wants the Lord to tell him he may go. Well, the Lord does not compel or coerce people to obey him. He allows them to pursue their own course, after having advised them. So the Lord came to Balaam and said. " If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them," but he assured Balaam that only the words which he should put into his mouth that should be speak. So Balaam arose and went with the messengers; but the Record says, "The Lord's anger was kindled against him because he went." Balaam did not go to God with an honest and open heart, seeking the truth only. He did not go to God to learn what his pleasure in the matter was. Balaam had his own way marked out, and went to God to have him approve it. Like most men when they ask you for advice, they want you to advise them to follow their own will in the matter. So Balaam wanted God to tell him to go. And many come to the Bible, as Balaam went to God, with their own course well defined, wanting to find something that will encourage them, in their own way. Hence they hunt about from place to place, until they find something that justifies their course, to their own satisfaction, at least; and then go away, like Balaam, with the assurance that God said so! But remember "The Lord's anger was kindled against him because he went." We must not incur the anger of Jehovah by trying to bend the divine will to suit our own way. This is a fearful thing! Let us be sure in reading and studying the Bible that we seek at all times to know the Father's will — only this and nothing more.
" 'Tis one thing, friend, to read the Bible through;
Another thing to read, to learn, to do.
'Tis one thing, too, to read it with delight,
And quite another thing to read it right,
"Some read it with design to learn to read,
But to the subject pay but little heed;
Some read it as their duty once a week,
But no instruction from the Bible seek.
"Some read to bring themselves into repute
By showing others how they can dispute;
While others read because their neighbors do,
To see how long 'twill take to read it through.
"Some read the blessed Book, they know not why
— It sometimes happens in the way to lie;
While others read it with uncommon care;
But all to find some contradiction there.
"One reads with father's 'specs' upon his head,
And sees the things just as his father did;
Another reads through Campbell, Stone and Scott, A
nd thinks it meant just what they thought.
"Some read to prove a preadopted creed,
Thus understanding little what they read;
And every passage in the Book they bend
To make it suit that all-important end.
Some people read, as I have often thought,
To teach the Book instead of being taught."
HOW READEST THOU?