Christians speak of various
practices or spiritual disciplines that develop a believer’s spiritual life,
such as prayer, worship, good works, and reading Scripture. We need to distinguish between activities,
practices, and skills when we consider spiritual disciplines. An ‘activity’ suggests no discipline, no
regularity, no discipline—it is something one might engage in without training
or devotion. A discipline entails all of
these. It is spiritual when directed to
one’s relationship to God.
One becomes an expert or craftsman through the
disciplined development of habits and skills.
The study of Scripture involves certain disciplines of reading that
guide the practice of reading Scripture.
Doing so over time forms a habit and results in some skill. By understanding the study of Scripture as a
spiritual discipline, we see that discipline is needed to become good at the
practice. Like any discipline, learning,
exercises, and effort are involved.
Also, the reading of Scripture involves devotional or spiritual
exercises and learning and studying; these cannot be separated. The discipline of Scripture reading is,
finally, not only to be done during a personal ‘quiet time.’ It is something that involves receiving the
gift of teaching offered by mature Christian teachers and the gifts of others
in the body of Christ who can speak wisely and by example into the lives of
each other as everyone seeks to live in obedience to God’s Word.
This will, importantly, involve listening to the
author of Holy Scripture speak to one’s own heart through the Word—listening to
God’s teaching. Such listening involves
several things. First, since many false
prophets and teachers have gone out into the world and are found in the Church,
this means listening to what the Biblical text actually says and not making it
say something other than what it says.
Such listening involves ‘hearing’ the text in its context—an activity
that sometimes requires persons trained in the Biblical languages, in the
ancient, Biblical contexts, and in the study of Scripture. It also involves listening to trustworthy
teachers who confess Jesus Christ (cf. 1 John 4.1-3). Further, it involves considering your
interpretation of the text with regard to what the Church has taught always,
everywhere, and by all. And it involves
being ready and willing to hear how Scripture speaks to your own life—not in a
new way different from what it originally said but in a new way consistent with
what it originally said.
Here, then, is some direction for a spiritual
discipline of reading God’s Word.
1. Know the Scriptures:
*by reading all the books of the Bible.
*by reading Scripture regularly, hearing it read, discussing it, hearing teachers interpret it.
*by having a grasp of the narrative—the mission of God, the covenants, the history
of redemption; the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God, the promise and fulfillment in God’s Word.
2. Approach interpretation as an exercise of faith seeking understanding and life seeking obedience because Scripture is God’s authoritative and truthful Word:
*by accepting it as God’s revelation.
*by understanding it as the highest
and final authority.
*by regularly reading, interpreting,
and learning from it.
*by accepting it as true in all that
it affirms.
3. Study the meaning
of the passage according to the author’s intentions:
*by hearing how
teachers in the Church have interpreted the passage.
*by interpreting
the text in its historical and cultural context. Hear what God was saying
through
the Biblical author to the first hearers in the historical and cultural
context.
*by interpreting the text in its
literary context. Understand the meaning
of a passage of
Scripture
in its literary context: the immediate literary context, the book in which it
is found, the writing or writings of a particular author, and the type of
writing (genre) that it is.
4. Interpret a passage of
Scripture in light of the implications of
the canonical context:
*by understanding the parts in light
of the whole, moving back and forth in the spiral of
interpretation
between the passage in the book and in the canon.
*by letting clearer passages shed
light on more obscure passages in matters of faith and
practice.
*by discovering the greater
implications of texts in light of the complete revelation of
Scripture.
*by being aware of the development of
revelation, especially from the Old Testament to
the
New Testament.
*by exploring how later authors used earlier
authors of Scripture, especially how
New Testament
authors interpreted the Old Testament.
5. Look for the
significance of Scripture:
*by first seeing how the Scripture
was significant for persons in the Bible, and then
*by asking how the Scripture is
significant for persons in different situations historically,
culturally,
and today in your own context.
6.
Look for proper applications of the Scripture:
Situation,
avoiding false comparisons.
including distinguishing between what is central and what is peripheral and what is transcultural and normative over against what is cultural and relative.
*by
appreciating that good performance of what Scripture teaches involves more than
just
practices: it involves understanding, intentions, and skill around the practices (obedience, devotion, sincerity, reverence, etc.).
*by
listening to what the Spirit of God is saying in the text to you in ways that
are
consistent with its original meaning, implication, and significance.
*by
submitting your understanding of the application of a text to what others
understand,
avoiding private
meaning and interpretation.
7. Learn how to study Scripture and to learn from
teachers of the Word:
*by acquiring basic skills in Bible
study.
*by learning from mature Christian
teachers who are entrusted with the responsibility of
studying
and expressing the meaning of Scripture.
*by setting aside time for study of
Scripture on your own and in groups.
8. Study Scripture in community by:
*by hearing how Scripture has been
interpreted and lived in the history of God’s people.
*by speaking the truth of the Gospel
and Scripture to one another in love.
*by showing one another in lives well
lived what the Word means.
*by honoring and seeking out
trustworthy teachers of God’s Word and by being aware
that
there are false teachings and false teachers.
9. Be a ‘doer’ of God’s Word, not only a hearer:
*by obeying what God has said in Holy
Scripture.
*by being part of a vibrant community
of faith that lives faithfully according to the
Scriptures.
10. First and foremost, be a devoted disciple of
Christ Jesus in your study of Scripture:
*by having a relationship with God the
Father through Jesus and by the empowering
presence
of the Holy Spirit.
*by being guided by Godly virtues,
particularly faith, love, and hope.
*by bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
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