I’ve already tackled the problems of genre and bible translations.  Now I would like to discuss a few final thoughts about how we are to read the bible.   These are some random thoughts, so for lack of better organization, I’ve just enumerated them here.

1. When reading a passage, be sure to know the passages before and after the one you are reading.  A word belongs to a sentence; a sentence belongs to a paragraph; a paragraph belongs to a chapter and a chapter belongs to a book.  With the Bible, all the books together form one larger, coherent piece of work.  If you read a sentence that seems out of context and doesn’t make sense, it is better to back up and read a broader section of text in order to determine what the meaning is. 
2. Authors tend to use words consistently within their writing.  Keep in mind that words can have multiple meanings – particulary in the Bible – and especially because there is never a perfect translation of a meaning of a word from one language to another.  If you are in doubt as to how a particular word is being used, consult the concordance at the back of your bible and do a quick word study within the book/author you are reading.
3. Always be aware of cultural biases that you may have.  This is a tough one to come to grips with.  What I mean is this: particularly with the Old Testament, there are cultural norms that are between 2000 -3500 years removed from the time and place in which we live.  While God’s word is timeless – meaning that God’s truth applies to all people of all ages – there are particular cultural understandings that we can never know or completely understand.  One question I’ve heard many times is: why did God order the Hebrew nation not to eat certain foods?  Or wear clothing of mixed fibers?  And the list could go on.  These are, in part, cultural issues that we are going to find extremely difficult to understand.  (If you want the good, theological explanation as to why God would order these wierd lifestyle things, please let me know and I’ll write a post on it.)

I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again now.  The bible is a single body of work, comprised of numerous types of literature, serving one, single purpose.  The message is consistent.  It is a work that is inerrant, which means that fundamentally the text is without errors – names, dates, times, places, and the literal content – are all without errors.  There may be some transcription problems, the they are extremely far and few between, scholars know what the issues are and the ones that pose any serious debate and extremely rare.  The bible is a book and a message that can be relied upon 100%.

By saying all of this you shoud also understand that when people or philosophies claim that their basis is “christian” based, then our task it to compare it to the bible.  If there are inconsistencies with other people’s writing, then the inconsistency is on their part and not the Bible’s part.  Let me give an example:  the Mormon religion claims to be based in Christianity.  But if you were to read the Book of Mormon, you will very quickly note that there are contradictions with the message of the Christian Bible.  Which one should you trust?  Short answer: the truth, that is to say, the Bible.  The one whose message has not changed for 3.500 years.

Next up: how to start studying the Bible