People trying to grow in their Christian faith are sometimes astonished to find out about books they never knew existed. Commentaries. Some are even surprised to find out about study Bibles.
So here's a little bit of info on both.
For new believers or even non-believers, a great study Bible is the Quest Study Bible. I believe it uses the NIV 1984 translation and is a great recommendation even if it is expensive. [Speaking of translations, that is another blog entry altogether...much too lengthy for this post.]
Back to the subject, a great study Bible is often the first discovery to delight that of the Christian trying to grow and understand the Bible.
Some of the best study Bibles include the ESV Study Bible, the HCSB Study Bible, the Reformation Study Bible, the John MacArthur Study Bible, the NIV Starting Point Study Bible, the Quest Study Bible, and especially unique is the Life Application Study Bible.
But it may surprise some people to learn that there are some even more technical books available that pastors will consult. Granted, these resources are just one of the many tools in the toolbelt of a skilled Bible teacher, but virtually any pastor worth listening to will have consulted a commentary or three before or after studying a particular passage of scripture.
Now before you rush out to google "commentaries" (that might not be the most helpful thing to do) you ought to know a few things.
- First, be aware that there are different types of commentaries. The basic types are: devotional commentaries, homiletical commentaries, and critical commentaries. I favor the critical ones, but sometimes more practical pastors of the less geeky bent will favor a homiletical commentary of some type. (Homiletics is the fancy word for preaching and preparing sermons.) Even more practical and therefore perhaps more "average-Joe-friendly" are the devotional commentaries which in some ways are only one step away from a study Bible. P.S. - "Critical" commentaries aren't necessarily commentaries that are "critical" of the Bible. It simply means that they are more technical and apply rigorous study, reason, and explanation in their treatment of a text. They can sometimes be heavily footnoted and can leave Greek & Hebrew words completely un-transliterated for the English reader. Looking for an example of each?
I've given you the basic types, but know that there are also other kinds of commentaries
such as the Bible Backgrounds commentaries done by
IVP and
Zondervan. (Both of
which relied on one of my favorite professors during my time at Wheaton...
John Walton.)
I expect that many different types of commentaries will continue to come into existence.
2. Next, it's vital to know that
not all commentaries are created equal. In fact, I'd go so far
as to ask your pastor or education pastor at your local church what kind of commentaries
are worth consulting and which ones aren't. Sometimes people write commentaries
who are actually coming to the text with a foundational worldview that is entirely different
than what one might consider Christian. You could very easily find commentaries on the
Bible written by those that seek to undermine the Bible's authority or credibility in their
research. There are great resources and reviews to consult as well such as those by DA
Carson (
NT) and Tremper Longman III (
OT).
This relatively new website seems fairly
interesting too.
3. Third,
it is generally best to consult commentaries only AFTER studying the passage
a great deal for yourself. I can't stress this enough. Use the commentaries to
check your
work, not to
do all your work.
4. Fourth,
resist the urge to buy a set...especially if you are not training for the ministry.
If you teach a Sunday school class, chances are there's probably no need to invest
that much money into a complete critical commentary series. Besides, it is much wiser
to buy individual commentaries on each book than purchasing an entire set. If you are a
layman, a quality
one-volume Bible commentary should suffice, but if you simply must
have a complete set, perhaps the
Tyndale Series is best.
5. Finally, remember that you might be able to acquire 2 or 3 commentary sets just by
purchasing
Bible software. They may not be that great, but they might be all you need.
I could certainly write a lot more on this subject. And I may. For now, this ought to be enough to chew on and read without getting bored. :)
-RCW
Sometimes people are surprised to find out that we don't have the original manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. Don't be alarmed. The sheer amount of the manuscripts we do have exceeds all other ancient documents hundreds of times over. We have over 5,000 manuscripts that attest to what the originals said, giving us overwhelming confidence that the Greek New Testament of today is accurate, trustworthy, and reliable. It is the Greek New Testament that is then translated into English for various publishers of the Bible, etc.
Part of the reason why we don't have the original manuscripts? Persecution. During the Roman persecutions of Christians, Christians would frequently be killed for their faith in Christ. There were several options for a person to prove they weren't a Christian and thereby escape martyrdom. They would need to denounce Christ, but they could also win favor by turning over other Christians (particularly Christian leaders) or even manuscripts of the scriptures. Many did so. Here's just one ancient manuscript that tells us about it.
All these things were fulfilled in us, when we saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the Divine and Sacred Scriptures committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the shepherds of the churches basely hidden here and there, and some of them captured ignominiously, and mocked by their enemies. (Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Book 8, Chapter 2)
As a Christian, don't forget that people have died, risked their lives, and toiled relentlessly so that you could have the Bible...the book that you and I many times casually neglect.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." ~Deut. 6:6-9
-RCW
A good while back, someone contacted me about her close friend. She hadn't seen this friend in a while. This friend of hers had some very strange ideas about what God was telling them and it seemed to involve the book of Revelation as well. This friend of hers claimed that God was giving her a special word or message that was very personal. The message was also pretty un-biblical.
Here are some excerpts from my response....
It sounds like she is in grave trouble in her spiritual life because of a certain misunderstanding not about the book of Revelation, but about how God provides revelation.
HEARING FROM GOD
There is a certain emphasis in churches on how we should have a close interaction with God, that we should hear His voice, that we can know Him deeply, personally, and intimately, that we should listen to His voice and obey His commands, etc. These are wholesome teachings, but can be very dangerous if they are not given some clarification.
“HEARING FROM GOD” GONE WRONG
What many people slide into-- (and incidentally this happens especially in the charismatic/Pentecostal churches, small Baptist churches, churches where the pastor lacks education, or where people have isolated themselves from their local church)---is a belief that God is revealing things and speaking to them even though the instructions have little relation to the Bible (God’s authoritative word). The following is a bold statement that some people might object to, but the real truth is that God won’t communicate something to us that can’t be supported, found, understood, or concluded from the Bible. That means that “the voice” inside many people’s heads might or might not be God. For a good example of "hearing from God" gone wrong, take a look at the book Conversations With God
by Neale Donald Walsh.
God has revealed Himself through His word. If in the practice of “hearing God” we neglect the Scriptures, many things can get distorted by ourselves or even by the enemy. A general knowledge of scripture can sometimes be more harmful to someone than none at all in cases like this. To hear from God accurately, we need to have spent hours absorbing His words and infusing the entire Bible’s wealth of content into our very soul and minds until it becomes second nature...until it informs all of our thinking. Only then can our thinking or “hearing” be remotely close to what God desires.
God has already given to mankind all of the revelation that we need to have...Nature itself leads us to contemplate Him and believe He exists, Jesus came to earth as the fullest revelation from God, and the Bible makes clear exactly who He is and what He desires from us. We don’t need any special experiences beyond what God has already given us in nature (known as God's general revelation), in Christ, and in the Bible (the last two comprising God's specific or special revelation). We don’t need a fresh personal word that gives us goosebumps, we don’t need a secret word from God that He has only given to us, etc. There is a reason that the canon of scripture is considered to be closed. We're not going to add any more books to the Bible because it is a finished and complete book with no need of addition. In fact, God warns of adding or subtracting from His words within the scriptures themselves.
THE DANGERS INVOLVED
There is very great danger in this erroneous understanding of how God reveals Himself. This is how many cults get started, this is how scriptures get twisted, and this is also a way that many people develop or encourage their own mental or psychological disorders, etc. This friend of yours has a great need above all to know that God’s word is actually in contradiction to some of the things she is claiming...She also needs to know that God’s word has to have a central place in her “hearing from God”, and that she absolutely cannot be a lone ranger – without the love of Christian community, there is an even greater chance of destruction in your friend’s life. A church family provides a balance and a protection against this sort of isolation and this sort of misunderstanding about Biblical revelation. For myself, if I ever start to have bizarre experiences with God that other Christians around me or throughout Christian history have not experienced, I would be very concerned. (This also happens to be a good rule of thumb for Bible interpretation as well...If you have a bizarre interpretation that nobody has ever shared with you, or that nobody in the entire history of Biblical interpretation has arrived at, you are potentially entirely misguided in your interpretation and probably need to seek a better understanding of the passage.)
OTHER CONTRIBUTING OR RESULTING FACTORS
Sometimes depression, anxiety, fear, and severed relationships can wound a person to where they isolate themselves from church and situations in someone’s personal life can contribute to the problem as well. Sometimes charismatic television evangelists encourage the problem as well by practicing this same spiritualizing and experience-driven understanding of God’s revelation.
SOME RESOURCES
I came across a couple of excellent books the other day as I was browsing some new titles and IVP (Inter-Varsity Press) has these great ones of the topic of hearing from God.
God Talk by Ruth A. Tucker ISBN: 978-0-8308-3331-3
Hearing God by Dallas Willard ISBN: 978-0-8308-2226-3
-RCW
Here is an article that may be boring, but touches on the very subject that I discussed about how God speaks to us today.
A few of my recent posts have reminded me of yet another subject.
A classic pet peeve of mine is the enormous amount of "Bible Lore" out there. How many times have you been talking with someone and they say, "Well, the Bible says, 'God helps those who help themselves.'"? No, the Bible does not say that phrase anywhere. It actually came from Ben Franklin.
Another great one..."God won't give you more than you can handle." The Bible actually doesn't say this. (Try "quoting" such a "scripture" to a person in a serious crisis. Let me know how that one goes.) You won't find the reference because it's not there.
In general, I simply hear the words come from someone's mouth: "Doesn't it say in the Bible somewhere...." or "What's the verse in the Bible that says something about..." and I begin to brace myself for the shock. I never know what nonsense might sputter out after the first few words. :)
The Bible (and spiritual things in general) is one of those subjects that everyone has an opinion about....many people are eager to share their own. Many people think they know fairly well what the Bible says, but in reality haven't studied it for themselves a whole lot. In short, "Bible Lore" results is a lot of muddled thinking about spirituality and numerous common myths about Christianity, Christians, God, the Bible, etc.
So, here's a novel thought: how about we all make it a goal of ours to READ our Bibles and MEMORIZE scripture? That way, instead of being guilty of such embarrassing blunders of biblical illiteracy, we can know God's word, hide it deep within our hearts, and be ready to explain the scriptures the next time someone rattles off one of these statements.
I myself am by no means immune or beyond this fault. I have been praying and asking God to reveal some things to me lately and yet I know that the easiest way to hear God's voice is to open and "devour" my Bible. How about you? Are you planting scripture within you? Or is your Bible just a dusty relic? When was the last time you cracked it open?
-RCW
I was a substitute teacher about a week ago. Not for a school. For an Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) at the church in which I serve. I was assigned the topic of Christology. While I wouldn't call myself a theologian, I could manage to go over some notes from
Hodge's,
Erickson's,
McGrath's or
Grudem's works and some of my own systematic theology notes from back in the day. Yet, I had no idea what a joyful surprise it would be to teach this particular class.
The class was very talkative and very inquisitive. The group was made up of mostly thirty-somethings and from what I could tell on the surface, they didn't have a ton of Biblical literacy.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing about this group was their eager desire to know about the Bible. They had a thirst for knowledge, a hunger to understand, a tenacity to learn. This is perhaps the most foundational characteristic of a disciple.
I was reminded of the Bereans...The Bereans are mentioned in Acts 17:11 -- "Now these [the Bereans] were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." (NASB)
May we all be sure to live with that same hunger to know. Search the Scriptures for yourselves and see if these things are not so.
Prayer: Father, help me to cultivate a passion for Your word. Help me to develop a hunger within me to understand the Bible and apply it to my life. Let it always be said of me as well that I was noble-minded and diligent in searching the Scriptures. Amen.
-RCW
P.S. The title for this blog entry ("Search the Scriptures") also happens to be the name of a couple of ministries, a devotional book, a .com website, a couple of .org websites, etc. In no way am I claiming to own the title or have rights to it, in no way am I endorsing those sites, books, ministries, etc.
In recent weeks, a few of you have asked me questions regarding how to dig deeper into the Bible. So, you wanna understand the Bible better?
There are so many great resources out there to go deeper in your own Bible study (I wanted to learn so much that I pursued a Masters degree in it!).
Here are a few simple helps:
For The Beginner:
For the intermediate:
For the advanced:
If you really want some advanced readings about the Bible, there are a ton of resources, but it can be tough to know what is what and who to trust. Here are some "simple" tougher reads.
This is by no means whatsoever a comprehensive list. Libraries could not contain the bibliography that I could compile for you. These just come to my mind first. I hope this is helpful.
-RCW
As a minister in the local church, and someone who is passionate about helping people grow in their walk with Christ, I get asked the question quite a bit...."Cole, I have a friend that just became a believer. I am looking to give this person something to start them in their walk with Christ. Do you have suggestions?" Or sometimes a new believer will approach me themselves and ask the same sort of question: "Where do I start?"
I WILL be brief because a long answer only complicates.
HOW ABOUT...THE BIBLE?To begin with, most people find
the Bible to be an ideal starting point. Specifically, I find that the Gospel of John to presents a great starting point. There is simply no replacement for what God can do in someone when they simply read the Bible for themselves. Many times we underestimate peoples' ability to understand the simple message of the Bible. The Gospel of John is perfect to demonstrate this since it has often been said in a variety of ways that John's Gospel is deep enough that the most intelligent Bible scholars can plumb its depths and never get as deep as they would like, and yet it is not so deep that an infant in Christ will drown. As for English translations, there is
a great pamphlet put out by Rose Publishing that helps distinguish between translations. My advice is to pick the translation that best suits both your purposes as well as where you are at in your walk with Christ. A New Living Translation or Message may be a great help to a new believer who hasn't spent a whole lot of time in church, but someone engaged in deep study of the Bible would want something like the NASB. An in between may be NIV, RSV, or ESV. Every translation is an interpretation...it just depends how much you want interpreted FOR YOU and how much you want to do the dirty work of interpretation yourself. If you are stuck and can't choose a translation email me by clicking the link under my picture at the top left corner of this webpage. Need a Bible reading plan? That's simple. Search the web and you'll find plenty. NAVPRESS, one of my favorite Christian publishers (who by the way publishes ONLY resources that aim to help believers grow in their faith), has some great ones you can view
here. Others are available
here,
here,
here, and plenty of other places too.
To be continued....
-RCW
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