How To Read the Bible: Lesson One

How To Read the Bible 

– And Get Something Out of It!

A Five-Week Series – 8:30-9:30pm, Anchor Community Church

Lesson One – Get To Know Your Bible

What Are You Reading? 
Understanding What You Are Reading.

An introduction to how the Bible is put together, the details that make for significant impact in how to understand what you are reading. We'll do an overview of how it is layed out, what that means, and how to use that knowledge to your advantage. We'll spend the next two weeks examining the Old/First Testament - the genres used, the flow of history and the story, and then we'll do the same in the final two weeks with the New Testament. We'll learn the major differences between the two testaments, between the five sections, the many genres of literature, as well as how they are all connected. It will help you put into perspective what you are reading. It will help inform you of how you can use the Bible to teach yourself, encourage yourself, and challenge yourself.

Lesson Two –  First Testament

How to Read the Torah

Lesson Three – First Testament

How to Read the Writings & Prophets (Hebrew Poetry)

Lesson Four – New Testament

How to Read the Gospels

Lesson Five – New Testament

How to Read the Letters (of Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude)

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Lesson One –

Get To Know Your Bible

It's a complicated book that ought to be approached with respect and care. To disregard it's depths is to cheapen what it has to contribute. To be overwhelmed by its complexity is to avoid the hard work of gaining understanding. By coming to terms with the broad scope of what is the Bible, you can begin to appreciate why it is hard to read and make sense of and apply to daily life. Beware reading the Bible! It will change your life.

How many “books” in the Bible? 66  [39 + 27]

The books are divided into two sections called: testaments or covenants

Testament/covenant are both legal terms and relational terms. 

The first section has three parts: Torah, Prophets, Writings

Torah is first five books, Prophets are the final 17 books, and the writings are the other 17 books. 

The second section has two parts: Gospels, Letters

Gospels make up the first five books, the Letters make up the final 22. 

Who are some of the authors of these books?

Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, Jude.

When/Where were these books written?

Oral origins/ Scrolls – 2000BC thru 100AD; Israel, Egypt, Babylon, Rome, Asia Minor

Who put them all together?

Rabbi’s collated OT by around 70AD

Patriarchs collated NT around 200AD

The decision making process about what to include and exclude was a very messy process. We believe that God's Spirit was intricately involved - but it was also a very human project. Kinda like Jesus. 

Why so many different translations?

Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek; manuscripts

There is no one document in Hebrew or one in Greek that we translate into English. Thousands of manuscripts are pieced together to create the Bible. Thousands of scholars from around the world have worked for hundreds of years - a whole science is built around piecing these manuscripts together. This shouldn't prompt you to question the validity of the Scriptures, but rather to reveal what a labor of love it is to put together the Bible.


What Are You Reading?

What kind of “books” make up the Bible?

Or: What are you reading if they are not “books?”

We think of "book" in a very modern sense. But Genesis is not a typical book. Neither is Leviticus. Or Job. Or Matthew. Or Romans. Their style of writing, their purpose of writing, their authors, their audience, their content don't always match our expectations for modern media. It's important to read a Bible "book" for what it is, not what we want it to be.

Genre of literatures in the Bible:

Myth

Poetry

Narratives

Genealogy

Lawcodes

Wisdom

Songs

Prophecy

Apocalyptic

History

Biography

Letters

Here's an example of why it's important to understand the type/genre of literature you are reading when you study your Bible: In Genesis 1-6, you have myth, poetry, narrative, genealogy, song, prophecy, history, and biography. Being able to intelligently sort out how the author is using the genre's will greatly increase your ability to understand what you are reading. Reading a long list of names is boring, unless you understand the purpose of a genealogy. Do you enjoy reading poetry in English? If not, you might struggle with what to do with Hebrew poetry in the Bible. Can you appreciate a really good story? Do you know how to draw insights from a carefully crafted narrative? What is the purpose of a myth, and how does it get used to transmit truth?

Another example would be the first four chapters of Luke: history, biography, narrative, songs, poetry, prophecy, wisdom, apocalyptic, lawcode. Whew! That's a lot to pack into such a brief amount of content. Can you see how Luke weaves his words and ideas and styles together to capture the readers attention and communicate truth? Also, are you able to pick out where Luke uses ideas and quotes from the Old Testament in his writings? Can you point out the significance of where he pulls his ideas and quotes from in the Old Testament? See - there is so much more to learn about the Bible, there is so much more to understand! Don't see it as daunting, though - let your curiosity drive you. We understand God's word to be to us, for us, and even sometimes about us - and he intentionally uses a myriad of styles of literature to make his point. Appreciate it. Respect it. Engage it.

Understanding What You Are Reading

The Bible is like a library and each “book” stands by itself, and yet some are connected. Each “book” needs to be understood on its own merits – what genres are included in it. But then each “book” needs to be understood with the other “books” that it is connected with in that section, as well as to the history and the story.

* Understanding the two testaments – how are they connected? 
The New Testament builds on the First Testament. 

* Understanding the five sections – how are they connected?
Everything flows from the Torah. The Writings? All written by and to people of Torah. Wisdom is from living life under Torah. Poetry is about the power of Torah. The Prophets are all preaching about obedience to Torah. Jesus in the Gospels came to fulfill Torah. Paul writes about how to live by Torah as understood through Jesus. 

* Understanding the genres - and how are they used?

Why is most of the Bible written in poetry? Why doesn't God give us bullet points about what he wants from us? 

* Understanding the flow of history – how are the people and events connected?
Who are the main characters we read about - how do their events and experiences flow together? What else happened in history that sheds light on the Bible? 

* Understand the point of the story – and how are we connected to it?
Why have these stories about God and Israel and Jesus and the disciples? Where is this story going? Where do we fit into it?