Child of Abraham Child of God: What is a study of the Bible?

What is a study

of the Bible?

Simply put, a study of the Bible is an investigation into the meaning of the scriptures. Consulting concordances, Greek and Hebrew lexicons, biblical dictionaries, commentaries, and encyclopedias is generally the means by which this happens. The aim of Bible Study is to arrive at the literal and historical truth regarding the text and its relevance today. The reason why Bible Study is approached using the above-mentioned tools is they help us to understand the historical context at the time the books were written, and to get a better insight into the meaning of the words that were being used in the original languages.

Concordances are consulted to see where a particular word is used in other parts of the Bible. Concordances also indicate where words have been translated into the same word in the English language but have been derived from different words in the original language. To illustrate this, I have often heard preachers over the years claim that the word “love” in English can represent different types of love in the Greek, such as love of God, man, sex and family, but there is only one word to express love in English and as a consequence of this not only is English deficient as a language but also unable to express the true meanings of the Greek.

Such statements are misleading because they give the impression that love has only one meaning. This is one of the problems that can occur if we only use a concordance alone as our only reference. For if we consult any English dictionary, we can expect to find more than one meaning to the word “love”. Except for children’s or pocket-size dictionaries, we can expect to find between ten to twenty different variances of meaning in the larger dictionaries. In fact, the Similes Dictionary, published in 1988[i], attributes seventy-eight different variations of meaning in English for the word “love”.

If we consider the Hebrew word "ahavta" which means "to love" and investigate into how it is translated in the New American Standard Bible, we learn that the word is not always translated without a change of nuance into English. The following is a record of every translation of the Hebrew word “ahavta” written in the New American Standard Bible:

beloved (1), dearly love (1), friend (5), friends (6), love (88), loved (53), lover (1), lovers (16), loves (42), loving (2), show your love (1), shows love (1).

As you can see there is some variation in the translation, even though “ahavta” is mostly translated “love”, “loves” and “loved”.

The word “love” is first used in the English Bible when God speaks to Abraham and informs him that his actions have demonstrated his love for our Heavenly Father. Later on, that is, some fifteen centuries later, the same word in the Hebrew “ahavta” was used in the book of Chronicles and is translated into English as friend.

Genesis 22:2: He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." (NASB[ii])

2 Chronicles 20:7: "Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? (NASB)

What is interesting about this change in meaning, which has taken place is that over five hundred years later we find the concepts of friend and love close to being synonymous in the Greek.

In the New Testament Book of James, the author makes a reference to these two scriptures when he states:

…and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God (James 2:23 NASB).

The word used in this New Testament text for “friend” is the Greek word “philos”, which also means “to love”. HELPS word study lexicon provides us with the following information regarding “philos” as used in this context by the author in the Book of James:

phílos – a friend; someone dearly loved (prized) in a personal, intimate way; a trusted confidant, held dear in a close bond of personal affection.

Note: The root (phil-) conveys experiential, personal affection– indicating (phílos) expresses experience-based love.

HELPS Word Studies[iii] then contrasts philos with another Greek word agape that is translated as love into English:

(agapáō) focuses on value-driven (an decision-based) love – which of course does not exclude affection!]

agapáō – properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to "live through Christ" (1 Jn 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God's will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáō) preeminently refers to what God prefers as He "is love" (1 Jn 4:8,16).

With the believer, agapáō ("to love") means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True agapáō ("loving") is always defined by God – a "discriminating affection which involves choice and selection". 1 Jn 4:8,16,17 for example convey how loving ("preferring," agapáō) is Christ living His life through the believer.

agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek, (agápē) focuses on preference; likewise the verb form (agapáō) in antiquity meant "to prefer" In the NT, (agápē) typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers).

Essentially there are only two words used to express love in the New Testament, although many commentators refer to a third word eros (meaning sexual love or lust). The word eros is not found in the New Testament.

Some commentators make a reference to a fourth word storge, of which there is only one mention in the Bible; this is in the book of Romans. This term is only found in a compound word philostorgoi, which is invariably translated as devoted, even though the word means “to express love of family” (that is, the natural affection that occurs between parents and children). The scripture where this sole term storgoi is used also contains another compound word for brotherly love incorporating the term delphia that specifically means brother. The word philostorgoi is translated as devoted in New American Standard Bible, so we will compare the three versions to see how the two thoughts of brotherly love and familial love are dealt with: in Romans 12:10:

Be [philostorgoi] devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor (NASB).

In love of the brothers be [philostorgoi] tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another (WEB).

Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another (AMP[iv]).

The Amplified Bible encapsulates the thought of members of the body of Christ being family that ought to love one another with brotherly and sisterly affection. As is evident by the above, using other tools of trade as Bible Study leaders, we are able to dig deeper into the Scriptures and put a more complete picture together, as the need arises during a meeting.

By using a concordance we are able to locate words in the Bible. By using a concordance that has a lexicon we able to discover the inherent meaning of a word. By using a Bible lexicon, as well as a concordance, we can competently flesh out more facts about a word (e.g. as we have done with the word “love”) than we otherwise would, if we had been using a concordance alone.

We have seen that the word for love in the Hebrew is translated into friend in the English. With the help of a concordance, I have been able to determine that the Greek word eros (meaning “sexual love) is not found in the New Testament but the Greek word derived from storge (meaning familial love) is found once when it forms part of a compound word.

This information can now be used for expository, exegetical, hermeneutical, systematic and devotional purposes when seeking to uncover the mind of God and the literal and historical truth of the Bible as we share this with other people.

When a person is leading a Bible Study, it is advisable that some background information is gleaned before conducting a meeting to teach or investigate or consider the Bible in any way. However, while for many the aim of Bible Study is to arrive at the literal and historical truth regarding the text, unless there is a devotional application (that is, a personal application to our own lives), studying the Bible is equivalent to accumulating trivia. For most people there is no incentive for learning about the Bible for knowledge’s sake, unless we want to be a pompous puff ball. This is not to say that some people do not derive pleasure from memorizing otherwise useless information in the hope that it might one day help answer a question on biblical trivia. Then again, becoming a notable atheist like Bertrand Russell or Richard Dawkins and memorizing biblical facts for the sake of derision is just as futile as being a fool who claims there is no God and biblical principles are unworthy or unnecessary for application to oneself. The Bible is a book that contains information which has huge implications for our well-being, not only for eternity, but also right now.

The Bible is a written record of God’s dealing with humankind and the working out of His purpose for the creation of the Universe as far as it concerns us. Because God’s purpose concerns us, we really are under an obligation to ourselves to find out what that purpose is. Not to discover God’s purpose, when we have been given the opportunity to do so, is to reject our responsibility to ourselves and incur the consequences of failing to voluntarily be accountable for our decisions, behavior and course of action in life. In line with what has just been mentioned, a study of the Bible forms part of each one’s quest to understand and know God in person.

As noted earlier, Bible Study can be conducted as a lecture or as a group discussion.

The lecture format can be used where notes are distributed to attendees and a talk is given. The person giving the talk can make use of a whiteboard or overhead projectors to illustrate points. The lecture format is useful for doing a Bible Study that is more about the impartation of information for historical or eschatological purposes rather than devotional application of the mind of God to one’s own life.

Many Bible Studies are conducted as a group discussion. Usually there is a leader and points of doctrine are discussed. All Bible Studies are in fact hermeneutical in nature, but too many are a concentration on dogma.

Dogma consists of doctrinal propositions put forward as distinctive truths that define a worldview held by a particular group or denomination which reflects a sphere of thought and practice within Christendom. For instance, the immaculate conception of Mary is teaching that is adhered to by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Protestants refute this altogether. Out of the Protestant movement, many other movements and groups have arisen that broadly hold to views known as Calvinism, Arminianism, Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism; although there are so many differences among adherents within those classifications of “isms”, a complete list of the all different points of disagreement is bewildering. Unfortunately, the indoctrination of the members into these different points of view is often what Bible Study is about rather than arriving at life-changing truth that enables us to be more like Christ.

When the Apostle Paul passed through Thessalonica, he came upon some Jews in Beroea who were more noble than others whom he had encountered (Acts 17:10-11). These individuals decided to diligently search the Scriptures for themselves to see whether what Paul was saying was true. Today, there are a number of different groups who refer to themselves as Bereans after these individuals at Beroea, because they claim to diligently search the Scriptures. Diligently searching the scriptures can mean different things to different people. Some people search the Scriptures to prove other people wrong. Many people search the Scriptures to find out when the world is going to end; that is, when Jesus is going to return. People who emphasize end-times, are not really seeking to know the truth, they are usually trying to justify a position, although, some may argue differently.

Searching the Scriptures to know the truth is different from searching the Scriptures to find out when the world is going to come to an end. People heading up organizations that specialize in prophecy mostly fail in their predictions and use fear tactics to keep members focused on being loyal. The use of fear is not what searching for the truth is all about. The very Bible itself informs us that truth sets us free. People who are free are not bound by fear. Therefore, we can say that people who are diligently searching the Scriptures to learn the truth about God and His purpose are doing so to be set free from ignorance. This is what Bible Study should be aimed at doing.

Bible Study is the searching of the Scriptures to find out how we can be set free from issues that plague our lives and leave us feeling purposeless, hopeless, and depressed. The reason for Bible Study should be to find out our purpose for existence; why and how we can have hope, and how we can overcome feelings of depression in an oppressive and unfriendly world doomed to death and destruction. Bible Study should be of a devotional nature if it is going to be of real value to us. Bible Study involves the investigation of what the text means; the examination of ourselves in relation to what the text is saying; and the realization of how to apply the truths found within its pages to our own lives.

The one thing Bible Study should not produce is people who possess a theological mindset that has no understanding of the will of God for the individual, but is orientated towards academic theological debate.. For instance, one church deacon whom I was having a discussion with thought very little about testifying to the glory of God for what Jesus had done in a person’s life, but had a high regard for theological terminology. He frequently peppered his speech with theological jargon rather than use every day terms to express the same idea. However, when I had the opportunity to ask him what he believed God’s will was for his life, he said that he did not know—after thirty years a Christian!

Child of Abraham Child of God

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

What is a study of the Bible?

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