Once upon a time, it was a big deal to have the Bible in the common vernacular (see Wycliffe’s English Bible, pictured). Now we English-speakers have a bunch of translations to choose from, and a bunch of study aids to boot.
Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shares some sound principles for using a study Bible:
1. Read the text of the Bible first. Meditate upon the text and read it with care. Apply your own knowledge of the Bible in order to understand the particular text within its context and place in the biblical story-line. Consider and note other texts that come to your mind as directly related to this text. Read the text with full attention and conviction.
This is crucial. A danger in using a study Bible is to lean so heavily on the tools provided that you don’t exercise your own biblical understanding. If you just let the study notes think for you, you won’t synthesize what you’re learning with what you already know, and you might forget both. Don’t treat them like a Wikipedia crutch. Let the Word be written on your heart, always there to be spoken to your neighbor or yourself in the right moment.
He goes on:
2. Look carefully at the cross-references that the study Bible links to the text you are reading. Do not look only to the citations, but read the actual passages. This assistance is still the main contribution of a study Bible – making related and parallel passages more accessible. A first principle of interpreting the Bible is to interpret the Bible by the Bible. In other words, to allow the Bible to interpret itself text by text.
3. As a third step, take full advantage of the notes, articles, and other helps printed alongside the text. In some cases, short articles will help in understanding contested issues or matters that might otherwise require a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia. Where appropriate, maps can be very useful, along with tables of measurement and similar points of reference. The very best of the study Bibles will also offer some level of commentary within the notes.
Of course, it is the Bible itself that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible – not the study materials included in study Bibles. Therefore, judge the notes by the biblical text, and never the other way around. Where possible, use more than one study Bible in order to maximize this learning process.
And he closes with the recommendation of a few different study Bibles. I’ve been meaning to get the new ESV Study Bible myself (the publisher is just down the street from my house!).
What contexts do you think are best suited for using study Bibles? Is there a version that has proved most helpful for you?
