<chapter id="h2-basics">
  <title>Bible Study Basics</title>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-purpose">
    <title>Our Purpose as we Approach the Bible</title>
    <para>
      <blockquote>
        <attribution>Jn.5:39-40</attribution>
        <para>You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them
        you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me;
        and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have
        life.</para>
      </blockquote>
    </para>
    <para>The chief purpose of the book is to bring us to the Person.
    Martin Luther said 
    <quote>we go to the cradle only for the sake of the baby</quote>;
    just so in Bible study, we do it not for its own sake but for
    fellowship with God.</para>
    <blockquote>
      <attribution>John R.W. Stott, 
      <emphasis>Christ the Controversialist</emphasis>, InterVarsity
      Press 1978, pp.97, 104.</attribution>
      <para>The Jews to whom Jesus spoke [...] imagined that to possess
      Scripture was tantamount to possessing life. Hillel used to say,
      "He who has gotten to himself words of Torah has gotten to
      himself the life of the world to come." Their study was an end in
      itself. In this they were grievously deceived. [...]</para>
      <para>There is neither merit nor profit in the reading of
      Scripture for its own sake, but only if it effectively introduces
      us to Jesus Christ. Whenever the Bible is read, what is needed is
      an eager expectation that through it we may meet Christ.</para>
    </blockquote>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-approaches">
    <title>Approaches to God's Word</title>
    <para>Hearing and reading provide a telescopic view of the
    scripture while study and memorization provide a microscopic view
    of scripture. Meditating on the scriptures brings hearing, reading,
    studying and memorization together and cements the word in our
    minds.</para>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-approaches-hear">
      <title>Hear</title>
      <para>Lk.11:28 
      <quote>blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe
      it.</quote></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-approaches-read">
      <title>Read</title>
      <para>Rev.1:3 
      <quote>Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of
      this prophecy [...]</quote></para>
      <para>1 Tim.4:13 
      <quote>give attention to the public reading of Scripture
      [...]</quote></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-approaches-study">
      <title>Study</title>
      <para>Acts 17:11 
      <quote>Now these 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.</quote></para>
      <para>2 Tim.2:15 
      <quote>Be diligent [KJV `Study'] to present yourself approved to
      God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling
      accurately the word of truth.</quote></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-approaches-memorize">
      <title>Memorize</title>
      <para>Ps.119:11 
      <quote>Thy word I have hid in my heart, that I may not sin
      against Thee.</quote></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-approaches-meditate">
      <title>Meditate</title>
      <para>Ps.1:2-3 
      <quote>But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law
      he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly
      planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its
      season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he
      prospers.</quote></para>
      <para>The Navigators illustrate this by saying that as the thumb
      can touch all the fingers, we can meditate on the Word as we do
      any of the first four. Meditation is a key to revelation. A new
      Christian needs to hear and read the Bible more than they need to
      study and memorize it. This is so that they become familiar with
      the overall message of the Bible.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-types">
    <title>Types of Bible Studies</title>
    <sect2 id="basics-types-topical">
      <title>Topical Study</title>
      <para>Pick out a certain topic and follow it through, using
      cross-references or a concordance.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-types-character">
      <title>Character Study</title>
      <para>Studying the life of a Bible character, e.g. Joseph's life
      in Gen.37-50.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="basics-types-expository">
      <title>Expository Study</title>
      <para>Studying a certain passage: paragraph, chapter, or
      book.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-interpretation">
    <title>Basics of Correct Interpretation</title>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-interpretation-content">
      <title>Content</title>
      <para>What does it say? What does it say in the original
      language? Be careful with definitions. Don't read into it what it
      doesn't say.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-interpretation-context">
      <title>Context</title>
      <para>What do the verses around it say? "Context is king" is the
      rule -- the passage must make sense within the structure of the
      entire passage and book.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-interpretation-cross">
      <title>Cross-reference</title>
      <para>What do other verses about this subject say through the
      rest of the Bible? God doesn't contradict Himself, so our
      interpretation needs to stand the test of other
      scriptures.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-expository">
    <title>An Expository Study of Matthew 6:1-18</title>
    <para>Let's study together Mt.6:1-18. Read it to yourself, first
    looking for the key verse, the verse that sums up the whole
    passage. Think you have it? Test it by picking different places in
    the passage and asking yourself if they relate to the thought of
    the key verse. Once you find it, write it as Roman numeral One of
    your outline:</para>
    <orderedlist numeration="upperroman">
      <listitem>
        <para>Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be
        noticed</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
    <para>What does 
    <quote>practicing your righteousness</quote>mean? Does the passage
    give any examples? What area of our lives is being addressed? 
    <emphasis>Our motives!</emphasis> What sub-headings develop this
    thought?</para>
    <orderedlist numeration="upperalpha">
      <listitem>
        <para>When you give</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>When you fast</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>When you pray</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
    <para>Now fill in the outline with specific instructions of how to
    avoid wrong ways of practicing our righteousness:</para>
    <orderedlist numeration="upperalpha">
      <listitem>
        <para>When you give 
        <orderedlist numeration="loweralpha">
          <listitem>
            <para>don't sound a trumpet. (how might someone 
            <quote>sound a trumpet</quote>today?)</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>do it secretly.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>etc.</para>
          </listitem>
        </orderedlist></para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-basics-worksheet">
    <title>Worksheet: How to Use a Concordance</title>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-worksheet-select">
      <title>To Find a Particular Verse</title>
      <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
        <listitem>
          <para>Pick out a key word or most-unusual word of the
          verse.</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Turn to this word alphabetically.</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Go down the column of listings until you find your
          verse.</para>
        </listitem>
      </orderedlist>
      <para>Find these verses: 
      <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
        <listitem>
          <para>
            <quote>Faithful are the wounds of a friend</quote>
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            <quote>We are ambassadors of Christ.</quote>
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>The story of the rich man and Lazarus.</para>
        </listitem>
      </orderedlist></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-worksheet-study">
      <title>To Do a Topical Study</title>
      <para>Let's say you wanted to do a study of the word
      "redemption." First you would look up that word in the
      concordance and look up references listed for it. Then you could
      look up related words and references listed for them, e.g.
      "redeem, redeemed, ransom," even "buy" or "bought."</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-worksheet-clarify">
      <title>To Clarify Word Meanings in the Greek and Hebrew</title>
      <para>What if you noticed a contradiction in the KJV between
      Mt.7:1 
      <quote>Judge not lest you be judged</quote>and 1 Cor.2:15 
      <quote>He that is spiritual judgeth all things.</quote>Maybe
      there are two different Greek words here, both being translated
      "judge" in English? (We're using Strong's from here out.)</para>
      <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
        <listitem>
          <para>Look up "judge".</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Go down the column of entries to Mt.7:1. To the right
          is a number, 2919. This refers to the Greek word used. Write
          it down.</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Now look up "judgeth".</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Go down the column to 1 Cor.2:15 . . . . . 350.</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Turn in the back to the Greek dictionary. (Remember,
          you're in the NT so the language is Greek, while the OT is
          Hebrew.) Compare the meaning of 2919 with the meaning of 350
          and you have your answer!</para>
        </listitem>
      </orderedlist>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="h2-basics-worksheet-names">
      <title>To Find Meanings of Names</title>
      <para>By the same process we can find the meaning of a name in
      the Greek or Hebrew.</para>
      <para>Look up these names and write down their meaning:</para>
      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>Nabal</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Abigail</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Joshua</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>Barnabus</para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
</chapter>
