Tag: read the Bible

Most people who read the Bible are careful – or so they claim – not to add anything to God’s written word or to take anything away from it.

A commonly cited verse to support this practice is Revelation 22:18-19, which pronounces plagues for those who add and implies eternal death to those who subtract.

However, John isn’t referring to the entire Bible but only to the record of his dream. Applying John’s warning to all of scripture is taking these two verses out of context.

A similar warning against adding or removing words occurs in Deuteronomy 4:2 and Deuteronomy 12:32. Again these passages only apply to laws God gave to Moses.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day would have done well to follow what Moses said in these two verses, because over centuries of time, religious leaders added thousands of rules and regulations beyond God’s original words.

Their efforts at clarification may have been well intended, but in doing so, they directly violated what God prohibited.

These verses, while narrow in scope, offer a principal applicable to the whole Bible: don’t add to it or take away from it. Yet people do this all the time, elevating personal practices and opinions to the authority of biblical mandate.

Earlier in my life, I spent time with people who, with godly fervor, decried drinking, smoking, dancing, and playing cards. Never mind that the Bible never said these were of the devil, yet our pastor proclaimed them to be so.

More recently, I visited a church with odd requirements for women to wear dresses and not cut or color their hair. Where did that come from? I could go on.

If we’re going to follow what the Bible says, let’s actually follow what it says and not interject our own ideas or delete our own biases.

[Revelation 22:18-19, Deuteronomy 4:2, and Deuteronomy 12:32]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

In the FAQ section of A-Bible-A-Day, one question is “Which version or translation of the Bible should I use?”

The short answer is to pick whatever version you will actually read.

Unfortunately, there is much vociferous, albeit unwarranted, debate about this issue. With what seems like a countless list of versions to pick from, they are roughly divided into three groups, which exist on a continuum: word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases.

While a word-for-word translation may seem to be the most pure and accurate, the true meaning of a text can be obscured or even misleading given the cultural and time differences between an ancient document written in another language and today’s English for a modern society.

Some see thought-for-thought translations as the answer to this dilemma and a means to minimize confusion. This helps to some extent, but doesn’t completely address differences in culture, era, and worldview.

To address this, paraphrases attempt to provide a modern understanding of the ancient texts, using more accessible phrasing and terminology.

However, paraphrases are quick to become dated. Another concern is that the team doing the paraphrase has more latitude in the words they choose and must rely on their understanding of the original intent .

Hence, we go full circle, back to word-for-word translations, which takes me back to my original assertion to pick whichever version you will actually read.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

While some may have been distracted — or irritated — by my series of posts about adding to or taking away from the Bible, I feel it is an important question to consider.

Here is a list of the relevant posts on this subject — in the order presented — in case you want to reread them or catch one that you might have missed:

• The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees
• The Error of the Pharisees
• The Error of the Sadducees
• Omission or Addition?
• In or Out?
• There’s More to Discover in the Bible
• What About Daniel and Esther?
• Definitely Out

Next up will be some thoughts on Nehemiah.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

How do you read the Bible?

Some people read the Bible like a text book — to amass knowledge.

Other people read the Bible like a book of law — looking for precedent and loopholes to justify themselves, ideas, and behavior.

Still, others read the Bible like a “how-to” book — noting the things that they should do and the things that they shouldn’t.

However, all of these approaches miss the point.  The people in Bible-times understood and appreciated it as narrative.  That has how it was written and is its best use — for them, and for us.

Not only should we pursue the Bible as narrative, but also with the knowledge that the narrative is best comprehended when it is experienced in community.

Although personal Bible study and reflection is helpful and enlightening, it is also ego-centric and intellectually narcissistic.  It is through the lens of community dialogue that a deeper and fuller understanding can best be discovered.

So, the Bible is best read as narrative and — whenever possible — in a group environment.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

When you read the Bible, do you wear glasses? I mean metaphorically. Seriously, do you?

Communication experts tell us that we take in and process information through filters — or lenses. Often this selective process is helpful, removing the minutia of life so that important and relevant information can be observed, remembered, and contemplated.

Sometimes, however, this filtering process blocks us from seeing — and knowing — what is really significant and meaningful. Such is often the case as we read and study the Bible.

As we contemplate what the Bible says, our filters cause us to see and understand it through the perspective of our childhood upbringing, our education, and our formed beliefs. If we are socialists, we see socialism in the Bible; if we are capitalists, we see capitalism in the Bible. 

Similarly, we see democracy or theocracy or even monarchy as possessing Biblical support. Be we Democrats or Republicans, our political views are also mandated by the Bible, with the opposing party’s views squarely nullified. 

Never mind that both sides are able to do so with equal vigor and aplomb.

This all happens because we tend to filter out those things that mess with our preconceived ideas and the status quo of our lives,

To garner a fuller, more holistic understanding of the Bible, we need to endeavor to remove our “reading” glasses, considering the full text and embracing the complete narrative—not to support our point-of-view, but to confront it and challenge it.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

In these times of economic concern and faltering financial markets, it is easy to worry about the future. Interestingly, the Bible has much to say on this topic:

“Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow.

Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19, The Message).

So, we are to trust God, not money. God will give us what we need. We are to use what money we do have for good, thereby putting our “savings” into lasting things.

With the stock market going down, this is certainly something to think about.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Biblezines^TM are the Bible in magazine format, with additional info and content packed in. For many who wonder if the Bible is relevant to them and their lives, this modern format with compelling sidebars, makes the Bible come alive in practical and vibrant ways.

There are 11 Biblezine versions, geared towards different age groups and demographics. Check them out and find the best one for you.

Biblezines are published by Thomas Nelson.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.