How to Understand the Bible

Posted by Anonymous , 9/4/2007 Tags:UnderstandBibleunderstand

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Introduction To gain an understanding of the Bible is not as difficult as it may seem at first.It

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Introduction

To gain an understanding of the Bible is not as difficult as it may seem at first. It is always good to have an overview of what information is being conveyed and how it is being conveyed. Aside from a small portion in Chaldee, most of the Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek. In some cases it is necessary to get down to the original language to get to the bottom of some issues.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You'll Need

  • You will need your Bible. For most this will be one of the various King James Versions or a modern translation such as the New International Version or the New American Standard Bible.

Steps

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Step One

Read the Bible all the way through from Genesis to Revelation. Make notes of any verses you do not understand or verses that seem to be contradictory. Eventually place check marks beside the notes as the meaning of the verses become clear. And note what conclusions you made.
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Step Two

Get an overview of the information being conveyed by the various sections of the Bible. For example, most of the Old Testament is a biography of the nation that had Abraham as its great grand father many generations back. Although the Turks and Arabs are in the family line under Abraham, the Bible is mostly about the children of Israel (the children of Jacob). There are 12 tribes. Judah (the Jews) was one tribe. The 12 tribes are examples of success and failure in contact with the Creator.
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Step Three

Survey the New Testament and how the Old Testament is a basis for many of the beliefs of the New Testament. For example, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). The feast of first fruits became the day of Pentecost. Notice that Christ had a new message, a message about a coming kingdom of God, a message that, in the New Testament, goes into greater detail than the Old Testament.
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Step Four

Discover ways in which you can apply the principles of the Bible to your daily life in order to have a more fulfilled existence and in order to have a chance at a better resurrection as spoken of by Paul (Hebrews 11:35). The Creator gives us the Bible as a guide book to life.

Overall Tips & Warnings

  • To understand the Bible always start with the general overview and graduate to the specific and thereby avoid bizarre nuances of doctrine and prophecy. Always consider the literal first and then the symbolic if the literal does not appear to make sense.
  • Avoid translations that are paraphrases. These books editorialize the Bible to the extreme. Generally it is also a good idea to avoid Bibles that are produced by a brand name religion. They will tend to cater to a narrow range of understanding and, in some cases, may hamper understanding. Realize that there are no known autographs (original originals) in existence today. However it is possible to approximate what may have been in the originals by drawing comparisons to various manuscripts. In the New Testament, for example, the Aland 27 is a result of comparing over 2000 Greek manuscripts. It is in Greek and English.
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