10 Principles for Reading the Bible

1. Read with doxology.
   “Doxology” means worship. We read Scripture keeping God and his story at the center of our thoughts and not ourselves. This means we first ask, “What does this say about God, his will, his nature, and his story?” before we ask, “How does this apply to me?” Always keep Christ at the center and be amazed by how great he is as revealed in the text.

2. Read contextually.
   We respect the unique cultural contexts and time periods in which the Bible’s various books are written. We don’t read Scripture with a Western, post-Enlightenment 21st century mindset. Remember that the Gospels are in the context of the 1st century Roman Empire province of Judea 2,000 years ago, and many other texts were written even centuries before that. So we put ourselves into the shoes of the original readers and hearers, within their worldview, and use the principles and lessons they teach to give us wisdom for our own day.
   

   Some teachings may be immediately applicable (ex: “love one another” or “forgive one another”) while others require context and should be followed with regards to the principle but perhaps not directly (ex: “greet one another with a holy kiss” or Paul’s injunctions against “braided hair and gold or pearls”).
   

3. Read with continuity.
   We should read paragraphs, and not verses. “Memory verses” are good and helpful but they don’t exist in a vacuum. The Bible is not a list of one-liners. Scripture is often long stretches of sustained arguments, or long stretches of narrative. As a wise person one said, “text without context is pretext for a proof text”. In our teaching and discussion, if we merely quote verses without understanding or giving the overall context, it shows lack of honesty or ability on our part in rightly dividing God’s word.
   

4. Read with community.
   Scripture is meant to be read in community among God’s people. God’s book is for God’s people. We are supposed to gather and discuss, debate, learn and struggle together as we seek God’s will so that we can carry out our mission with unity and conviction. A lot of Scriptural misunderstanding can also be corrected by reading God’s word together. By all means, read and meditate on Scripture alone, but this can never replace communal reading.
   

5. Read with totality.
   Scripture is not just one book but 66 books telling one story. A balanced Biblical worldview requires us to believe in all of Scripture, not just the ones we are comfortable with. Read all of Scripture, even the uncomfortable sections. In fact, those places that make us feel uncomfortable are often the places we need to dwell in the most, because that discomfort indicates a part of our lives that still need shaping by the chisel of God’s word. We must also read everything in Biblical balance and proportion; this means that whatever Scripture emphasizes as of major importance, we also must emphasize as important. Conversely, whatever Scripture does not emphasize, we must not turn into a major emphasis in our doctrinal standards.
   

6. Read with church history.
   Remember that many have read the same Bible before, asked the same questions before, and struggled with the same issues before. God has blessed us with a multitude of wise, pastoral, and scholarly teachers with integrity over the millennia. We need to be humble and respect the wisdom of the past. When in doubt, it is safer to stay within the mainstream of Christian teaching. Not only will you lessen the likelihood of believing something that is false, you also lessen the likelihood of believing in something that is dangerously false. Christ promised to guide his Church through the Spirit and will preserve the church from dangerous error.

7. Read scholarly.
   We must do the work in rightly dividing God’s word. We must seek to know the truth, and not just to support our previous positions. We come into the text seeking first to understand its plain meaning within its context before we read it through the lens of established theological systems.
   
   We must do proper research regarding each work’s genre, time period, audience, purpose, and cultural context. For example, we don’t pretend that poetry is prose or that prose is poetry. We don’t immediately jump to assume that different authors use the same word in the same way. We make distinctions between requirements of the Old Covenant from the New Covenant. We must always refer to the original languages for clarity when translations are unclear. We read trusted scholars and commentaries throughout church history to see how others have interpreted the same text.
   
   We must not misrepresent a text by either making it seem clear when it is obscure or or making it seem obscure when it is clear. And when there is a question that we are unsure of the answer, we must have the integrity to accept that we don’t know.
   

8. Read slowly and prayerfully.
   Reading Scripture is not merely a race to finish all 66 books in a year (although that is a good goal). Scripture is meditation for wisdom, and this happens through long walks in the morning after reading the Psalms. God forms us through his Word through the slow rumination of the book of James’ teaching on the relationship between faith and works, and reflecting on the nature of love in 1 Corinthians 13. As God speaks to us, we speak back to him in prayer, asking him for wisdom so that we can understand and be changed by his Spirit through his Word. We must always have a humble heart that is ready for formation and correction.
   

9. Read practically.
   While ruminating on the nature of the Trinity is important, God cares more about your love for neighbor than your ability to explain the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union. God’s word makes some scholars, but it makes all of us disciples who are his hands and feet in the world. We are Christ’s ambassadors. We get our instruction from Scripture, but instruction without action is insubordination. We must read in order that we may know how to love our neighbor better.
   

10. Read relationally.
    Scripture exists that we may know God more and be shaped by him and grow in our relationship with him, that we may love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Ultimately, reading Scripture is an experience of communion with the Father, Son and Spirit. Everything else is in service to this one goal.