The
Bible contains . . . 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,176 verses, and 2,930
different characters to learn about. It is packed full of war, dialogue,
murder, spies, long distance traveling, foreign conquests, suspense, natural
catastrophes, pestilence, plagues, romance, human and animal sacrifices, and
supernatural phenomenon’s of all kinds. Not to mention that it covers a time
period that spans approximately 10,000 years of human history, was written by
40 generations, and by 40 different authors from every walk of life, including
kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars!
Together,
they implored numerous amounts of literary devices and genres, ranging from
Narratives to didactics, parables to poetry, proverbs to prophetic, Epistles to
Psalms. There is a wide assortment of motifs; everything from rags to riches,
irony to satire, artistry to drama, tragedy to heroes, epic to realism. Not to
mention the predominate focus of death to rebirth. It was written under many
different circumstances, such as in times of peace and in times of war. The
Bible is an exciting book that demonstrates a wide range of moods and human
experiences. Some were written at the climax of exuberant and inexpressible
joy, while others were written in perilous depths of despair, sorrow and
repentance.
It
was written in a variety of situations, such as dungeons, wildernesses,
palaces, inside prison walls, on remote islands, in the quiet contentment of
living rooms, and in cold dampness of dark caves. It was written in a wide
range of geographical places, like Asia, Africa, and many parts of Europe. The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew,
Aramaic and Greek.
It
is the most popular book in the world. It is most long lasting, the most owned,
the most debated, the most fought over, the most thought about, the most
written about, the most controversial, the most attacked, the most divided
over, and unfortunately, the least read. Yet, despite hundreds of diverse and
controversial subject matters, with harmony and continuity from Genesis to
Revelation, a thematic story is unfolded to reveal the redemption of man
through Jesus Christ. The Bible is boring if you do not take the time or effort
to open it up to read, study, and relate to it. The Bible is our all sufficient
guild for faith and practice! We can not live by something we do not know!
Now
isn't the number one dominating principle of good Bible Study prayer: Do we not
pray for the Holy Spirit assistance? I should think so! There seen, to me, to
be a interconnectedness between prayer and Bible Study. We should pray for
guidance of the Holy Spirit. We should pray that God would present the truth to
us by directing and guiding the your minds to applying good Bible study principles.
To guilde your mind to extract the original intended meaning of the content of
the Scriptures. We should be praying for the Holy Spirit to open your mind and
soften you heart towards the truth of Scripture. We should be Praying for the
strength and wisdom to be obedient to what you have discovered. We should be
Praying and make Psalm 119:18 your prayer, cry and heartbeat "Open my eyes
so that I might see wonderful things in Your Law!"
In
Fact, Henri J.M. Nouwen a “Catholic scholar” once stated that being ". .
.silent in the presense of our God belongs to the core of all our prayer. . .
Contemplative reading of the Holy Scriptures and silent time in the presence of
God belongs to closely together. The Word of God draws us into silence; silence
makes us attentive to God's Word. The Word of God penetrates through the thick
of human verbosity to the silent center of our heart; silence opens in us the
space where the Word can be heard. Without reading [or studying] the Word,
silence becomes stale, and without silence, the Word loses its re-creative
power. The Word leads to silence and silence to the Word. The Word is born in
silence, and silence is the deepest response to the Word" (136.). The Scriptures are the absolute authority for
faith, doctrine and life; therefore, all doctrinal, moral, ethical, and
epistemic justification for truth must be formulated from sound interpretation
of Scripture. Because the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, infallible,
divine revelation of God to man, it is the responsibility of every born again
Christian to learn, study, and obey the Word of Truth. Again, the Bible as the
absolute authority and it was upon this priciple that Luther took his stand
when he stated ". . . "Your imperial majesty and lordships demand a
simple answer! Here it is plain and unvarnished, unless I am convicted by the
testimony of Scripture or (since I put no trust in the unsupported authority of
Pope or of councils since it is plain that they have often erred and often
contradicted themselves) by manifested reasoning, I stand convicted by the
Scripture to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by the
Word of God, I cannot and will not recant anything, for an act against our
conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us. On this I take my stand, I
can do no other, may God help me.
Henri
J.M. Nouwen, Reach Out: The Three Movements Of The Spiritual Life. (New
York,New York: Dubulelay Dell Publicshing Group Inc. 1975)
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