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| Because the inspired directives of the Bible take first priority in the Christian's life, every Christian home should be equipped to investigate God's word thoroughly. There are multiple aids to Bible study. These aids are needed because few people have the ability to commit the Bible to memory or even to remember all of the scriptures about particular subjects. The categories of aids are: | ||
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| Attitude
Before we discuss these aids we must mention the most important aid of all: our attitude. We should approach the scriptures with an open mind and a scientific detachment. That is, we need to put our prejudices aside and seek to find the message given us by the Holy Spirit through the writings we call the Bible. We should want to hear out the Spirit as we study and learn. Our first concern should be to discover the message from God, not necessarily to prove old beliefs. It is well if the old beliefs withstand scrutiny, but if they do not, we must not fear to change to become in accordance with God's will. |
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| Bible
Translations
The translation of the Bible that we choose is nearly as important as our attitude. Multitudes of translations are available, but not all of these are considered to be good. Here we must understand the difference between a standard work and a private translation. Standard works are done by many men, not just a few. These men work both independently and collectively to produce a translation in which tendencies toward independent prejudice of meaning have been neutralized by counter opinion within the group. Thus, both common man and Greek and Hebrew language scholars have reliable access to the words and meaning as presented by the original writers. Recommendations:
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| Private Translations
Private translations are those Bibles or testaments produced by comparatively small groups of men or by individuals. Avoid these translations because of a general tendency for them to promote the translator's personal bias or the doctrines of his particular denomination. Some of these are:
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| Topical
Bibles
Topical Bibles are arrangements of scripture in order of subject. Although they are very useful, they must be used cautiously since they are subject to the same error as are private Bible translations, that of bias due to the prejudice of the editor. |
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| Concordances
Concordances are alphabetical listings of most of the words used in the Bible. Each word is listed in its order or occurrence in the Bible and each is displayed with enough of the wording with which it is used that identification of usage and context can be made. Topical studies can easily be developed using concordances, and particular scriptures whose wording is but partially remembered can be located. Recommendations:
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| Dictionaries
Dictionaries are, as you know, alphabetical listings of words. Modern English Dictionaries are, however, not useful in Bible study since words change their meaning across the barriers of time, distance and language. Bible dictionaries are needed. These define words in accord with their meaning at the time of original use. Recommendations:
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| Commentaries
Commentaries contain verse by verse analysis of the scriptures. That is, the authors explain the meaning of each scripture. Unfortunately, no commentary exists which is the result of a collective group effort such as is done in the making of standard Bible translations. All commentaries are done by a single man or a small group of men which makes these study aids very dangerous to use because of the possibility of denominational or personal bias. Always try to understand the verse in question by the use of correlative scriptures and other aids before resorting to the use of a commentary. Recommendations:
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Bicky Lawson
Webmaster 06/30/00 |