I am planning on making my second attempt at studying the Bible. I became discouraged when I tried doing this the first time a few years ago. I was using Tim LaHaye's book, "How To Study the Bible For Yourself".
I know some people have a problem with Mr. LaHaye to one degree or another, but as someone used to tell me, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." And I *have* benefitted from Mr. LaHaye's book. In his chapter on studying the Bible by books, he suggests starting with the epistles because of the fact that they are smaller books, and I guess that is the right way to go if one is a beginner at Bible study.
To be continued.
Bible Study - A Question About Outlining Books?
Studying by subjects are better.
This way the bible will interpet itself.
After you get thru one letter, do you really remember what it said on every subject it discussed?
This will help you avoid taking one scripture and creating a belief around it.
Reply:why is it everyone thinks they have to do things someone elses way? why dont you study for yourself the way you best know how? people are not incapable of being self-sufficient.
Reply:You took what you needed out of the book. Everytime I read the bible, different verses mean more to me.
God gives you what you need. :)
Reply:Lectio Divina is Latin for “spiritual reading” and represents an early monastic technique of prayer which continues in practice though less widely, intended to achieve communion with God as well as providing special spiritual insights and peace from that experience. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray from God's Word.
History
Lectio Divina was first expressed in the year 220 AD. It was found that to read the Bible profitably it is necessary to do so with attention, consistency and prayer. The systematization of “spiritual reading” into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book entitled “The Monk’s Ladder” (Scala Claustralium) wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI stated, “This is the ladder by which the monks ascend from earth to heaven.”
Method
Lectio is typically practiced daily for one continuous hour. A selection from the Holy Scriptures is chosen ahead of time, often as a daily progression through a particular book of the Bible.
Time
Selecting a time for lectio divina is important. Typical methods are to pray for one hour in the morning, or to divide it into two half-hour periods, one in the morning and one in the evening. The key is to pre-select the time that will be devoted to the prayer, and to keep it. Using the same time every day leads to a daily habit of prayer that becomes highly effective.
Place
The place for prayer is to be free from distractions. This means it should be isolated from other people, telephones, visual distractions, etc. Some find a religious icon to be helpful. The same place should be used for lectio if possible, especially as one first begins to practice it. Familiarity with a location reduces the possibility of distraction away from the prayer. Some practitioners conduct other devotions, such as praying before the Catholic Eucharist, as a preparation for Lectio Divina.
Preparation
Prior to reading, it is important to engage in a transitional activity that takes one from the normal state of mind to a more contemplative and prayerful state. A few moments of deep, regular breathing and a short prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer time helps to set the tone and improve the effectiveness of the lectio.
Once the stage is set it is time to begin the prayer. There are four phases of the prayer, which do not necessarily progress in an ordered fashion. One may move between different phases of the prayer very freely as the Spirit guides.
The Four Moments
Lectio
Read the passage several times.
Meditatio
Reflect on the text of the passage, thinking about how to apply to one's own life. Gravitate to any particular phrase or word that seems to be of particular import. This should not be confused with exegesis, but is a very personal reading of the Scripture and application to one's own life.
Oratio
Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. This is not primarily an intellectual exercise, but more of the beginning of a conversation with God.
Contemplatio
Listen to God. This is a freeing oneself from one's own thoughts, both mundane and holy. It is about hearing God talk to us. Opening our mind, heart and soul to the influence of God. Any conversation must allow for both sides to communicate, and this most unfamiliar act is allowing oneself to be open to hearing God speak.
The Holy Bible Douay-Rheims Version
With Challoner Revisions 1749-52
1899 Edition of the John Murphy Company
IMPRIMATUR:
James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899.
Pope Damasus assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Roman Council in 382 A.D. He commissioned St. Jerome to translate the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, which became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official version, in 1546.
The DR New Testament was first published by the English College at Rheims in 1582 A.D. The DR Old Testament was first published by the English College at Douay in 1609 A.D. The first King James Version was not published until 1611. This online DRV contains all 73 books, including the seven Deutero-Canonical books (erroneously called Apocrypha by Protestants). These seven books were included in the 1611 KJV, but not in later KJV Bibles.
The whole Douay-Rheims Bible was revised and diligently compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1749-1752 A.D. The notes included in the text were written by Dr. Challoner.
The DR Bible was photographically reproduced from the 1899 edition of the John Murphy Company, Baltimore, Maryland, by Tan Books in 1971. Eventually, this edition was optically scanned to produce a large text file which this publisher used for creating this website, with the aid of text-processing software.
One important goal of this project was to preserve the original text "as is", without making any changes in the wording, because the original text had the Imprimatur of James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dated Sept 1st 1899.
The text file was checked quite thoroughly by software written by the publisher for punctuation errors and verses out of order. The index was humanly checked for misspelled words and the corrections were made to the text. However, some spelling errors may still be present in the text. Many verses were out of order in the original file. These have been corrected.
Every effort was made to ensure that this online version is an exact match to the original printed version. No words were added or ommitted from the text, except for correcting errors caused by the scanning process. No words were rearranged. No verse numbers were changed, except in the case of Psalm 9.
Psalm 9 originally contained 21 verses and there were 2 versions of Psalm 10, numbering 1-18 and 1-8. This obviously caused a conflict, so it was decided to make the first Psalm 10 as the last part of Psalm 9 and renumber the verses 22-39. This retains the same numbering as all the Douay Rheims. Note, in the Protestant Bibles the numbering of Psalms 10 through 146 differs by one.
Reply:Although reading the Bible from cover to cover or book to book is admirable, it may not be the best way to study.
Instead, try taking a topic that you are interested in or that you have questions about and research everything that the Bible has to say on that topic. You will need a good concordance to look up texts with the topic in them. You will also find that each topic will lead into other areas of study that you can explore later, or if you wish, you can take a sideline and study them out, and then come back to the original topic of study.
In this way, the Bible will interpret itself, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, bringing you into new light, and a more comprehensive understanding of truth.
Some topics that might be of interest are:
Can we trust the Bible?
Salvation by faith
Relationship of faith and works
State of the dead
Old covenant versus new covenant
Christ's high priestly ministry
Spiritual gifts
Speaking in tongues
The second coming of Christ
Developing Christian love
The love of God
The justice of God
Hell fire
The judgment
Prophecy
There are many others. Once you have studied, you will begin to develop a picture of God that is consistent with what the Bible reveals. Anything that does not coincide with what the Bible says about God is either out of context or otherwise misinterpreted. Compare verse with verse, line upon line, precept upon precept. The Bible will interpret itself. For instance what if you wanted to study who Michael was in the Bible? First you look up all the texts that refer to Michael. You find out that He is the archangel. Next you would look up all the texts about the archangel. Then you would compare the texts. For instance:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 states that:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
John 5:25 states:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Therefore, we see that the voice of the archangel raises the dead and the voice of the Son of God raises the dead. Because Michael is the only archangel mentioned in the Bible, we can deduce that Michael is another name for Christ. The other texts confirm that Michael is the Prince who stands for His people, the captain of the heavenly host, the One who disputed with Satan over the body of Moses, the One who fought and expelled Satan from heaven.
I use the KJV because I believe it to be the most accurate translation. Good luck and God bless as you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Reply:Your name illustrates the power of the first birthday gift your parents gave you. All your life, no matter where you are, when you hear your name, it grabs your attention, even if the person may be calling for someone else who shares the same name.
The power in our names helps us understand and appreciate the power of Jesus's name. His name awes and humbles us and draws us like no other. The power of His name saves us (Acts 4:12) and tells us about the uniqueness and power of His name.
As you grow in the Christian life it is important to continue studying the Bible regularly. One of the tools that I used when studying scripture was a Bible study course I took through the mail. It was very helpful and they also graded my correspondence. There was no pressure and I did it on my own time. You too, can obtain the correspondence by visiting this page:
http://www.wbschool.org
or write to: Donna Lough, 303 so. Columbia, Columbia, IL. 62236 USA
And sometimes when I was experiencing difficulty I would go to this page for Answers to tough Bible questions:
http://www.christiananswers.com
Good studying and you are on the right track. God Bless
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