Study (Discovery) Guides
A Simple Approach To Discovering Truth
Page 5
How to find answers in the Bible
1. Pray, asking God to show you the truth and to help you to understand it.
2. Choose a topic or a question that you want answered.
3. Look up the topic or the key word in the question, in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.
This is a large book (1,770 pp) which lists alphabetically, every word in the King James Bible. It is the fastest and most accurate way to find every scripture containing your key word.
Go to each scripture and make notes on those that are relevant to your topic or question. Look at the context of each scripture. It may address your topic directly. It may not address your topic but still apply in principle. Or it may not apply to your topic at all.
The "Blue Letter Bible" web site provides this resource on line at http://www.blueletterbible.org/
4. Look up the topic or the key word in Nave's Topical Bible.
This book is smaller than Strong's Concordance but sometimes it is more helpful. It helps by combining most if not all of the relevant scriptures by topic, including those which may not contain the key word of your search. It also cross references to related topics.
Go to each scripture and make notes on those that are relevant to your topic or question. Look at the context of each scripture to see if it applies directly, only in principle or not at all.
5. It may be helpful to organize your notes by combining the scriptures into related subgroups that answer who?, what?, when?, how?, why? and so on. Take each scriptural statement of fact and turn it into a question. Then look for other scriptures that also answer that question.
6. Avoid confusion. God is the ultimate author of the Bible but he is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).
Most religious confusion comes from "traditions" and "opinions" held by various "Christian religions" (Mat. 15:6, Mk. 7:13). If we separate "Christianity" from the Bible and just read the Bible, we leave most of the confusion behind. It also helps if we can set aside the "baggage" we bear from the religious culture around us, particularly concepts we have heard ("everybody believes this") but which we have never proved or disproved for ourselves.Considerable confusion comes from a failure to understand the precise meaning of the word or term being used. Some confusion results from a deliberate misuse of words. This is one of the contributions of politics to our culture but we have also seen it used in religious debates. The frequent use of a dictionary, preferably a large one (encyclopedic version), can overcome the confusion here.
Some confusion results from translation. Hebrew and Greek words can often mean more than one thing in English. Check Strong's Concordance for all of the meanings of the original word. The translator may not have made the best choice due to personal opinion or pressure from his sponsors. Also be aware that Strong’s is not perfect either but it is more accurate than anything else in print. (In over 30 years we have found fewer than ten errors, mostly with the numbering system.)The King James Bible (KJV) was first published in 1611. The English language has changed since then. Some words have changed in value or in meaning or become obsolete. Strong's was first published in 1890, so there is also a language difference but not as great as with the KJV.
There is always debate over which Bible is the most accurate. There are some who insist that the KJV is the only Bible that anyone should use. Others prefer various other translations because they deviate from the KJV in supporting specific doctrines held by some groups. To put it bluntly, the purpose of publishing some versions was to change certain wording in order to make the scripture appear to support certain traditions or corporate doctrines which had little or no support in the KJV.
In the history of translations, no version had more effort put into accuracy and non-bias than the KJV. Nevertheless, even it was subject to final approval by King James of England and his advisors, hence we see within it some translation choices which reflect certain prejudices against women, and prejudices in favor of kings, monarchies, and hierarchal rule within the church.
The New King James Version (NKJV) was an attempt to modernize the textural language of the KJV without changing the message. After several years of random comparisons, it appears to us, to be about 99% successful.As much as possible, let the Bible explain itself, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little" (Isa. 2:9-11). As you read, silently ask God to help you to understand what you are reading. God may change his mind, but he never contradicts himself. The "apparent contradictions" within scripture, which atheists love to point out, are simply misunderstood passages, some of which have human fingerprints on them.
Use other reference works such as Bible dictionaries, atlases, and books on Biblical culture, customs and manners to understand the context and the message.
Last of all, check a good commentary such as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (JFB). Or ask for comments from others who have some knowledge of scripture. Sometimes this can be very helpful and sometimes it just adds to the confusion.
The best understanding comes from God, through his holy spirit which works with our mind. At first, it may be difficult to distinguish between our own imagination and divine inspiration. Continue praying, continue reading and thinking about what you read, and continue asking God for understanding. Be persistent and be patient.
The more familiar one becomes with scripture, the less room there is for confusion.
Copyright M.H. and G.H. 2002 All rights reserved.
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