Bible Literacy: Actionable Steps

As a new believer I really struggled with understanding my Bible, much less knowing my way around it.  I think that can be true of anything that is new.  What I quickly came to realize, though, is that in order to learn I just needed to dig in.  I found myself in situations with my friends who weren’t believers where I wanted to share the gospel or defend a belief, yet I had no clue how to do either of those things.

With that being said, I know how hard it is to become biblically literate and also how important it is.  I also have learned that not everything you learn in Sunday school or hear famous pastor’s preach is true.  My nephew went to Vacation Bible School at a church in his community, and his teacher told the class that God didn’t have a gender. So, case in point, we  must be students of the Bible ourselves to be able to know the truth and how to defend it.  In case you were wondering, God is a He.  The Bible says so.

At a recent Selah Table we discussed the topic of Biblical Literacy. We went around the room as 10 women shared their struggles, accomplishments, understandings and “literacy ratings.”  As encouragement to you on your literacy journey, our highest score (one being no literacy to ten knowing everything) most women were at a 4-5.  Many of these women are women I have learned from myself.  Our highest score was a 7.  Our consensus?  The more we know, the more we realize we don’t know. One of the women tied it all together for us saying, “I think the reason we don’t know everything there is to know is because parts of God should be a mystery.”  I am one of the women who would agree that the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know about my Bible.  That compels me to want to learn even more.

Below are ways I’ve learned to study the Bible and resources that helped me grow more biblically literate.  There are many other ways to grow; this is my experience that I hope can help some of you too.  No matter how you choose to dig in, I recommend just getting started and keep learning and growing.  Remember to cover your Bible studying in prayer too.  The Holy Spirt can equip us with anything we need, we just have to ask! 

The Bible as a Whole

The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and authoritative Word of God.  As one of my Bible teachers at Downline Ministries shared, God superintended human authors and they recorded it without error.  It is wholly true, God breathed and to disbelieve or disobey the Bible is to disbelieve or disobey God.  

There are many ways to dive into the scriptures and books of the Bible.  Many folks would suggest starting with the Gospel of John, for instance, which could work.  Really, any Bible reading is great. I believe that having a solid understanding of the layout of the Bible is helpful in getting started, which is what I recommend doing first.  If I did not know anything about the Bible, I would probably start in Genesis and then become suddenly confused when I got to Job or Psalms. 

I’ve found that seeing the Bible as a whole and understanding things like: the first 17 books of the Bible are historical, then there are 5 books of poetry and then 17 books of prophecy (which also include history) in the Old Testament made reading less intimidating.  Understanding that reading the first 17 books of the Bible will give me a general idea of the history of the Old Testament changed the way I view and read scripture.  It gave me some “order” and God is a God of order, after all.  It makes sense, but sometimes you need to be taught how to make sense of it.  

Mitch Maher’s Clarifying the Bible and Max Ander’s 30 Days to Understanding the Bible is where I would start to help me get a solid understanding. These resources do a great job of giving a quick and easy way to understand the setup and layout of the whole Bible.  Some things taught in these references are that there are 66 books in the Bible and that the Bible is made up of two testaments the Old and New.  They both teach on the layout of the Bible, what books are the Gospels, Epistles and what Epistles are.  They even make some great connections on how though the Bible is 66 individual books, made up of 40 authors from various walks of life (fishermen, tax collector, shepherd, king…) it is all woven together seamlessly to create one story, proving that truly there is only one Author.  Knowing and learning this was essential for me in being able to understand how to read, defend and understand my Bible a little better.  

Book by Book

After knowing the layout and the setup of the Bible, then I recommend digging in.  This is where I would take that advice about reading John or another book of the Bible.  Whenever I study a book of the Bible I try to read through the entire book as a whole before I start breaking it down verse by verse.  I also read the information page before the text.  That page usually gives great context like who wrote the book, when it was written, who was the original audience, where was the book written at, many Epistles were written by Paul in prison, for example.  Knowing the context is so helpful in being able to understand the text as a whole.  I’ll also go to trusted commentaries to help learn a little more.  My go-to commentary is Warren Wiersbe’s or Verse by Verse Ministries, both are solid options.  

Verse by Verse

Once I’ve read the text as a whole, get an overview of the context and setting, check out my favorite commentaries, I begin to break the book down verse by verse.  Typically when studying verse by verse I’ll break my study time into studying one heading at a time, which typically covers one subject at a time.  I’ve used various methods over the years for verse by verse studying like the SOAP method, verse mapping and recently Priscilla Shirer’s 5 P’s.  There are also other methods like the inductive method and the James method (which is also like verse mapping).  A quick internet search on these different methods can show you the layout of each one and can help you determine which one is right for you.  I really am loving Priscilla Shirer’s 5 P’s right now for my verse by verse study time.  I love practical application, and this method really focuses on that; I believe that’s why I’m drawn to it.  

Summarize and Share

I find it helpful to write out a summary of the chapter after I study it.  I also save all of my Bible study notes for each chapter of the Bible in one place for easy reference.  This helps me if I want to refer back to a study, use my notes to disciple someone or answer questions and things of that nature.  I love knowing where to find each book of the Bible’s notes or get information on a particular topic that I’ve studied.  Another thing I like to do after studying the Bible is to share what I’ve learned with others.  It’s my opinion that there’s no better way to be well versed on a subject than to teach on that subject. I love hosting a group study or a “table talk” with my family on what I’ve learned.  

Closing Thoughts

Because the Bible is God’s Word and directive to us as believers we should be compelled to learn and study it.  It is a way in which He communicates with us and makes Himself known to us.  Increasing our Biblical literacy is increasing our knowledge of Him and His ways, which will inevitably compel us to share with others because of the Great Commission to make disciples.  Growing in Biblical literacy isn’t just growing in knowledge, but in knowledge of God and relationship with Him.