10 Mistakes To Avoid When Studying the Bible
Anyone interested in religious literature or the Christian faith can read and study the Bible. While many who study the Bible believe in God’s Word, that is not necessarily a requirement for successful Bible study. Before you jump into studying the Bible, though, you should know about 10 mistakes to avoid when doing so. Some of these mistakes focus more on Christian believers, but they can apply to readers of other religions or secular readers as well.
Failing To Pray Before You Start Studying
While praying before studying the Bible is important for practicing Christians, all readers should take time to reflect before reading. Prayer can help believers experience peace and get their minds off recent events and stressors before they start studying. Reflecting on why you’ve chosen to study the Bible and clearing your mind of distractions can also improve your focus while you study.
Assuming You Know the Bible Before You Start Studying
The Bible is full of famous stories. Many people already know the Christian creation story from Genesis, the encouraging story of David and Goliath, and the importance of Jesus’s birth. While this prior knowledge is helpful in some contexts, it can also prevent you from studying chosen passages more deeply. You might assume you already know what the story is about, so you merely read instead of study. No matter how much prior knowledge you have, try to come to Biblical passages with a clear mind so that you can make new discoveries.
Bringing Modern Opinions Into Your Study
Bringing a clear mind to Bible study is necessary. However, modern opinions can also cloud your judgment and understanding while studying. For example, Leviticus is full of rules for ancient Israel. It’s easy for us to bring our modern opinions to the text and think these rules are overbearing or ridiculous. However, this opinion can make it more difficult for us to appreciate the context that Jesus eventually came into. Set modern opinions aside as you initially study the Bible and bring them back later on, should you want to reflect.
Ignoring the Background Information
The Bible can stand alone as a book when you study it. However, you will better understand what you’re reading if you learn the background information behind a Biblical passage. Ask yourself who, what, when, where, and why to make sure you have all the background information you need before studying. You can also ask yourself how this passage came about to further your understanding.
Disregarding the Form
As you answer the questions that form background information, you may also find yourself asking and answering questions about the text’s form. This is good! Disregarding the form can make you miss out on key elements of the text. The author chose the form of the passage for a reason. Including this reason in your Bible study can help you dive deeper into the text. For example, many of the Psalms are songs. Why? Often, this is because David wrote many of the Psalms, and he composed music while he was tending sheep before his time as king. With this information about David and the book of Psalms, you can better experience these aspects of the Bible.
Reading Verses Without Context
Once you know the background information and understand the form, you may feel tempted to jump straight into the verses you want to study. Unfortunately, this over-eagerness is also a mistake. While you can focus your study on specific verses, you should always read the surrounding verses for context. The surrounding context will help you better understand the verses you want to focus on.
Studying the Bible Alone
As you read and study the Bible, make sure you don’t do so alone. Studying in a group of people, especially with those from different backgrounds, will create richer interpretations. If you don’t want to study with groups of people, study with books that provide differing interpretations and viewpoints. This diversity will help you dig deeper into the passage and avoid staying within your own unconscious biases.
Not Writing Notes While You Study
Some people have a great memory, so they can easily remember what they read and study. However, most people can’t. Writing notes by hand helps us remember, so it’s an important practice to do while studying. After all, you don’t want to forget what you read and learned!
Focusing on Yourself Instead of the Bible
Many believing Christians are told to ask questions about themselves when they study the Bible, such as, “How can I apply this to my life?” Even if you’re not a practicing Christian, you may still want to know how you can benefit from studying a specific passage. While the Bible is a tool for learning (Romans 15:4 KJV), that learning is only partially about us. We can learn how to make good changes in life from the Bible, but we can focus on what we’re learning about God as well.
Only Using One Bible Translation
As the KJV Store, we advocate for the KJV translation of the Bible. We believe it is the best translation. However, other translations can help illuminate a verse. While you use your KJV Bible as your primary source, you could see what the ESV or NIT says too. People new to Christianity or the KJV Bible may find this especially helpful since the KJV features older English words and phrases.
The 10 mistakes to avoid when studying the Bible start with how you approach the Bible and end with translation suggestions. While you should do your best to avoid these mistakes, we’re all human. Even if you make a study mistake, you can continue to read and study the Bible.
If you need a Bible to start studying, the KJV Store offers beautiful leather-bound Bibles you’ll love. Some of these Bibles come with helpful footnotes or wide margins for note-taking. Footnotes can function like the diverse sources we mentioned and help you develop a greater understanding of the text. Plus, note-taking space is the perfect way to keep study notes close by. Even if you chose a Bible without these features, we hope the KJV text will help you learn more about Christianity and God.
