Ep. 14 - My Favorite Books on How to Study the Bible
Episode Transcript
Ep. 14 - My Favorite Books on How to Study the Bible
[00:00:00] JC Schroeder: Hello friends. In today's episode, I'm going to share some of my favorite books for how to study the Bible. I've got some great recommendations for believers that want to learn more about how to study the Bible and to be better equipped to interpret God's word. I have recommendations from a real entry level, all the way to some more detailed resources. I'm JC Schroeder. And welcome to Bite Size Seminary.
[00:00:22]
[00:00:22] Introduction
[00:00:22] JC Schroeder: Now as we begin these recommendations. Let me just say, there are a wealth of resources. There are so many good books out there for us to utilize. And I just firmly believe that all of us believers should do as much as we can to study God's word, to understand what the Lord is saying to us and to know him deeply through his word. And we're so blessed to live in a [00:01:00] time and in a place, where we have such great resources that give us that ability. So here I have my list of some of my favorite resources for learning that process of how to study the Bible better.
[00:01:14] Now, these are just my favorites. You may have other favorites and that's great. And there's a lot of great resources out there and I kind of have to pare down my list, but I just found that these are my favorites that I turn to frequently and enjoy recommending. So, that's why they made my list. So hopefully this type of list is helpful for you to know what books to check out that might be beneficial, as well as maybe some books that you can recommend to someone else, if they're looking for something.
[00:01:43] So the way I broke down my list here is on three levels of books. I have a real entry level sort of book. I have a more general introduction to how to study the Bible and then an intermediate level of books.
[00:01:59] Entry Level
[00:01:59] JC Schroeder: The first [00:02:00] level, I'm just going to call an entry level. I wasn't sure quite what to call it. It's for anyone. This could be someone who knows very little about how to study the Bible. It could be for someone who does know a lot about how to study the Bible, but needs to learn how to express that and how to teach this to someone who doesn't know how to study the Bible. It could just be a helpful review of how to read more carefully and slowly and how to look for different aspects. So, that's this level, that's kind of what I'm going for here. This could be for anyone.
[00:02:36] And my choice for this level is the book called Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks. This is such a great book, and it's a fantastic book on how to learn how to observe Scripture and to read Scripture for yourself. They really use the inductive approach to [00:03:00] Scripture where you're just asking lots of questions of the text and trying to see all, see the texts from a variety of different angles. I really appreciate this book because it takes how to study the Bible, which can be a very complicated and difficult subject, and brings it down to a very manageable system or way of approaching Scripture of just being observant of the text, like a good detective and just asking lots of questions. You don't need to know Greek. You don't need to know Hebrew. You don't need some advanced degree to really get a lot out of Scripture. You just need to pay attention to what Scripture says. And so Howard and William Hendricks, they really emphasize the skills that's needed to pay attention to Scripture.
[00:03:52] And what I like about it is that it's a super easy read. Any level could read this. You could have a teenager, a [00:04:00] young teenager even read this or someone who just knows, who's not good at reading who doesn't enjoy reading. They can get into this book. It's very practical. There's lots of charts. There's lots of examples, even. And sometimes even those examples can be almost devotional because it's just bringing out the text of Scripture and go, oh, I've never seen that before. So this is a very practical book, lots of actionable steps. Here's what you do at this point. Here's the types of things that you look for. Here's why this is important. Very good.
[00:04:32] So two main strengths about this book: is the emphasis on observation and the emphasis on application. How do we see what is in Scripture? And then how do we take that and apply that to our lives? And the authors do this in a really easy to understand manner. Now, one downside perhaps of this book, and this is just maybe the reality of who this book is for and what this book is, [00:05:00] is that it's not good on the technical aspects of interpretation or the theory behind how we interpret. But it's not that kind of book. So it doesn't get bogged down into those details. What it excels at is just those basic reading skills that we need in order to read Scripture well. So, if you're looking for that entry level sort of book, if you're looking for, how do I get more out of my reading of Scripture, this is a great place to start.
[00:05:28] Introduction Level
[00:05:28] JC Schroeder: The second level that I want to look at is an introduction level. Maybe this is counterintuitive to the entry level. But here I have in mind, a different type of book that is a more traditional introduction to how to study the Bible. In this level, I'm kind of thinking of what's one book that someone needs to get all the different aspects of how to study the Bible. So, some of these are textbooks that might be used in a classroom setting. They can also be used [00:06:00] for personal reading. But they can also be used and are probably intended as textbooks. Now I have my favorite choice, and then I have a couple of honorable mentions as well in this category.
[00:06:13] My favorite book is called Grasping God's Word. And it's written by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hayes. And this is just a really fantastic book. Now, I will say that it is a little thick. It comes in around 500 pages. So it's no slouch. It's not a easy, quick read. But the authors are very easy to understand, and they take some really difficult concepts and they boil that down, break it down in a very digestible manner. And it's very easy to read. They share lots of illustrations and examples. And even just down to earth way of presenting it. There's no snootiness in the text [00:07:00] that comes across at any rate. And I find this is the best intro and the best kind of all around resource. It's the type of resource that, even though it's 500 pages, it's great to have on your shelf because you can pull it off at different points on specific issues that you are dealing with or thinking about.
[00:07:19] It covers some of those basic reading strategies, like we saw in the previous book, Living by the Book, where it talks about how do you actually observe and pay attention to the text well. So it takes a lot of those strengths of the entry-level book and it brings those in as well. So you're getting that bang for your buck as well. But along with it, you get an introduction to the theory of interpretation, because there's a lot of complexity that goes into our interpretation and even our application of Scripture. And so Grasping God's Word presents us with some of those complexities, and how we should approach those issues.
[00:07:58] It discusses higher [00:08:00] level concepts, like what is it mean to mean something. What are our own perspectives that we bring to the text? Really in an easy to understand sort of fashion. As well as just sort of a basic strategy of how to approach scripture. And what steps do I follow in actually interpreting Scripture. They have this really helpful metaphor for conceptualizing interpreting scripture as a journey. And so in that journey, you first have to understand the text in their town, in the biblical authors town, before we can then bring it into our town to understand what it is saying to us.
[00:08:41] Now, one of the other aspects of this book, which is really helpful, is that in the second half of the book it goes through and describes and explains each different type of biblical genre that we see. So it describes how should we approach wisdom literature. How should we [00:09:00] approach the Gospels or the law? And that can be very helpful because if we just have the basic sort of interpreting Scripture, that's good and well, but there are specific interpretive issues in each specific genre that we have to know about and deal with as we approach those specific genres. So it's a helpful introduction to those genres. And so as a full on package, it's just a great resource to have.
[00:09:27] Now one con to this book is that it's a little big. You know, 500 pages and it's a little pricey. Uh, I maybe $30, $40. I'm not sure what it is now, depending on your location, where you get it, all that. And it reads a little bit like a textbook, but it is just, the one-stop shop for a book on how to study the Bible and do that well.
[00:09:48] Now I have a honorable mention in this category as well, and that is How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. This is a really good book as well. It uses [00:10:00] a bit of a different strategy in teaching how to interpret the Bible, then what Grasping God's Word has. That kind of has a more systematic approach of here's the different skills to read scripture well. Here's some of the theory for how to approach scripture and how to understand this process of interpretation. And then deals with the various genres. How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth is really helpful in that it spends more time dealing with the different genres. So it has less emphasis on reading skills. In fact, though, that's really not emphasized at all in this book. And doesn't really deal with the specific systematic approach to interpreting, of the theory of interpretation. It really just emphasizes those different genres and how we should interpret those specific genres. So that theory of interpretation is sprinkled throughout in the different genres, which is really helpful. This is also a bit of a shorter book, coming in just under 300 pages. And it's very readable as well. And [00:11:00] so just more emphasis on the genres and a bit more expansive information than what's in Grasping God's Word. But again, I like Grasping God's Word just because it's a one-stop shop, but this is a nice, helpful secondary book.
[00:11:14] Another honorable mention is Basic Bible Interpretation by Roy Zuck. I really liked this book as well. It was tremendously influential on me and starting this journey of seeking to understand Scripture better. It's a very helpful, traditional presentation on how to study the Bible. Some sections though are kind of dry and can get bogged down in some of the details. But, it's just a really helpful, helpful book. Uh, that I've really enjoyed. So another honorable mention in this introduction level.
[00:11:44] Intermediate Level
[00:11:44] JC Schroeder: Now for the third category, the intermediate level. And my absolute favorite in this category is a book called Scripture as Communication by Jeannine Brown. Now the subtitle of this book is "introducing biblical hermeneutics." So we might be tempted to [00:12:00] put it in the introduction level, but really when we get into it, it is a little bit more of an intermediate, at least maybe it's just me. It's intermediate for me.
[00:12:08] It gives an really good overall presentation of how to interpret and apply Scripture. It deals with some of the theory. Deals with some of the steps in how to approach Scripture and then interpret Scripture, very practical in some regards. And then also, how do we apply Scripture. So really well-rounded. Where this book really shines is on its theory of interpretation. So the first few chapters of this book are pretty deep and they're not dense, but they are deep. And, uh, you'll have to have your thinking cap on for some of them, but it is really, really good. And what I like about this book is that it deals with concepts at a higher level than what we found in Grasping God's Word. And it really takes a lot of the concepts and perspectives and engagement with material that [00:13:00] you'd find in a more advanced type of book and brings them to this intermediate level.
[00:13:06] I find this emphasis on theory to be really helpful because many Christians would assume that we can read the texts, understand what is, the author means. And then we can understand what the text is seeking to tell us. But many people in our world don't have that perspective. So Jeannine Brown in Scripture as Communication really defends that traditional authorial intent of Scripture. Where we are going at, what does the author intending to communicate. And in order to understand Scripture, you have to understand that it is a communicative act that God is communicating with the original readers as well as us as we read. So, really goes against that sort of subjective understanding of meaning that you can make a text mean whatever you want it to mean. So I find that [00:14:00] aspect of this book to be tremendously helpful in dealing with those sorts of issues that something like Grasping God's Word does deal with, but it only gives you one chapter, one or two chapters on that. And other books don't really emphasize this as much. So this is pretty higher level, more advanced material that's brought into that intermediate level, which is very, very helpful.
[00:14:23] After that first hundred pages or so on theory, Jeannine Brown talks about how we actually go through this process of interpreting Scripture. And so she goes through three main genres, doesn't deal with every genre, but three main ones that we're typically going to find in Scripture, such as poetry, narrative, and letters. And she gives a variety of examples and approaches, and it's just really helpful. And her discussion of application is also very strong because sometimes we think of application as we read it. Now we figured out what it means, and then we do it. And there are many passages where we do that, but there are [00:15:00] also many passages where it's very nuanced and we have to be very careful in the way that we are applying Scripture. And so she presents a more theoretical framework to our application of Scripture. So she's really strong on the theory as well as helpful of actually, how do we do this process. So that's why this is my favorite at the intermediate level. And I use it as a textbook. And I just think it's really, really helpful.
[00:15:28] Now a couple honorable mentions at this intermediate level is a book called New Testament Exegesis by Gordon Fee. He was the author of How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth or one of the authors. And so he has the secondary book on just New Testament exegesis, of how to study the New Testament. And it's really helpful as well. It's very good on showing the process for each New Testament genre. He has really great outlines of do this step next, this step next, wait on this step. And that can be just very helpful in how it's laid [00:16:00] out. And it's a helpful resource to go back and like, okay, what am I supposed to do now? So I really appreciate that. He also shows how do I integrate this material with the Greek of the New Testament. It can be used just as in English, but also there's a Greek element. And then there's a lot of good resources that he recommends in the book. I like this book. It's very helpful. It's shorter book. It's only about 150 pages, so not very long.
[00:16:25] One final honorable mention, in the intermediate category, is a book called Exegetical Fallacies by D. A. Carson. And this is another short book. It's is, I don't know, 140 pages, something like that. And what he does here in this book is that he talks about different mistakes that people make in studying Scripture and seeks to correct those mistakes. This can be a very helpful exercise, because if we're not thinking about the type of mistakes that we make, we're just going to keep making them. So it is helpful. The one downside I would say to this book is that it [00:17:00] can come across too negative. So you've really got to balance this one out with the other ones, which are more positive in their presentation of the material.
[00:17:07] But I have really appreciated Carson's Exegetical Fallacies, and it's a worthy read.
[00:17:13] Advanced Level
[00:17:13] JC Schroeder: Now if you are really looking for an advanced book, and this is a really advanced book, that is helpful and strong on the theory of interpreting Scripture is by Kevin Vanhoozer and it's called, Is There Meaning in This Text? So, if you're looking for bonus pro level advanced sort of level type book, that's a really strong resource to look at. But holy cow, you need your thinking cap on for that one. Uh, it is a not an easy read. If you're looking for some of that material on a more approachable level, that's where Jeannine Brown's Scripture as Communication really comes in. But if you do want that extra advanced level, that's one resource worth checking out.
[00:17:53] Conclusion
[00:17:53] JC Schroeder: So anyways, those are my favorite books on how to study the Bible. I hope this is maybe a helpful [00:18:00] resource, helpful list of what resources to check out. Or at least what you should look for in a book.
[00:18:06] That's all I have for today. If you did make it this far though, would you mind giving a review either on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify? And just so you know, too, you can sign up to receive episodes emailed directly to you. You can do that on my website at bitesizeseminary.com. And if you want to connect with me, you can do so on my website. Or you can connect with me on Twitter or Facebook. All of the links are in the show notes below as well as links to the various books that we mentioned here. And I would just say that the best resource for studying the Bible is to actually just pick up the Bible and hear God's voice in it. And hopefully these resources will help bring out what the Lord is saying to us. That's all I got for today. Thanks for listening.