Why are so many Christians biblically illiterate?

[Depleted]

It takes discipline to study. not mny people are prepared to spend the time as 3score has said, the other half think they have a direct line and dont need to study.

For those afraid of the word "discipline," please remember you have the rest of your life to see who God is, but the rest of your life really does start today. If the whole Bible scares you, how about just learning a few verses? (Learn doesn't mean memorize. It means understand.) And then tomorrow, learn the next verses. It's not as scary as it seems, and well worth the effort.

 

[Depleted]

You've had a few more trips around the sun than I have, have been in the faith much longer than I have, and it's easy for you to say "don't just read, study". How? Where? With whom? I'm more than open to studying, but my options for that in-person are extremely limited in my area, and from what I've seen on these forums the past couple of weeks, I wouldn't trust enough people here to not lead me completely astray were I to get into an online study course through these forums.

If you want, you can send me a PM with your advice so we don't derail this thread.

esword -- one stop shopping, (and it's free) for all the Bible versions, commentaries, dictionaries, and bible aids you can use.

(If you want to know who to trust for commentaries, ask. You'll get many opinions but you'll know the core of what we the majority agree with.)

 

[hornetguy]

May I carefully warn that most commentaries are denomination salesmen promoting their skewed doctrinal stands. Pray much. Go with a Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance.

Your warning is well said. I would go a step further and say that anything we read, other than scripture, SHOULD be taken as opinion only... the same as when we study together. Learning is a process, and it involves hearing other (sometimes contrary) viewpoints. That's why it is of utmost importance to pray for the Spirit to guide you and give you understanding in your study. The commentaries are just a good "jumping off point"... but many times they provide good, historical background which would be difficult to find simply by reading the scripture.

 

[Depleted]

Why? Because many have had the f@!$%!!@#@~! Pre-trib rapture crammed down their throats to the point where: "I don't have to read/study/know the Bible......Cuz, I'm gonna be OUTTA HERE!!"

......And?...You ever tried to tell someone something when they already know it all? Er werser BELIEVE they know it all?

Sooo, thank God you're here to give us this to know?

(Why is it always everyone else's fault and/or problem?)

 

[Depleted]

Many are bible illiterate because they approach the bible as if it was an assortment of stories rather than seeing the central theme and all else like spokes on a wheel pointing to that central hub.

Real question: What do they do with all those laws, all those prophecy sections, and all those hymns and proverbs sections that dump "story" to the side for chapters and chapters, or even, sometimes, books?

 

[Depleted]

Can I quote you?

View attachment 144334

Writer reaction:
Pffft, too purple prose. He'll never get published writing like that. lol

 

[Billyd]

Does anyone here actually feel that they are Biblically literate?

I have spent most of my life reading and studying the Bible. The more that I study it, the more I realize just how Biblically illiterate I really am. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't discover something new.

 

[Depleted]

Reading the bible is a good thing but most start out and quit because they are going about it all wrong. Certain parts of the bible can be very tedious to read.

Reading the bible is not about getting through it in a given period of time or multiple times in a year. Reading the bible is about taking the time to read with understanding and comprehension. It requires that it be read prayerfully and meditated upon to allow God to change our hearts.

How many times have we read a passage that we are very familiar with and God reveals some small detail that we never considered before?

Study through your bible don't just read through the bible. Pray over your bible and ask the Lord to give you something from it everyday. Something that you need and that will be a blessing.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

Something that shocked me a few months ago -- that golden calf wasn't made to worship another god. They made it because they wanted something to look at to see the God they were following. They problem was God JUST told them not to do that! I've read that many times before, but still was caught up in the Charlton Heston version of that story.

Even we literates can still learn biblical literacy way into our later years.

 

[Depleted]

Naturally, I've read all the Bible... that seems to be one of the proper and expected things you do when you become a Christian... at least in the churches I grew up in. But, I never got as much out of doing that as I did topical or word studies. I just didn't stop to search and research and cross-reference when I was doing that marathon reading.

And I spent so many decades doing word studies and topic studies that I forgot the main story. lol

 

[Depleted]

I would suggest you visit a bookstore, or a library, and get a commentary, or study book on one of the Gospels. Start there. The book of John is especially good, as it deals with how believers should love one another. Commentaries are good, in that you are getting someone else's (usually a true Bible scholar) understanding, and you can compare it with what YOU understand when you read it.
If you run into questions that pertain to the Old Law, or something that happened in the OT, then you can research that tangent, then come back to the Gospels.... those books are the TRUE good news about Jesus, and who He was. From there you can go into the letters to the early churches, or read the Acts of the apostles. All of that helps to explain, and build on the first 4 books... the good news.
While the OT is good and valuable to read, and has all the background about WHY Jesus came, and why it was necessary, the NT is what impacts our lives, and our understanding the most.

As someone with five bookcases (not shelves -- cases!) of those books, I disagree. In this era, it's cheaper and easier to get the same references online.

 

[Willie-T]

Something that shocked me a few months ago -- that golden calf wasn't made to worship another god. They made it because they wanted something to look at to see the God they were following. They problem was God JUST told them not to do that! I've read that many times before, but still was caught up in the Charlton Heston version of that story.

Even we literates can still learn biblical literacy way into our later years.

There are thousands of things we read, and read, and read...... until that one time when we have finally experienced enough of life to truly SEE what was written.

 

[Willie-T]

And I spent so many decades doing word studies and topic studies that I forgot the main story. lol

Yeah, that can sure happen, too.

 

[Grace777x70]

That is so true...I can't tell you how many times I have read the same scripture...and then the Holy Spirit brings revelation to it and then I say to myself...why didn't I see that?.....but revelation is like that isn't it?....when we try to interpret the scriptures by our minds only is where we "create religious traditions".

..then when someone comes with a different view of that scripture...they go berserk and cry " false teacher"...you are going against all of church history ( which is not true but they say that for emphasis to try to make what is being said sound wrong )...

just like the very same thing that happened to Martin Luther when he said "The just shall live by faith"....the "church" at the time was doing the same thing for about 1200 years...the religious people of his day tried to kill him for saying something different...selah

There are thousands of things we read, and read, and read...... until that one time when we have finally experienced enough of life to truly SEE what was written.

 

[gb9]

That is so true...I can't tell you how many times I have read the same scripture...and then the Holy Spirit brings revelation to it and then I say to myself...why didn't I see that?.....but revelation is like that isn't it?....when we try to interpret the scriptures by our minds only is where we "create religious traditions".

..then when someone comes with a different view of that scripture...they go berserk and cry " false teacher"...you are going against all of church history ( which is not true but they say that for emphasis to try to make what is being said sound wrong )...

just like the very same thing that happened to Martin Luther when he said "The just shall live by faith"....the "church" at the time was doing the same thing for about 1200 years...the religious people of his day tried to kill him for saying something different...selah

always keep in mind people, " religion " has a strong control factor, and the same control is desired by some today as it was those who tried to silence Luther all those years ago.

 

[Grace777x70]

That is so true..it is all about control as you say...actually this guys talks about Luther, religion and control...in the first few minutes of the video..

[video=vimeo;11804054]https://vimeo.com/11804054[/video]

always keep in mind people, " religion " has a strong control factor, and the same control is desired by some today as it was those who tried to silence Luther all those years ago.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

always keep in mind people, " religion " has a strong control factor, and the same control is desired by some today as it was those who tried to silence Luther all those years ago.

I guess you mean like Luther and company tried to silence their opposition?

 

[JaumeJ]

The Holy Spirit is not concerned with any individual's literacy.

I have learned valuable lessons from people whom one may consider illiterate. At first when one spoke to me on the subject of God's Word my mind was indeed ready to scoff, but not after hearing them.

I believe what the post should be asking is why to so many who read the Word give erroneous interpretations demonstrating just how littele has been understood, purporting a very misguided albeit well intentioned interpretation of words out of context or simply misunderstood.

 

[Depleted]

May I carefully warn that most commentaries are denomination salesmen promoting their skewed doctrinal stands. Pray much. Go with a Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance.

Although I think you shewed enough by yourself here to promote your own brand of doctrine, that's why I go with several commentaries. I tend to weigh what they all think and then make up my own mind. If they agree, cool. If they don't, that's when it's time to think it over. (Or not. More than once they were disagreeing on so much I-really-don't care stuff.)

 

[Depleted]

The NT body of believers grew because the apostles made disciples of others, raising them up with the ability to teach others . . . those disciples then in turn raised up others . . . then those raised up others . . . etc. I don't believe that most churches do that anymore. I was in my 30's before I ever even knew what a concordance/lexicon was - never even knew how to study nor was ever told to study on my own. I think there is more knowledge available now but even in church; there's not many I see that even crack a Bible to follow along with the sermon!

I tend not to follow along in a Bible because by the time I find the page, the teacher already read the portion, I missed it, and then I miss what he says about it, because I'm trying to read what I missed. lol

 

[Depleted]

Your warning is well said. I would go a step further and say that anything we read, other than scripture, SHOULD be taken as opinion only... the same as when we study together. Learning is a process, and it involves hearing other (sometimes contrary) viewpoints. That's why it is of utmost importance to pray for the Spirit to guide you and give you understanding in your study. The commentaries are just a good "jumping off point"... but many times they provide good, historical background which would be difficult to find simply by reading the scripture.

So, if a scholar spends decades studying the verses, the original setting, the original language, the original idioms, metaphors, parables, and then has the expertise to explain it to us morons who didn't bother spending decades learning that stuff that intently, we still shouldn't trust them because they're just opinions? When does scholarly pursuit finally land into "expertise" then?