Introduction
When it comes to your Bible study, your own beliefs are killing your understanding!
It doesn’t matter whether you are a Bible novice or expert, whether you are an Inductive Bible Study guru or whether you own the greatest study Bible.
The preconceptions you bring INTO your Bible study have more power than any method of observation you might possess.
In this article, I want to make you aware of those blind spots.
Belief #1 – Your Experience
Your experiences, good or bad, have a huge impact on how you interpret various truths of the Bible.
Does God care? listen? answer prayer? Is he good? may be questions jostling in your mind after a tragic experience. I remember more than one friend asking this in their mid-30s when they were still not married.
CAUTION: Your experience is not the best judge for whether something in the Bible is true.
This is not to say that you cannot trust any experience. Rather, it means that you cannot make it the final judge.
Belief #2 – Your Religious Tradition
We have all been deeply influenced by our church, pastor or spiritual tradition.
These influences have given us well-formed opinions on just about any topic: the trinity, women in ministry, abortion, homosexuality, parenting or relationships to name a few.
In some cases, your views may have been discouraged or frowned upon. This short-circuited your learning and may have caused doubt in your study of the Bible.
CAUTION: Beware of strongly held views on any topic. No church or pastor is correct 100% of the time.
More importantly, do not let these strong influences cloud your vision as you approach the Bible on those topics.
Belief #3 – Your Language and Culture
We are deeply cultural creatures. We interpret everything through the lens of our own culture, even things in the Bible that happened 1000s of years ago.
For example, if we read the word church in the Bible, we might imagine pews, a pulpit, a single pastor up front, choirs, Sunday school classes, etc.
But most of these concepts are FAR REMOVED from how the New Testament understands that word.
The same goes for the Bible’s view of marriage, work, charity, women, etc.
CAUTION: You cannot import your cultural and linguistic understanding into your reading of the Bible.
The Bible must be read in its own cultural and linguistic background to make any sense.
Conclusion
Your experience, religious tradition and language / culture may be letting you down in your study of the Bible. Try to minimize their impact and you will have a much better understanding as you study.
God bless the reading and study of his word.
