Mark WardMany Christians are faithful Bible readers, but they feel stuck when it comes to Bible study. After you’ve read a Bible passage once, and then read it again, what do you do to study it? Um, read it again? And then what? Looking at a commentary or...
My most influential mentor always told his charges that Bible teachers come to the text with one of two questions: either 1) “What can I say about this?” Or 2) “What does this say?” He saw these questions as a continental divide, and he urged us to...
In honor of National Read a Book Minute—which, sadly, is dwarfed in popularity by the annual celebration of International Watch TV Year—I want to teach you how to highlight a book. I went through more years of formal education than is really proper...
I love the Jesus Storybook Bible, because it thrills me to think that my kids might grasp the central storyline of Scripture long before the age at which I did. And the colors and textures are cool. And I like a little whimsy in text and...
I’m bad at reading the Bible quickly or in big chunks. I’m always getting stopped by interesting little questions (and interesting big ones). Here’s a representative example: Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people...
I was trying to turn Psalm 1 into a singable song for the Bible club boys (6th grade on up) from the neighborhoods around my church. These were not young men with extensive church backgrounds and full-ride scholarships to elite Sunday schools. Their...
For several weeks I’ve been trying to End Bible Translation Tribalism. I’m urging Christians not to make our good Bible translations into rallying points or battle flags for internecine warfare. Instead, we members of Christ’s body should recognize...
I enjoyed my Hebrew courses. I like languages. And one of the first big rewards of learning Hebrew is translating a small book like Jonah or Ruth. I say it’s a reward, because it is fun; you get a sense of satisfaction that you’ve actually learned...
The New Testament’s use of the Old Testament has been described as the “master problem” of Christian theology. Jesus’ and Paul’s words on the subject are direct and, in a way, simple: Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law but to “fulfill” it (Matt...
I want people who study the Bible to stop asking, “What’s the best Bible translation?” and feel free to use all the good translations we have. It’s what I called, last week, Ending Bible Translation Tribalism. In my vision of the ideal world...
I am on a mission to end Bible Translation Tribalism. If you don’t know what I mean by “Translation Tribalism,” see if any of these tribal stereotypes (some borrowed from another blogger) ring true for you: The NIV 2011 is the Bible of the broad...
Most of the skills involved in good Bible reading are things people do intuitively anyway. So why bother reading a Bible study magazine or purchasing Bible software—plus all the resources (commentaries, books, hermeneutics manuals) that make that...
In George Marsden’s brand new “biography” of C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity (part of Princeton University Press’s “Lives of Great Religious Books” series), Marsden offers a thorough round-up of opinion on Lewis’ famous “trilemma.” Lewis said to...
Out of the inscrutable neuron maelstroms we know as “the brains of small children,” there often come what speech pathologists call “the darnedest things.” My kindergartener said yesterday—and I promise I have no idea where this came from—“What if...
Exodus 20:15 is pretty practical: “Thou shalt not steal.” There are complexities, there are always complexities whenever fallible and finite people like us try to apply God’s norms to our situations. But for the most part, we Bible readers feel we...
If you’re the kind of Christian who is now wondering, “Here’s another Easter; what part of the Bible do I study/teach this year?”—then let me admit that I’m in the same boat. I’ve got to write a blog post about Easter; where do I go? Let’s steer...
Why is the most important Christian holiday not mentioned by name in the Bible? Actually, the word “Easter” does appear in the Bible, but only once—and only in one translation. Among all major English translations of the Scripture, only the King...
One fine South Carolina day my little family was driving down the road listening to the radio, and on came “Rudy Mancke’s Nature Notes,” a delightful little minute-long feature by a local naturalist who talks about flora and fauna in the Palmetto...
The High Definition Commentary on James has just been released.Here’s what I like about the idea of the High Definition Commentary, which focuses on the field of “Discourse Grammar”: this field (and this commentary) does for a somewhat unfamiliar...
Sometimes you have this question about the Bible, this burning desire to know. And you want to know what the whole thing has to say about that question. Ideally, you’d have a year to read through the whole of Scripture, marking it up and taking...
Last week I asked a question that struck a chord in readers. I promised that your answer to that question would “reveal everything you believe about the Old Testament.” Who knew so many people cared so deeply—and had done so much thinking—about...
Answer me one question about an obscure story in Judges chapter 11, and I’ll tell you what your view of the whole Old Testament is. I’ve argued before that your view of the trees is determined by your view of the forest, and I think the story of...
A clever and provocative author wrote something clever and provocative recently about Bible translation: We are accustomed to say things like “something got lost in the translation,” which it frequently does. But can anything ever be gained? Let me...
Even if you’ll never preach a single sermon in your entire life, you should still know what good preaching is. And not just so you can spot (and avoid) bad preaching; not even so you can seek out good preaching. You need to understand what...
Internet meanderings recently landed me on the Amazon product page for the bookmark below. It’s the kind of bookmark you’re supposed to give to a friend or loved one, and it bears two Bible verses. Notice the citation from Genesis 31 in particular...
As a kid, maybe 10 or 12, I was leafing through my red-letter edition of the Bible and I noticed that there was one section of unbroken red text that was longer than any other. It was Matthew 5–7. I thought that was kind of cool, and if my memory...
When news reached me last week that I. Howard Marshall had passed away, my mind ran, of course, to pieces he’d written, books on my shelf and on my computer. The primary two works that came to mind were his New Testament Theology and his commentary...
What do you think is the most “Christmasy” book in the New Testament? The obvious frontrunners are Matthew and Luke, especially their opening portions. One of the reasons these books will show up so often in Christmas-time sermons and Bible studies...
G. K. Chesterton: Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. (85) I...
I was born in a Bible study forest, but I didn’t know it. Trees every few feet, tree upon tree. I got to know them pretty well; I could hardly help it: sycamore, acacia, olive, cedar, fig, palm, terebinth. An occasional glade on a rise in that...