Reading the Bible

The Bible is a library with one Author. Law, letter, psalm, proverb, gospel, apocalypse. Reading well is love for that Author, not a technique for mastering Him.

This lesson covers how to begin. The long lists are under Look It Up, where you can find one pair or one misused verse by itself.

Why the book is received

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed. Christians are people of a book because God has spoken, and when we read the words He breathed out, we are hearing Him. The book is given so that we may know Him, be corrected, and be equipped.

UnrollReceiving the Scriptures

A way to begin

Pray. Read a passage, not a fragment. Notice who is speaking. Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Then answer.

UnrollA Passage in Its Place

When two lines seem to fight

A difference is not yet a contradiction. Most claimed clashes are one of a few kinds of difference. One writer names a person and another mentions the group. A second witness adds a detail. Two scenes that look alike happened on different days. The same English word does two jobs. A proverb is read as a census. A number slipped in copying. A command for Israel under Moses is laid on the church. A count is rounded. A genealogy skips names on purpose. Each kind is taught in Contradictions. The pairs themselves are on Supposed Contradictions.

A true sentence, cut off or moved, can still mislead. That list is Misused Verses.

Under all of this sit a few plain rules of thought, in The Laws of Logic, and the common ways an argument goes wrong, in Logical Fallacies.