Suggestion # 8 On BIble Study

 

 

 

Suggestion # 8 On Studying The Bible: See The Entire Context. When originally written, the Bible was NOT in chapters and verses. That is not how God delivered the Word. Men put the Bible in chapters and verses. I hear people saying, "we want Book, chapter and verse preaching". Such was not the preaching of the great prophets or the early church or even Jesus. My view is this, preachers would do well to cite less Bible verses in their sermons and to really teach about the ones they do use. We need more expository preaching. Preaching right out of the text. To expound on the Word so that people leave, not impressed with a hundred verses quoted but to leave knowing what a passage of God's Word really teaches.

As you study your Bible, realize that the idea or thought is often interrupted by chapter division. You may not get the entire view of the inspired writer if you just stop at a chapter. Be sure to really examine what you are reading to get the entire concept.

The Old Testament was divided into verses by Rabbi Nathan in 1448. Stephen Langton (c 1150-1228), an Archbishop of Canterbury, is believed to be the first person to divide the Bible into defined chapters.

Robert Estienne (1503-1559), also known as Robert Stephens or Stephanus, was a 16th century printer in Paris. He divided the New Testament into verses, and was the first to print the Bible divided into standard numbered verses in 1555. In 1560, the Geneva Bible, an English translation of the Bible made by the English exiles in Geneva, first divided the entire Bible into the verses that we still use today.

Chapters and verses are nice and helpful. However, they are just a tool and have limitations and often get in the way of the thought. Serious Bible students are aware of this and study their Bible's in the total context and do not allow chapter and verse divisions to get in the way.