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A Review of Bible103: Methods of Bible Study

© Joy Butler

The subject of animals going to heaven is controversial. Some Bible scholars say that this is just something we comfort children with and that when animals die, that's the end and there are no animals in heaven. There are others who say animals go to heaven simply because that is what they want to believe, and then there are those who have searched the Scriptures and strongly believe they teach that God has, indeed, provided an afterlife for animals too. Have you ever wondered who's right? Have you ever wondered if God wants us to eat meat? I'm sure you've been curious about other things, too, such as baptism, feminism and other "isms". The interesting thing is how different individuals can read the same Bible with each one deriving a different meaning and application from it.

Growing up in the Bible Belt under the sermons of old-time preachers, I developed an interest early on in what the Bible has to say, and while it is important to listen to scholars who devote their lives to understanding the Bible, it is so important that Christians learn to study God's Word for themselves. No matter what your philosophical or theological interests may be, you can come to your own understandings and apply them in your life.

That's what the Suite University course, Bible103: Methods of Bible Study is all about. Author, Michael A. Sharp teaches you how to study the Bible for yourself.

After an introduction and guidelines for the course, the very first lesson starts off by giving us a formula for developing an application for our life from what we learn in our studies.

It was not until the sixteenth century that the first English translations of the Bible appeared and the second lesson, including a chart, gives us a brief history of this, along with an introduction to paraphrased and translated Bibles, and how to choose the right one for your needs. The third lesson introduces the student to various research tools and language tools such as Bible Dictionaries and Concordances as well as some Bible software sites which offer free research tools and downloadable programs. The translation of the original Greek and Hebrew is an important step in Biblical understanding. Giving an example along with an exercise to complete, this lesson is designed to teach students how to use these study tools.

The following lessons take the student through four Bible study methods. They are the Devotional, the Chapter Summary, the Word Study, and the Biographical study methods. I was pleased to find that each lesson began with a listing of tools needed for that lesson, and included instructional steps with an easy-to-follow example and detailed exercises for the student to work through. With 20 steps to follow, the Word Study method was a bit more complicated but allows the student to focus on a keyword in the Bible and root out its meaning within the context of its use. As a longtime Bible student, this is the one that interested me most.

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