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Reading the Bible in
Context

When reading the Bible, read the text of the Bible itself, not just someone else's summary of it. A summary or discussion can be very helpful when the time is right. But always begin by reading the text itself. Not only that, read that text in its own context. Be as careful to read the whole context of what is in front of you as you would want other people to be with something you wrote. When reading anything, especially the Bible, context is extremely important.

Read Scripture in whole chapters and whole documents, from start to finish if possible.

Did you know that many of the documents of the New Testament were originally letters sent to churches? What that means is, once the letter was received, it would be read to the congregation from beginning to end. Out loud. Most people would not read it for themselves, they would merely listen to it. It was a letter to the whole-church and it would be read from start to finish, usually in one sitting. The letters were always addressed to specific circumstances, and everyone listening would know what those circumstances were. In other words, the letters were written to specific contexts.

That presents a special challenge for us, since so much time has passed and our culture has changed so much. Not only that, we don't even speak the same language. That's not simply a about language, it is a matter of culture, what words mean, and how things are to be applied and understood. For us to read Scripture in context is sometimes a challenging and difficult task.

If you do not pay attention to reading Scripture in its original context, then you will merely, by default, read it in your own context. And when you read anything simply in a new context, that can change the meaning of what was written.

You know this from personal experience. Have you ever said anything in one context, only to have it quoted by someone else completely out of context so that it meant something completely different? Well, of course you have. And you did not like it! That's why we need to work extra hard to read Scripture in its original context first.

Naturally, our goal is eventually to see how the Scripture we're reading applies to our own context. That is very important for us to do. But it is not the first step that we should take. Until we know how it applied to its original setting, we may not be able to apply it responsibly to ourselves.

So to begin with, read a document of Scripture (e.g., one of Paul's letters, a Gospel, etc.) in its own context from beginning to end. Start with the text itself. Listen to its words as if you were right there. Later on, there are many other great resources to help you, including CWP. But don't let any of these "helps" get in the way of time spent in the Bible itself.

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