Studying the Bible without thinking critically

[aspen]

From the start, I think this is a bad idea.

this issue goes way beyond whether or not a specific verse should be read literally or may also be interpreted figuratively; this happens when people are either afraid to think too much about what they are reading, or they never learned how to think critically.

Not surprisingly, illiteracy and low critical thinking skills co-occur.

“Approximately 32 million adults in the United States can't read, according to the U.S.Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 50 percent of U.S. adults can't read a book written at an eighth-grade level.”

at this rate, the American working class is not only growing, it remains confined to permanent plebeian status - factory workers without factories.

Perhaps we need a refresher on how to study scripture? Not sure proper technique is this issue, however......

for all those out there, who promote an anti-intellectual view of exegesis and Christianity, what motivates your method? And how do you interpret scripture without knowledge outside the Bible? Pure revelation from God?

 

[marks]

for all those out there, who promote an anti-intellectual view of exegesis and Christianity, what motivates your method? And how do you interpret scripture without knowledge outside the Bible? Pure revelation from God?

I don't know about this being "anti-intellectual", just the same, my primary focus is on reading and studying the Bible itself.

I find that the Bible explains itself. Scripture interprets Scripture. The more I learn what it says, the more I understand the things it says.

Any time spent reading commentaries, histories, any of that stuff, unless I'm studying on a particular point, I find is time better spent reading the Bible.

Much love!

 

[marks]

this issue goes way beyond whether or not a specific verse should be read literally or may also be interpreted figuratively; this happens when people are either afraid to think too much about what they are reading, or they never learned how to think critically.

And yes . . . Critical Thinking seems to be a dying art, at least around here!

Much love!

 

[aspen]

I don't know about this being "anti-intellectual", just the same, my primary focus is on reading and studying the Bible itself.

I find that the Bible explains itself. Scripture interprets Scripture. The more I learn what it says, the more I understand the things it says.

Any time spent reading commentaries, histories, any of that stuff, unless I'm studying on a particular point, I find is time better spent reading the Bible.

Much love!

thanks for your reply, Marks.

I agree that reading the Bible is important, but I cannot see it as a closed system - without knowledge gained from experience and other narratives, the Bible just becomes rote. There is no meaning beyond identity - “I read the Bible because I am a Christian” rather than “I read the Bible to learn how to love from as many perspectives as possible so I can love more perfectly”

 

[prism]

Sounds like the Morlocks vs the Eloi (neither were critical thinkers).

 

[Willie T]

Two excellent books to get your atrophied reading skills back in shape.
How to Read a Book, by: Mortimer J. Adler
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by: Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart

 

[aspen]

Two excellent books to get your atrophied reading skills back in shape.
How to Read a Book, by: Mortimer J. Adler
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by: Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart

great resources

 

[Jay Ross]

Two excellent books to get your atrophied reading skills back in shape.
How to Read a Book, by: Mortimer J. Adler
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by: Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart

What is the point if I cannot read and understanding the inferred meaning of the words on the pages?

 

[aspen]

What is the point if I cannot read and understanding the inferred meaning of the words on the pages?

it is sad, but true

 

[Enoch111]

And how do you interpret scripture without knowledge outside the Bible?

How did Christ and the apostles interpret Scripture? They had no use for *knowledge outside the Bible*. But they were (1) filled with the Holy Spirit, (2) taught by the Holy Spirit, and (3) guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit. Evidently you do not give sufficient credit to God the Holy Spirit as the Divine Teacher.

Christians should note carefully that it is generally the scholars and theologians who have come up with false doctrines, which have then filtered down into the churches.

So what is *critical thinking*? According to the Foundation for Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
Defining Critical Thinking

Did everyone notice ONE GLARING OMISSION? "Divine Revelation". Divine Revelation is outside the realm of critical thinking for the simple reason that "...the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 1:14).

That should settle the issue.

 

[Giuliano]

How did Christ and the apostles interpret Scripture? They had no use for *knowledge outside the Bible*. But they were (1) filled with the Holy Spirit, (2) taught by the Holy Spirit, and (3) guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit. Evidently you do not give sufficient credit to God the Holy Spirit as the Divine Teacher.

Christians should note carefully that it is generally the scholars and theologians who have come up with false doctrines, which have then filtered down into the churches.

So what is *critical thinking*? According to the Foundation for Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
Defining Critical Thinking

Did everyone notice ONE GLARING OMISSION? "Divine Revelation". Divine Revelation is outside the realm of critical thinking for the simple reason that "...the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 1:14).

That should settle the issue.

2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

 

[brakelite]

“I read the Bible to learn how to love from as many perspectives as possible so I can love more perfectly”

The primary purpose of scripture is to reveal God's character...to make Him known that we may recognise our dire need of Him...that without Him we can do nothing...especially love. No amount of critical thinking skills or analytical reading skills will help anyone come to know God.

 

[Invisibilis]

Basic reading education is vital, without it, it becomes almost impossible to read and learn about anything else.

 

[Prayer Warrior]

for all those out there, who promote an anti-intellectual view of exegesis and Christianity, what motivates your method? And how do you interpret scripture without knowledge outside the Bible? Pure revelation from God?

Of course we use our minds when we study the scriptures, but we don't rely on human reasoning in order to understand what God has written. Human reasoning apart from God's revelation of the truth is foolishness. The world is full of that!

When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth, this was not a cute saying. Understanding God REQUIRES divine revelation. He makes Himself known to us.

 

[Willie T]

What is the point if I cannot read and understanding the inferred meaning of the words on the pages?

Have you read either of those book to see if and how that point is handled?

 

[Willie T]

Basic reading education is vital, without it, it becomes almost impossible to read and learn about anything else.

To *Invisibilis'* point, THAT seems to be a gigantic hurdle for many on this forum. (My wife taught four classes a day of Remedial Reading at a local high school for students almost ready to graduate, who could barely read on a third-grade level.)

I was reading the Junior Classics in 5th grade, but today, there are hardly any real reading skills being taught, at all.

 

[aspen]

Of course we use our minds when we study the scriptures, but we don't rely on human reasoning in order to understand what God has written. Human reasoning apart from God's revelation of the truth is foolishness. The world is full of that!

When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth, this was not a cute saying. Understanding God REQUIRES divine revelation. He makes Himself known to us.

but I think the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of anti-intellectualism, PW. I really do. Pretty soon we are going to be relying on stain glass windows for our theology

 

[aspen]

To *Invisibilis'* point, THAT seems to be a gigantic hurdle for many on this forum. (My wife taught four classes a day of Remedial Reading at a local high school for students almost ready to graduate, who could barely read on a third-grade level.)

I was reading the Junior Classics in 5th grade, but today, there are hardly any real reading skills being taught, at all.

well, I learned to read critically as a young adult and my world opened up. I’ve volunteered to help adults read and it is exciting to see the spark of understanding.

christianity thrived in part, because of its written history, which we can study today.

 

[marks]

thanks for your reply, Marks.

I agree that reading the Bible is important, but I cannot see it as a closed system - without knowledge gained from experience and other narratives, the Bible just becomes rote. There is no meaning beyond identity - “I read the Bible because I am a Christian” rather than “I read the Bible to learn how to love from as many perspectives as possible so I can love more perfectly”

Obviously I'm not in a vacuum, so there is what I know and experience beside, but just the same, the Bible is anything but rote to me.

This is why I prefer to stay as much within my "closed system" as I can. Yes, I like that description, closed system. Let my mind be only what I read, and let me only read the Book my Father wrote to me.

Of course, I do use my other studies. But again, more to determine what that Book actually is saying.

I read the Bible to become like my Creator. I think the Bible is the DNA of the New Humanity in Christ, the renewing of the mind.

To think in the terms God uses in Scripture, not the words, rather the concepts, perspectives, His wisdom to interpret this world.

And the more I become like Him, the more I will love, and trust, and joy.

Much love!

 

[hermeneutics]

From the start, I think this is a bad idea.

this issue goes way beyond whether or not a specific verse should be read literally or may also be interpreted figuratively; this happens when people are either afraid to think too much about what they are reading, or they never learned how to think critically.

Not surprisingly, illiteracy and low critical thinking skills co-occur.

“Approximately 32 million adults in the United States can't read, according to the U.S.Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 50 percent of U.S. adults can't read a book written at an eighth-grade level.”

at this rate, the American working class is not only growing, it remains confined to permanent plebeian status - factory workers without factories.

Perhaps we need a refresher on how to study scripture? Not sure proper technique is this issue, however......

for all those out there, who promote an anti-intellectual view of exegesis and Christianity, what motivates your method? And how do you interpret scripture without knowledge outside the Bible? Pure revelation from God?

I first started bible study in 199?, when my son asked me about preterism. Told him I didn't know anything about it, but I would look into it. A couple of weeks later he ask me again and I asked him for some info into the theory, he didn't have any. So, I went on the internet and found a pastor of a church who preached it.

It's one thing to read how they explained their understanding and another to actually begin to understand for yourself, but when I did a whole new walk with God started. I didn't have to find new understanding in the bible, God would just give it to me.

There are many denominations that preach their plan of salvation, this was not what God was giving to me. It was just understanding of things that other people had overlooked.

My grandfather was a preacher and spent many hours putting together sermons. It had to be very hard because he had to know scripture and where to find it. Today we can just type in a word and every scripture that has that word in it, appears.

Anyway, to understand what it is that is being said in that scripture, one has to understand it was not written to you and I, it is only for our understanding. For example:
Mat 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
The, you, are the disciples and he was telling them that some of them would still be alive when he returned.
That is the start of understanding prophecy!