Hi TripleB
My advice to anyone wishing to become a student of the Bible instead of a Bible scholar is to
study the Bible itself instead of studying what other people have written about it.
It's a slower process, and you can't give the impression of great scholarship this way - but scholarship is a double-edged sword.
You expose yourself to other people's opinions in quantity, and the truth is that you will either become a parrot, regurgitating what others think, or be misled by them.
You are in no position from the sound of it, to be able to assess the truth or otherwise of opinions A, B and C - and there are plenty of them around.
So what does the conscientious, aspiring Bible student do?
He restricts himself to the study of texts in as much detail as he can, using as many TRANSLATIONS as he can lay his hands on.
So if he can't decide which meaning of a particular verse is correct, he looks at the other available translations, and forms an opinion using them as a basis.
There are any number of translations out there, and if after surveying 10 or so of them he still can't decide on the proper meaning the text is trying to convey to him, it's best to leave it and go on to another passage. Sooner or later he wll come back to the passage in question, and it will be as clear as daylight.
Remember, the Bible is written for the ordinary man/woman. Not the scholars who really ought to get off their behinds and go out and preach the word, in season and out of season as Paul says to Timothy, instead of producing tome after tome of the regurgitated opinions they read in other people like themselves.
A Study Bible does this: It robs you of the pleasure of finding these things out for yourself, and coming to a genuinely original opinion of your own. Yes, of course you may be wrong, but it's your opinion, not somebody else's.
So the first thing you need is the correct mindset which is: 'I am going to do this by myself, for myself and for my own good, by the help of God.'
Remember, Jesus and the apostles had
no use for the scholars of their day, except to savage them. Why? Because their opinions led them to crucify the Lord and try to wreck the progress of the gospel. I wonder what today's scholars would have done in the same situation.
Enough of that.
Here is a well tested recommendation.
Go get yourself a copy of the Online Bible. It'll save you a fortune, because there are free versions to be had.
It gives you a free Strong's concordance, a free Hebrew concordance, a free Greek concordance, and about 10 or more different translations.
THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
As you progress you will occasionally need more technical stuff, like Greek and Hebrew grammar, but it's all available on Google when you need it.
My personal favourite Study Bible is the
Interlinear Bible, containing the KJV and the Revised Version. Here's a look at it:
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages...8430&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0
Read the review by SLS here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Interlinear-Bible-Black-Goatskin-AVRV5/dp/0521508606
BTW, be careful that you don't end up with interlinear greek and hebrew bibles: it's the interlinear AV/RV that you want.
There's nothing in the world like it for sheer usefulness.
The marginal references are absolutely top-notch, and have never been surpassed. The RV is the most accurate version ever produced.
Because of the split in the printing, where the AV and RV differ,
you are forced to slow down in your reading and guess what that does? It gives you time to think about the reason for the differences. And you see many things you would not otherwise have seen.
If you can get a wide-margin edition, or afford the expensive interleaved edition, where every page of text is followed by a lined page of notepaper for your notes, then you are in bible students' heaven already.
If you have to do any speaking, then you also need a hard covered edition, so as you hold it in your hand, it doesn't bend and flop over.
This recommendation comes with a lot of feeling. I have used mine since 1974, and it is crammed with notes, most of which act as memory prods. It still has many long years of service in it.
So go to it my son, with seriousness and godly intentions, and may the Almighty help you in your work as you seek His truth and pass it on to your students.
