Did you know you can buy bibles online? That’s right. Probably the best place to look if you want to buy bibles is online. The reason is that you can find almost any version out there and as you consider reading and studying the bible, you want to make sure you get the version that is right for you.
As we read and study the Bible, we should do so with a few things in mind, which will help us to understand and appreciate it, and to interpret it honestly and fairly. Both of them deal with taking things out of context. First we should interpret single passages in their context. Second we should interpret single ideas in the Bible in the context of religion as a whole.
We should interpret single passages in their context. Single verses are written as part of passages; single passages are part of larger themes. It is unfair to the meaning of scripture to interpret a single verse without being sure that the interpretation is in harmony with that which goes before or after.
In practically every religion some writers are guilty of this practice of singling out verses favorable to a position taken on some point of doctrine. This we should guard against doing in fairness to the book and to truth. One can prove almost anything from the Bible if one selects his own verses out of context.
As an illustration, consider the verse in I John 4:8, which reads: “He that loveth not knowth not God; for God is love.” The last part of this verse has been quoted sincerely as proof that God is love, nothing more. Taken by itself it says just that. However, if one reads the entire little book of I John, one notes that God is more than love. The author stresses this one attribute of Deity because a major purpose of his writing the book was to inspire men to love one another.
We should interpret single ideas in scripture in the context of religion as a whole. In a lecture, an architect said that there are three things an architect keeps in minds as he plans a house: soundness, utility, and delight or beauty. These are wonderful guides to home planning. Everything one does, whether in planning the garage or the kitchen, must be sound, functional, and delightful to be completely satisfying.
This same method of referring single ideas back to a few big fundamental guides applies equally well in the study, interpretation, and living of religion. One should not base his faith on single passages or ideas in the Bible taken separately one at a time. He should search for the big fundamentals in scripture which are taught or implied over and over again. These should become his guides, giving structure and consistency to his religious views.
For example, read the entire Bible to see what the big, oft-repeated concepts about God are. With these in mind, one brings to an interpretation of a single passage the larger Biblical views of the nature and character of God. When we proceed in this way, we know that God is more than love, for the scripture teaches again and again that he is Creator of the universe, Revelator to the prophets, a Person of Justice as well as a Person of mercy and love. What do the scriptures teach about man when we study them thoroughly?
Is the freedom and responsibility of man reiterated again and again and implied in practically all scriptural teaching? If so, it should become a guide to our interpretation of each passage of scripture. A single verse which appears to deny man’s agency cannot be taken at face value as a final source of the doctrine of man, as some theologians have taken isolated verses from Paul.
The great fundamentals of religion pertaining to God and man should guide us in interpreting all passages and lesser ideas. We cannot accept as truth interpretations of scripture which deny the Fatherhood, justice, impartiality, and love of God, or the freedom, worth, and brotherhood of man. In any field of life we do well to live by fundamental principles; this applies to religion no less than to business or the practice of medicine.
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