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Bible Boot Camp
First, some basic facts. You might call it Bible 101.
The Bible is actually not one book but several, a library of books written to teach people about God and spirituality- it was not meant to be history, science, journalism, or biography, at least in the modern (factual, objective) way we think about them. Rather, they were the author's best attempt to describe their experience of God.
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Pick a passage and read the text. |
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Consider the context (culture, history of the time). |
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Grasp the Author's intent.
What was he trying to say or get across to the audience he was writing to?
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Think about how this passage speaks to you today. Reading Scripture is really about listening, and a big part of listening is looking to your own experience in search of what God is saying to you (the technical term is discernment).
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More Details on interpreting the bible
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The books were put together over a long period of time- about 1500 years for the whole enchilada. Bible stories really began as anecdotes and poems shared around the evening fire. Eventually folks wrote them down, edited them, and collected them together.
Listen for the moral or message, like you would in a fable or a family story your grandfather told you. This is not to say that nothing in the Bible truly happened, just that the message is always the most important part.
Christians generally believe that the Bible was composed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they differ on what that means exactly. Catholics and many Protestants believe that the Holy Spirit was ultimately behind the making of the Bible, but that the Spirit chose to communicate through human beings, who brought to the Bible their own life experiences, customs, history, world view, way of life, images of God.
Do you want to know more?
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