Are there students in your community with a keen interest in Scripture? Maybe they’re exploring the Bible for the very first time. Or perhaps they want to get deeper into God’s word but they’re struggling to make sense of it.
The Bible’s a big book. And it takes time to understand it as ancient literature. That said, there are steps that you can take – individually and as a church – to deepen your understanding of Scripture, so you can support students who want to get into the Bible for themselves.
At Bible Society, we use the categories ‘head, heart and hands’ to gauge how confident we feel when it comes to Scripture:
- Head confidence: this refers to how well we understand the Bible’s language, context and meaning
- Heart confidence: this is how we connect to it emotionally
- Hands confidence: this describes the impact it has on our actions and the way we live our lives
In this article, we outline four achievable ways you can build your ‘head’ knowledge of the Bible, so you can get to grips with its context, language and meaning to better serve the spiritually curious students in your community.
- Engage with the Bible regularly
It seems pretty obvious, right? But regularly reading or listening to God’s word is core to building your knowledge of the Bible. When you spend time dwelling on Scripture, you’ll notice patterns within its pages and build a clearer image of its overarching message.
- Remember the cultural and social context
The Bible was written in times and places that are different from normal, present-day life here in the UK.
When you stumble upon a passage that challenges you, it’s good to slow down and sit with it for a while. You might find it helpful to research the passage to better understand the cultural practices at the time it was written and reflect on how the original audience would have read it.
- Put it in context
At times, the Bible raises tricky questions. What does this verse actually mean and how confidently can we justify that interpretation?
Instead of reading a passage in isolation, it’s helpful to explore how the topic it touches on is presented throughout the Bible and consider how this shapes your overall understanding of God and his plan.
- Learn in community
When we read or listen to Scripture with others, we’re able to see the text through the eyes of another, adding depth and dimension that we might not otherwise have noticed.
For those exploring faith, it can be helpful to have healthy models of discipleship in their life – those who can share their knowledge of Scripture, as well as create a safe space for them to ask questions about the Bible.
As you gather with students to explore the Scriptures, what materials could you share with them to make the Bible feel less overwhelming? The Bible Course might be a good place to start if you want to guide students through the Bible’s big story – from Genesis through to Revelation.
