BIBLE STUDY 2 OF 2

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES

A.   ACTIVITY.                                B.   RESULT.

I. Survey.                                            Read.   Impression.

II. Condense.                                      Think.  Outline.

III. Expand.                                        Work.  Analysis.

IV. Dissect.                                         Sweat. Knowledge.

When we turn to consider the funda­mental processes of Bible study, it is important that we distinctly understand that we are dealing with the study of the English Bible, and not with the Scriptures in the original languages, that being another sub­ject altogether, although in order to an understanding of the books, the same methods might with advantage be fol­lowed in dealing with the Hebrew and Greek documents.

By fundamental processes I mean those which will enable us to come to an accurate knowledge of what these books contain. I refer to them for the moment as books, because I am growingly impressed with the importance of beginning with the Bible as a library, rather than with its unity as a book; a library having two parts, three qualities, and a multiplicity of writers, themes, and dates—a true library.

I may also first of all state three things with which I do not propose to deal, because they are outside the scope of our present consideration, these being preliminary to them.

First, then, the fundamental processes do not deal with the veracity of the books. That is necessarily considered in the study of introductions. The question of author­ship and authenticity does not occur in the fundamental processes.

Neither have they anything to do with the arrangement of Biblical teaching into the form of systematic theology. This is final rather than fundamental. I hold that every man should test his systematic theology by his Bible, rather than his Bible by his system of theology. In this connection I remember a quaint but illuminating story of a Black preacher, to whom Dr. Noadus, the great Baptist theologian of the Southern States of America, gave a volume of his commentary on the Scriptures, saying that he hoped it would be useful to him, in his work. Sometime after the reception of the gift, Dr. Noadus again met the preacher, and asked whether he had found the commentary helpful, and the reply was, “Oh, yes, my good sir, it is a berry good book; but there is one thing I have noticed about it." “What is that?” enquired Dr. Noadus. “Important, my dear sir, it is that the Scriptures do throw a lot of light on it." That I believe is true of many of our theological systems; and therefore, from my standpoint, it goes without saying that Bible study is preliminary to any attempt to systematize theology.

In the third place, the fundamental pro­cesses do not include the application of the Bible to all the details of practical life. This again is a final matter.

Of course these fundamental processes must affect the final processes, and in the study of the Bible we are ever approaching a systematic view of truth, and always finding application of the things we dis­cover to the actualities of every-day life.

It is impossible to study these books in the way I am going to suggest, without some impression being made upon the mind as to their veracity; without coming to definite conceptions concerning God and man, and the inter-relationships between them; without hearing an appeal to con­science, and having a constantly growing conception of what conduct ought to be at its highest and its best.

Nevertheless, we are to consider the first things in Bible study; those which we must undertake before we decide whether the book is true; before we attempt to systematize our theology; before we can make accurate application of its teaching to life and conduct.

Personally, I am convinced that there is a true order in these fundamental methods, which I have attempted to indicate in the diagram at the commencement of this chapter; showing also what the activity is in each case; and what the result produced will be.

In the first process we survey; in the second we condense; in the third we ex­pand; in the fourth we dissect. Having followed these processes we may adopt any other methods we please, and shall do so the more intelligently as the result of this preliminary work.

I believe that it is important to postpone the discussion of the veracity of any book until we have given time to it along these lines. We have no right to say that any book is untrue, or even that it is true, until we have taken time for these methods of examination. If any one is tempted to say that it will be impossible for us to com­plete the study of the Divine Library by these processes in a lifetime, let me frankly say that I am in perfect agreement; but at the same time it is important to remember that, apart from these processes, we shall never know any given book in the Library. Many great Biblical scholars and earnest saints have given their life to the work of Bible study, but none has succeeded in working through all these processes in the case of more than a few books.

Once again, let me, even at the cost of wearisome repetition, repeat that these pro­cesses are fundamental; and that those which follow will become clear and force­ful in the proportion in which we have adopted them.

A. SURVEY.

This means reading; and results in an impression.

In commencing our study it is important that we bear in mind the principles set forth in the previous lecture; and whatever book we take, we should first define its place in the Library; as to whether it is a Hebrew or a Christian document; and also its quality; whether it is history, teaching, or predic­tion. The activity in order to survey is that of reading. It is necessary first, to decide to take practically no notice of the chapter and verse divisions which we find in our ordinary Bibles. They all have their uses for reference, but they may sadly mislead us in our attempt to gain a general impression of a book. Let the book be read straight on, and in reading look, listen, and live. Look closely at what you are reading; listen to what the words you see are saying; and live for the time in the very atmos­phere which is being created by the read­ing of your book. Someone may say, who has given more time to study other litera­ture than the Bible: "But that is exactly what you would do with any book!" Cer­tainly; and if men will begin to read the Bible with the same common sense as they employ in the reading of other books, they will be on the highway to an apprehension of its meaning, which hitherto they have lacked; and that statement explains the reason for my suggestion that the reader should forget the chapter and verse divi­sions. Who would consent to any other literature being subjected to this mechanical method of division? I remember that emi­nent Bible scholar, and wonderful teacher, Dr. Henry Weston, once saying, "I hate these chapters and verses; reading a Bible in which I find them, always reminds me of riding over a cordu­roy road." His figure of speech may need some explanation for English readers. He was an old man, and remembered the first roads in the Western parts of the country, and how that in travelling over them one experienced a series of bumps which were neither conducive to speed nor ease; and that is exactly the mental effect produced all too often by reading a chapter divided into verses, one experiences a series of jerks. There is great value in Dr. Moulton's Modern Readers' Bible, simply because he has arranged it in literary form, omitting the chapters and verses.

Having read the book, read it again; and in the same way. Then read it once more. After that read it again; and yet again, until you become conscious that the book has made an impression upon your mind; that you have a conception of its general movement. That is the first process. In the course of the reading make a note of special phrases or words that occur repeatedly, or of any particular thought which seems to be insistent.

I may illustrate what I mean by saying that such reading of the Book of Numbers produced upon my mind the impression of a people on the margin of the land, about to enter it, turned back to a long period of wandering, after which they came again to the margin of the land, with the result that the general outline of the book for me is always connected with that impression, and is tabulated. As I have repeatedly said in dealing with this subject in public, I think my analyses of books are the result of having read them on an average from forty to fifty times. Some, of course, yielded an impression more quickly, while others took many more readings. That will often depend upon the individual. There are books which may produce a clear im­pression upon the mind of one man far more quickly than upon that of another. There­fore, we do not accept any man's analysis as final; but it is important to observe this law of reading a book over and over again until we know it, not by note, but by an impression of its purpose clearly stamped upon the mind.

B. CONDENSE.

This means thinking; and results in an outline.

The book having thus been read through again and yet again, and an impression having been made upon the mind in the way I have indicated, the attempt should now be made to express in the briefest way possible the contents of the book. This means quiet thinking over what has been read, accompanied by reference to certain parts in order to clear statement.

Now will be found the value of the things noted in the course of reading, the recurring words and phrases, and insistent thoughts. The first result of this process will be the statement of the content in the fewest words possible. Here I may illus­trate by saying that if I were asked to put Genesis into three words, I should do it thus, Creation, Degeneration, Regenera­tion.

The next process is the reading of the book again, only now in the recognition of the general divisions suggested, and that in order to change, adjust, abandon, and per­haps to find a new and better brief outline.

The mind being settled about the general outline, these main divisions should be treated in the same way, and subdivided into sections.

At this point in the process it is important to make use of every book which is likely to help, until we arrive at what seems to us to be a satisfactory outline. It is not until this has been done that we are ready for the next stage.

C. EXPAND.

This means work; and results in an analysis.

Of course, I can only illustrate what I mean from work which I have done. There­fore let me instance the Book of Matthew. In constant reading of this book I do not think it is possible to escape the impression produced by the recurrence of the word began on two outstanding occasions (see 4:17 and 16:21). Now the impression made upon the mind by the survey of Matthew is that we have been in the pres­ence of a King.

The outline gained when we condense is, that Matthew presents the Person of a King; tells the story of the propaganda of the King; and finally leads us into the presence of the Passion of the King. So far we have a mere outline.

Now we may turn to the expansion of that outline, and in order to do so we need to sit down quietly with each of these sections, and carefully work for the pro­duction of an analysis.

There must first be grammatical analysis, the taking of each section, paragraph by par­agraph, with determination to discover the principal sentences, and to note the grouping around them of subordinate sentences, and the inter-relationships between these.

This, of course, is specially necessary in studying the Pauline epistles, in which by reason of the Apostle's constant turning aside, we are in danger of missing the prin­cipal affirmation of passages under con­sideration.

I cannot too earnestly urge the impor­tance of studying the Bible thus analytically, and of refusing to abandon a passage until its real sense is understood.

In the course of this work let us be most careful not to mutilate a passage simply because at first we do not comprehend its meaning; or in an endeavor to escape difficulties.

I may give an illustration of what I mean from those excellent volumes to which I have referred, the Modern Readers' Bible. In the volume containing the Book of Jonah, I am compelled to say that I think I find one of the smartest and most unfair things of this kind that I know. The two statements concerning the fish, one before the psalm of Jonah, and one after it, are removed from the main text, and are inserted as footnotes. In his notes, Dr. Moulton says: "The reference to the great fish prepared to swallow Jonah is in literary form a footnote exegetical of the expres­sion in the song, 'Out of the belly of hell'; similarly the vomiting out Jonah is a foot­note attached to the last line." Now there is absolutely no warrant for such a statement, other than the conception that the story is not likely to be true, and it is easy to account for an inaccuracy by suggesting the original writing has been altered, as Dr. Moulton does, by saying that "these particular footnotes have every appearance of being a gloss or later edition." This method of treating any part of a paragraph which does not square with our philosophy is not fair to the book under consideration. If a passage is difficult, there is all the more reason for patience, persistence, and deter­mination to read and re-read until it is understood.

In this process it is more than ever necessary that we should not be in bondage to the chapters and verses, as we find them in our ordinary Bibles. Again, to take a familiar illustration, we entirely miss the beauty of some of the final words of our Lord when we read the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John alone. The true beginning of what we find in that chapter is in the previous chapter, and if the con­cluding words of chapter thirteen be read in immediate connection with chapter four­teen, we have a new light upon our Lord's intention. He was speaking to Peter, and in close connection immediately associated others with him, as He said, first to Peter: "Wilt thou lay down thy life for Me? Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice"; and then without a break, to Peter and the rest: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."

The whole of the section will show that Christ said in effect to this man, "I know the worst that is in you, and that presently you will deny Me; but I know also that I am able to realize the best that is in you, and that if you will trust Me, in spite of all the worst, I shall at last bring you to the place I go to prepare for you."

It is by such careful expansion of our outline by thinking, and examination, that we come at last to the possession of a detailed analysis of a book.

D. DISSECT.

This means—to use the word of the hard student in other departments—sweat; and results in knowledge.

The word "dissect" suggests the scalpel and the microscope; and the idea of the scalpel is warranted by the expression, "rightly dividing the word of truth," which means, correctly disjointing, so as to bring each part into perfect separation.

This is the most fascinating part of Bible study, that to which I personally have never yet been able to give much time or attention, except in the case of a few books. Each sentence is now to be pondered in itself, and in its relationship to all the other sentences. Every word is to be carefully examined as to its root meaning and as to its use at the time when it was written.

Here, of course, is the place where you need all the help and all the scholarship available. There is a fine and ever grow­ing exegetical literature for which the true student of the Word is profoundly thank­ful; and of which he will avail himself to the utmost of his ability.

The work of dissection needs patience and persistence, but it yields the most astonishing results, full of fascination and delight to those who give themselves to it earnestly.

All these processes must be recognized, and in a measure employed, before any single text can be made the basis of a sermon. To think out a sermon which seems religious, and then to hunt for some Biblical text upon which to hang it, is little short of profane. True sermon-making is in the last process a dissection of a paragraph or text, which has been chosen in recognition of the results of all the earlier processes. When any single passage of Scripture is taken as the basis of a sermon, our first business is to question from which part of the Library is the book selected; then in which part of the book; next in which paragraph; and finally, what does it really say?

And in order to discover this, with the light of the surrounding context shining upon it, it should be taken word by word, that the value of each may be known; and then as to its statement, that its true message may be discovered. That, as I understand it, is true preparation for preaching; and consequently, it is evident that the first work of the preacher is that of Bible study, and Bible study by these funda­mental processes.

Let no man imagine that such preaching is cheap or easy. The idea that expository preaching can be done without work is entirely false. On the other hand, that is not Biblical preaching which finds a text, and then reads all available books to see what other men have said about it, finally arrang­ing these thoughts into a sermon.

The way to study the Bible is to study the Bible; and to give time and attention to the business; to read, to think, to work, to sweat! These are the requirements, especially of those who profess to teach or preach. If my final words may be spoken to those who are looking forward to the ministry as to a sacred life-work, I would say to them that Bible preaching demands that they give themselves to the study of the Bible with all the powers of their being. When they do so, they will find that the illuminating Spirit of God will lead them into a land of romance, of breadth, of depth, of constant delight. I may be allowed to speak out of my own experience and to say that I can truthfully use the words of the psalmist and say:—

"Oh, how love I Thy law!

It is my meditation all the day."

Such study of the Bible inevitably makes appeal to conscience. This literature has volitional values beyond the merely intel­lectual and emotional. Therefore, at the end of every hour of study, whatever the process may be, that of survey, condensa­tion, expansion, or dissection, let the life be submitted to the truth which has been discovered; and then by all means let there be instant obedience to the shining of the light; for by this method alone can we be prepared for new unveilings; and by this method the Bible will become, as the days go on, more and more full of value, and full of delight.