Another day, another Gospel Coalition article that I can’t help but comment on. Today’s issue is with an article entitled, “How To Go Deep into Bible Study without Getting Lost”. The author, Ryan Martin, presents 3 main ideas, 1) Words are flexible and contextual, 2) Details can distract from the flow of a text and 3) An individual text doesn’t need to carry the whole weight of Christian theology. By the first one, he means, words can mean different things in different contexts and its important to understand the context of a word or passage before we can figure out what the meaning of the word might be. He uses the example of the English word ‘trouble’ and how that word can be used to mean very different things, depending on the context. By the second, he means, “don’t lose the forest through the trees”. We can have a tendency to zoom in to break down specific words or small phrases, and miss the main message of a book or epistle. The third is a little bit of a stretch, but it seems like a variation on “don’t lose the forest through the trees” – he is exhorting his readers to appreciate the nuance and diversity of voices and perspectives within Scripture and not try to oversimplify things. Overall, not a bad directive – especially his comments about trying to make a single verse or passage carry the entire story of theology.
I would like to add one more to his list, and I would make it the first bullet point – before all of the recommendations about words, context and exegesis. The bullet point would look something like this:
