Audio Transcript
I hope you had an exquisite Christmas celebration with family and friends and with your loved ones within the religion. We’re again to work as we speak speaking about Bible studying and commentaries in a query from an outdated pal of ours. “Howdy, Pastor John. My identify is Calvin from Singapore.” This, by the way in which, is identical Calvin from Singapore who beforehand requested, “Why did demons ask Jesus for pigs?” which turned APJ 1534, considered one of our hottest episodes of all time. Nice episode. For those who someway didn’t hear it, test it out. Most of you’ve as a result of it bought lodged within the YouTube algorithm and generated large quantities of visitors — over two million views in YouTube alone. Loopy.
So, Calvin, maintain sending us your questions! And he has. As a result of Calvin is again to ask this query: “Pastor John, each time I learn the Bible, I exploit a Bible commentary to assist me perceive it. However I fairly often find yourself not studying the Bible and discovering myself simply studying straight from the commentary, which may be very illuminating and edifying. However I don’t wish to neglect the Bible itself. What’s the suitable steadiness of studying the Bible and studying commentaries? How do you progress backwards and forwards from textual content to commentary to profit from nice lecturers however not on the neglect of the textual content of Scripture itself? How do I do know if I’m overusing commentaries?”
It’s potential to fall off the horse of unbiased pondering in two instructions. In a single path, we fall off on the facet of, “I don’t want anyone else. Simply me and the Holy Spirit and my Bible, and I can see what I have to see.” Or we are able to fall off on the opposite facet of the horse by failing to assume for ourselves in any respect and turning into virtually totally depending on what others have thought.
If we make the primary mistake, we’re most likely boastful, and we’re denying the biblical actuality that God has given to his church lecturers (Ephesians 4:11). It’s an incredible factor. God has given to his church lecturers. He didn’t simply give us a Bible; he gave us Bible lecturers. That has large implications. As a result of nobody individual aside from the assistance of different lecturers goes to see all that God has to show us within the Bible.
And if we make the second mistake, then we’re most likely going to change into inauthentic second-handers. I don’t wish to be a second-hander. I don’t wish to be, and I don’t need you to be, a second-hander — that’s, individuals who can by no means say something with confidence from the Bible as a result of they’ve really seen it for themselves immediately. Quite, they’re all the time echoing what different individuals have mentioned in regards to the Bible. Second-handers are like ambassadors of a king who’re by no means certain what he says. They’re by no means capable of say, “Thus saith the sovereign king . . .” As an alternative, they’re all the time saying, “Effectively, my commentary says that the king says . . .” That’s a second-hander.
So, we wish to keep away from falling off the horse of unbiased pondering on both facet.
Extra Frequent Hazard
Now, on the planet I reside in — the place I perform at Bethlehem Faculty and Seminary and Bethlehem Baptist Church and Needing God — and the circles I am going in, there aren’t many people who find themselves falling off the horse on the primary facet, who say, “I by no means learn commentaries. I by no means learn books in regards to the Bible. I simply learn my Bible, I pray, and that’s all I would like.” I don’t know anyone like that in my sphere. That’s not the world I reside in. I’m certain they exist; I simply don’t have something to do with them.
“Nobody individual aside from the assistance of different lecturers goes to see all that God has to show us within the Bible.”
In my sphere, the error is sort of all the time on the opposite facet, the opposite path. And subsequently, I’ve devoted most of my life to encouraging individuals to not be depending on commentaries and books in regards to the Bible however to present assiduous consideration to the biblical textual content immediately — for themselves. In the case of church management, I see extra hazard in turning into an inauthentic second-hander than in spending an excessive amount of time assiduously pondering for your self about what the Bible textual content is educating.
In actual life, most of us have a restricted period of time that we are able to commit to check. And I’ve usually mentioned, “Look, if in case you have eight hours to get a lesson or a sermon prepared, and also you’re going to spend 4 hours learning and 4 hours writing, then use most of these 4 research hours — virtually all of it — serious about, praying over, wanting on the textual content, not studying commentaries.” That’s going to be my recommendation. Now I say that trembling as a result of I do know some persons are going to assume, “Oh, Piper doesn’t worth commentaries. He’s bought his head within the sand. He thinks individuals can do it on their very own.” That’s not true. I really like commentaries. I’m grateful for commentaries. I exploit them each week, alright? Let’s eliminate that misunderstanding.
Suppose, Weigh, Decide
However right here’s what’s behind my emphasis. The Bible teaches us that doing our personal pondering with our personal thoughts is crucial for Christian residing.
- 2 Timothy 2:7: “Suppose over what I say, [Timothy,] for the Lord offers you understanding in the whole lot.” Suppose over. You assume — assume. Use your thoughts, Timothy.
- Or 1 Corinthians 14:20: “Brothers, don’t be youngsters in your pondering. Be infants in evil, however in your pondering be mature.” In different phrases, don’t make silly errors in your pondering. Be rigorous in your pondering. Be coherent in your pondering.
- Or Luke 12:57: Jesus says, “Why do you not choose for yourselves what is correct?”
- Or 1 Corinthians 10:15: “I converse as to wise individuals; choose for yourselves what I say.”
- Or 1 Corinthians 11:13: “Decide for yourselves [what is] correct.” So, Paul (and Jesus) are saying, “Use your thoughts. Suppose over what I’m saying. Have a look at the scenario. Make correct judgments together with your thoughts. That’s why I gave you a mind.”
- Or Romans 12:2: “Be remodeled by the renewal of your thoughts.”
We might go on and on with texts that time on this path. The truth that God has given us a Bible, a e book, doesn’t take away the necessity for pondering; it creates the necessity for pondering. Six occasions, Jesus mentioned to probably the most well-read Bible readers of his day (Pharisees and scribes), “Have you ever not learn?” This will need to have completely galled these guys. “What do you imply, ‘Have we not learn?’ That’s all we do is learn.” In different phrases, they’d learn, however they hadn’t learn. They hadn’t thought rightly about what they learn. The requirement to learn a Bible is the requirement to assume rightly about what you learn. They bought it flawed. They used their minds in a manner that distorted the texts.
The truth that we’ve a e book, an impressed Bible, creates the necessity for rigorously, insightfully studying — good pondering, not unhealthy pondering.
Tracing the Arguments
And right here’s the catch with regard to pondering. John Dewey was primarily proper when he mentioned, “No one thinks till he has an issue.” Pondering is tough psychological work. And constitutionally, we’re all disposed to be lazy, to keep away from arduous work, which implies we naturally default to letting any individual else assume for us, after which we get the reply once they’re executed pondering. And that sounds environment friendly. He did the pondering; I’ll simply take his reply and save myself plenty of time. What that does is flip the thoughts into passive mush and switch us into second-handers, inauthentic individuals.
The very best instructor I ever had instructed us, “Don’t learn commentaries for his or her conclusions. Learn them for his or her arguments.” Now that remodeled the way in which I learn the whole lot. In different phrases, if you happen to’re going to hunt assist in getting a solution from a commentary, be sure to are letting the commentary assist you consider the right way to discover the reply, not change your pondering with their pondering and their reply. That’s what I imply after I say we must always have a look at their arguments and never simply their conclusions. Who cares about conclusions, until you’re a second-hander?
“Pondering our manner by means of biblical texts means asking query after query after query.”
Second-handers love conclusions. They did the arguing. I’ll simply take the conclusions and inform my individuals, “So-and-so has a conclusion. Right here’s their conclusion,” and that’ll be my sermon or my lesson. No one desires to be a second-hander like that. It’s inauthentic. Folks can see it’s inauthentic, and they won’t belief you in the long term. What you wish to see in a commentary is arguments — and arguments from the textual content of Scripture which you could see for your self within the textual content in order that the commentary helps you change into a first-hander reasonably than making you a second-hander.
Questions: the Key to Understanding
Now, again to John Dewey for a minute. “No one thinks till he has an issue.” The best way this is applicable to studying the Bible is that we have to type the behavior of asking good questions, as a result of questions are merely a manner of stating issues. Questions are the interrogative type of issues, which get us to assume. Pondering our manner by means of biblical texts means asking query after query after query. And the higher the questions, the deeper the perception. And naturally, this means we have to use our God-given minds in reliance on the Holy Spirit at each second to assume our manner into good Bible solutions. We don’t simply ask questions; we attempt to reply the questions by wanting on the textual content.
Asking questions is the important thing to understanding. Essentially the most illuminating questions should not what and the place and when questions. They’re who and how and why questions. Then we apply our minds. We apply our minds to assume and assume, and have a look at the e book and have a look at the e book, and doodle with our piece of paper with potential concepts scratched in each nook, watching God deliver superb issues to gentle. And if we run out of time and get caught, then we attain for our good pal, the commentary, and we have a look at his arguments.
