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Step 1: Understanding What the Bible Is
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Study the Bible

Ancient texts written to ancient people - not to YOU!

The last book of the Bible to be written is almost certainly what we call Revelation.  It was completed no later than the beginning of the the second century A.D.  That means that there is nothing in the Bible written to anyone after that time.  Everyone who came after that time would have to read the words in the Bible as outsiders.  The Old Testament was written for ancient Israel.  The New Testament was written to individuals and churches within the Roman Empire of the first century.  Where do you fit into any of those categories?
 
The point here is not that the Bible has no value for us in the 21st century, but that we cannot easily understand all that the Bible says based on our modern point of view.  Cultural issues that were clear to them will be very foreign to us, and so we cannot just naturally understand what the authors of the Bible were trying to communicate in writing about them. 
 
Keep in mind that all of these cosiderations don't have to apply to everything you read in the Bible.  The commands against committing adultery, murder and stealing are pretty clear no matter what your situation, right?  On the other hand, knowing the situation of the people who originally heard these commands may help us understand why God spoke them.
 
Basically, I hope you can see that a quick and easy reading of the Bible is not useful to understanding its truest meaning simply because it was not written to be understood by you here and now, but by ancient people who thought and lived very differently than you do.  God does want to speak to you through the Bible's truths, and so we must do the hard work of studying to hear Him clearly through ancient thoughts.
 
In the next lesson, we'll take a look at a brief overview of how the Bible came to be what it is today.  (Sorry, it's still under construction...)

"A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." Luke 6:40

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