About this episode
In this episode, Drew and Dillon continue their series on how to study the Bible, shifting from why we study Scripture to the methods that help us study it well. They discuss practical approaches for engaging Scripture faithfully—starting with prayer, reading in context, and learning to interpret the Bible the way it was originally intended. Along the way they explore the importance of reading Scripture as a whole, asking the right questions of the text, and allowing God to shape our understanding rather than forcing our own assumptions onto it. The conversation also touches on the difference between interpretation and application, how different types of biblical literature affect how we read a passage, and why context is essential for avoiding misinterpretation.
Key takeaways
- Scripture is more like an apple than an orange: you are always taking a bite of a whole, since every verse is connected to a chapter, every chapter to a book, and every book to the whole of scripture.
- The first method is prayer — if we have questions about the Bible, the first person we should ask is the Holy Spirit, before going to a commentary or another resource.
- Prayer and Bible reading are not two isolated buckets; reading the word can be a conversation with God, speaking to him about what you do not understand or do not like as you read.
- The second method is perspective — we should mostly approach scripture for how it can help us rather than for how it can help someone else, and as it helps us it will overflow to others.
- The third method is context — ask who, where, why, when, what and how: who is speaking, to whom, where and when it was written, why it was written, and what the main events and circumstances were.
- Different books and passages are different kinds of writing (law, Jewish apocalypse, narrative, poetry, and at least 14 styles within the Psalms), and knowing the style and the timing of a book changes how it should be read.
- The fourth method is interpretation — the Bible means what God intended it to mean, so scripture has a specific interpretation while the application may vary, and we should pull back from our own experiences and 21st-century lens.
- Ultimately God is the final authority on his own word: these methods are guardrails, not a mold, and God should be the one who teaches you how to study his word.
From the conversation
"I've learned that speaking to him while I'm reading it — God, I don't understand this. What did you mean by this? — verbally speaking that, like you're speaking to someone who actually exists and is alive."Drew Rogers
"Every message from the word of God is directly for me. And sometimes it's like, well, I don't need work in that area. Sometimes that is just revealing of how much work I actually need in that area, because I don't even see that I need work in that area."Drew Rogers
"Interpret the scripture for what it's trying to say, not what we want it to make it say."Dillon McCurdy
Scripture referenced
- John 14:26; 16:13 — Jesus telling the disciples the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth and bring the teachings of Christ to remembrance (paraphrased)
- The Sermon on the Mount
- The Gospel of John, 1 John and 3 John
- Ephesians 5 — wives submitting to husbands (paraphrased)
- Ephesians 5 — "husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church" (paraphrased)
- Revelation
- Zechariah — two chapters expanding on the candlestick imagery
- Genesis — Moses giving a poem of sorts
- Job — historical narrative in the first part, poetry in the rest
- Psalms
- Psalm 22
- Romans — written during the time of Nero
- "Love your neighbor as yourself" (paraphrased)
- Philippians 4:13 — "I can do all things through..." (paraphrased)
Mentioned in this episode
- Lee Strobel — credited on the episode for the line "A text without context is a pretext for a proof text."
- Mark Twain — quoted: "Most people are bothered by the scripture they don't understand; what troubles me most is what I do understand."
- Alexander Scourby — audio Bible recordings on CD, mentioned as what Dillon's father listened to while driving trucks.
- Blue Letter Bible — named as an example of an online study tool people reach for when a passage is unclear.
- Commentaries — mentioned as a common go-to resource, with the caution not to go there first.
- Bible apps — mentioned as a way of listening to and immersing yourself in scripture.
- Nero — Roman emperor referenced for dating the letter to the Romans and the persecution of Christians that followed it.
Discussion questions
Take it further
- When you hit a passage you do not understand, what do you actually do first — pray and reread, or reach for a commentary or an app? What would change if you reversed that order?
- What would it look like this week to talk to God while you are reading, including telling him honestly when you do not like what a passage says?
- Think of the last time you read or heard scripture and thought about who else needed to hear it. What would that same passage say if you read it as directly for you?
- Take a chapter you know well and run the questions through it: who is speaking, who is being spoken to, where, when, why was it written? What did you notice that you had not before?
- Have you ever read a psalm, a narrative or an apocalyptic passage as though it were the same kind of writing as an epistle? How did knowing the style change your reading?
- Pick a command like "love your neighbor as yourself." What is the interpretation, and what does the application look like specifically for the neighbors you actually have?
- Where have you seen scripture used as a weapon against others rather than applied first to the person reading it, and how do you guard against doing that yourself?
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