I had a Christian experience before I joined the church, so for 17 years I only had the Bible to read. I learned to do subject studies. I particularly love the OT, the Gospels, and Hebrews. But I prefer to, not only read it straight through, but to combine it in subject studies. Using a great set of commentaries, Strong's Concordance of the Bible for Hebrew and Greek meanings of words, all footnotes for further explanations and cross referencing, the Bible Dictionary, and often the topical guide as the basis for a subject study, is very helpful in understanding this important book. I truly believe that understanding the OT is the basis for understanding all of the other scriptures we have. Also there are great books written by scholars that give insights. So much is available, but my experience at church is that people have no grasp of the OT and find it a bit "horrifying." God is the same, and was not different in the OT than in the NT- I always am saddened at this viewpoint. I love all of the scriptures and hope to go deeper and deeper into my understanding and application of them to my life.
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sueApril 8, 2014
I had a Christian experience before I joined the church, so for 17 years I only had the Bible to read. I learned to do subject studies. I particularly love the OT, the Gospels, and Hebrews. But I prefer to, not only read it straight through, but to combine it in subject studies. Using a great set of commentaries, Strong's Concordance of the Bible for Hebrew and Greek meanings of words, all footnotes for further explanations and cross referencing, the Bible Dictionary, and often the topical guide as the basis for a subject study, is very helpful in understanding this important book. I truly believe that understanding the OT is the basis for understanding all of the other scriptures we have. Also there are great books written by scholars that give insights. So much is available, but my experience at church is that people have no grasp of the OT and find it a bit "horrifying." God is the same, and was not different in the OT than in the NT- I always am saddened at this viewpoint. I love all of the scriptures and hope to go deeper and deeper into my understanding and application of them to my life.
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