Tools for More Effective Bible Studies

Most people would agree that religion is a very personal thing.  At the same time most of us are whatever religion our parents were and belief whatever we were taught growing up.  some of us though reach a point where we start to wonder why we believe what we believe.  We begin to question the status quo and ask ourselves if we remember ever reading this or that in the bible. 

There are a lot of people who would quickly quote the bible as saying that "God helps those who help themselves," yet the truth is it was Ben Franklin who said that and it is found nowhere in the bible.  Many start to wonder when Jesus' real birthday actually was and why do we celebrate the holidays we celebrate.  Why are the Jews not aloud to eat pork and other "unclean foods?"  Why do we go to church on Sundays.  All just a few examples of the things we grew up doing without ever really knowing why or how it started.

The answers to some of these questions would surprise and even shock many people (Christians especially).  As we start to ponder these questions another problem arises for most people- Where do I look in the bible to find the answers.  Most people have just taken the word of their pastor or minister but have never committed much of the scriptures used in sermons to their own memory.  Now as they search for relevant answers it's easy to feel overwhelmed by trying toflop open the book and hope that God opens up to the page you need.  That's just not how it works.  So below are some of the tools that can be used to help in our search for answers to life's great questions.

http://www.biblestudy.org/ is one of the first websites I found to begin on my own path to enlightenment.  It is set up with bible study for beginners all the way to advanced.  it can help with questions about anything from the "bible diet" to the mark of the beast and almost any philosophical question in between.  Want to know if the bible talks about dragons or dinosaurs?  you can find that question and answer here, complete with references from the bible.  It is not a site set up to just give you a bunch of passages to read and figure out on your own.  there are bible scholars there to help explain the texts from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic languages, which helps in understanding the context of the passages.  some of the reading is a bit long, but these types of questions don't always have quick easy answers and even the scholars argue about them sometimes.

Another site is  http://www.biblestudytools.com/ which is a great tool that allows you to pick the bible translation from which to read as well as a concordance that helps in finding the scriptures based on topics or keywords.  This site does not necessarily have a lot of answers to questions as much as just helping you find the pertinent scriptures for you to study on your own.  It does, however have a Face Book page that once "liked" will send you a bible verse every so often to encourage you throughout the days.

There also a lot of applications or apps that can be downloaded to mobile devices so that you can study anywhere without carrying your bible and note taking materials with you everywhere you go.  Most of the better ones allow you to choose your translation, take notes, and even cross reference other sources or bibles.  All very convenient for when you find yourself somewhere with a lot of unexpected time on your hands like the waiting room at the hospital or stuck in traffic for LONG periods of time.  There is no longer a good excuse for not reading the bible any more.

In order to put these tools to effective use, one should consider learning about the most accurate translation of the original texts that make up the bible.  A few words translated too loosely can make a huge difference in how a passage is interpreted.  also some bibles have obvious flaws and some even have added things to direct ones conclusions.  As a rule of thumb, any time something is in parentheses in the bible it is the translator's or publisher's opinion about what the scripture means.  Not good for coming to your own conclusions based on what the bible strictly says.

Again, these are just some tools that may be used to gain greater understanding of your faith and even our own culture.  the bible must also be studied in conjunction with history to understand how events originally happened and what changed in history that effected what we do and believe now.  For example, the Sabbath day was always the last day of the week and most religious services were conducted on those days as the instructions were to hold a holy convocation on the Sabbath.  However it was a Roman emperor who decided to convert to Christianity that changed the day of worship to Sunday so that he would not have to change the day already recognised by the pagan worshippers who already worshipped their gods on Sunday.  Just one example of man changing what we do, but for many that change would never have been known or questioned.  Is it ok to worship on Sunday when God's instruction was to gather together and worship on the Sabbath?  Use the tools mentioned here and any others you may find to decide for yourself.