Googling the Bible

Dave Edgren explores concordancestyle Bible studies and new ways of seeing the Scriptures.

It has been said that change is the only constant in life. To live is to grow, adapt, mature—to change.

Dead things, although they may be decomposing, are not changing with the times. The same is true of languages.

The primary difference between a living language and a dead one is that living languages are in a constant state of flux. English, as a language, is alive and well. You can google it to find out more. The very fact that I can tell you to google something is proof of the throbbing pulse of our language.

The American Dialect Society nominated “google” as “most useful word of 2002.” The verb google was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in June 2006, and to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in July 2006. Before its internet use was invented, a google (googol) was a very big number—a one followed by a hundred zeros. Today, that’s probably the number of hits you’ll get if you google your middle name! Believe it or not, Christians have been googling for years. At the back of most study Bibles, there is a set of Google-like search pages. Have a look. It will be titled “Concordance.” But it’s the same thing as using Google and limiting the search range to all that is between the covers of the Bible.

Using a concordance is a great way to make short work of studying a particular theme in the Bible. It’s a lot easier, and more effective, than skimming the entire Bible! Want to know what the Bible says about “peace”

or “friends” or “anger”? Flip to the back of the Bible and look it up. There, nicely prepared for you, will be a list of texts you can flip to and reveal God’s wisdom on the subject.

There are also online Bible concordances. If you go to <http://biblegateway.com>, you can search a huge number of Bible versions for the quote, topic or theme of your choice. But do a little experiment. Look up your chosen theme both ways—online and in your Bible—and you will notice something. There are heaps more hits online. Why? Why would the concordance in the back of your Bible have a shorter list? Because the editors have done something really nice for you—they weeded out all the random hits that use your chosen word but don’t deal specifically with the topic. So, there you have it—your Bible is actually a better God-stuff googler than the internet! You can purchase an exhaustive concordance that lists every single use of each word in the Bible. But that is not really necessary—that’s what the internet is for. The simple concordance at the back of your Bible is perfect for delving into the truths of Scripture.

Concordance-style Bible study is fun. Not only will you find the answers you were looking for, you will find random stuff that will make you laugh, learn and perhaps languish. In each case, questions will come to mind. And this is when we learn best! People who give you answers when you’re not asking questions are annoying. But when you are anxiously asking a question, finding the answer is a beautiful thing.

There are many prepared Bible studies available that ask all the questions for you. These type of Bible studies are set up to show you a single line of thought. This can be good for beginning Bible students. They keep your study short and your thoughts linear. But letting the Bible speak to you by following a theme through its pages will change you. And that’s what living is all about! Concordance-style Bible study will make you think. You will ask questions about the Bible, your life and God. This is a good thing! The more questions you ask—and the more answers you find—the more real your Christian experience will be. People who don’t ask questions aren’t growing, maturing adults. They are dying.

When I was a kid watching Sesame Street, I learned “Asking questions is a good way to find things out.” The same is as true today as it ever was. We just say it differently: “Googling is a good way to find things out!” Google your Bible today. Flip to the back and put your concordance through a work out. You’ll be amazed what you can learn!  

Bible Study Styles

 The Bible is a book some people might feel intimidated about studying. Everyone has struggled with getting into Bible study at some point in their life. The 66 books make it a relatively long Book, with a number of sections of rather boring lists of who begat who.

When beginning to get more into Bible study, perhaps the first thing you should do is find a Bible translation you’re comfortable with. Some may think it’s heresy to use anything but the King James Version but if you don’t understand the language used, you probably won’t get as much out of a Bible reading as you could with a version you’re more comfortable with.

It’s also a good idea to set aside a time for Bible study on a regular basis—when you don’t, it’s easy to make excuses for not doing it! From here, work out what style of Bible study will suit you best.

Dave has written about the concordance-based style of study but there are a number of other types you can try, whether individually or in small groups.

These include:

> Free form Simply choose a style, subject and starting point that interests you and go from there. Whether or not it’s effective will depend on the individual reader and lacks some structure that may lead to more applied Bible study.

> Block reading This is simply reading a large portion of Scripture in a “block,”

much like any other book you may pick up. This style can suit some people well but is generally best combined with some other studies to make the most of what the Bible has to say. It can also be kind of overwhelming for anyone not used to what and how the Bible writers express things.

> Written guides Prewritten Bible-study guides are available from a number of sources and take the pressure off you when it comes to making a choice about what to study. Guides often include writers’ insights and prompts for further study, reactions and discussions.

> Devotional Devotional studies of the Bible can either be a simple reading of a portion of the Bible and then meditating on the passage the reader has found particularly fascinating, or they can relate Bible stories to personal stories from more contemporary life.

> Investigative study This method focuses on passage specifics, digging into their meanings, histories and other such issues in order to understand and appreciate meanings contained as fully as possible.

> Technical This often involves breaking out the Greek and Hebrew Bibles! Which is great for further interpretation of texts thanks to the “raw data” but not so good if you don’t know either of those languages . . .

> Topical Often used in systematic theology or doctrinal study, this style mostly focuses on factual pieces from texts, contextualised with other sections of Scripture, to look at topics or issues relating to Christian life.

> Historical This involves studying the Bible as a history, and gleaning more information about the events from other historical sources in addition to the Bible about the events described.