Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible

Top Highlights

“In short, we study the Bible to know Jesus and to help others know him.” (source)

“Peter loved the mountaintop. There’s nothing wrong with the mountaintop. But don’t miss Peter’s larger point—we don’t need the mountaintop to know God; what we need is to pay very close attention to the Word God has already spoken. That is where he speaks with the greatest clarity and the most authoritative power.” (source)

“Before we can set our eyes on the horizon, we have to get our noses in the text. Our study must begin with observation. When we observe, we try to figure out what the text says—not what we want it to say, think it should say, or heard someone else say about it. We receive each text on its own terms, and that process requires careful observation.” (source)

“Bible study ultimately becomes fruitful only when we approach the Bible rightly, in reliance on the Holy Spirit to grant us a measure of access to the very mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6–16). What a joy, then, to know that if you want such access, all you have to do is ask (Luke 11:13).” (source)

“What’s truly central is not so much the order in which things happened, but the significance of what happened.’ You have to admit they have a point.” (source)