Dr. James Boyce offered the following notes in his Lay School of Theology class in Spring 2012, “How the Bible Came to Us: Its Writing, Use, and Authority.”
A ROAD MAP FOR READERS
Read the Bible as a Living Word
- Read with the expectation that understanding is new each day
- Read watching for the surprises or the “speed bumps”
- Read with expectation of complexity and diversity
- Read in light of judgment and promise (law and gospel)
- Read in light of the good news of God’s promise in JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More Christ (cf. Rom 8: 1, 28-31)
Boyce adds these instructions, what he calls “Some Fruitful Approaches” to approaching Scripture:
- Read devotionally: attend to what you understand, not to what you don’t understand
- Read with others
- Read repeatedly, in different ways, in different translations
- Pay attention to feelings, images, questions evoked by the reading
- Pay attention to experience and memories both personal and communal
