Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Bible

Best Way to Study the Bible?

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Filed under: Bible, Stuff on the Web

There are a few blogs that I tend to frequent very often, and one of those is the ESV Bible Blog and they have often posted about how users of the ESV have made their own "blank Bibles" for personal study of the Scriptures. After reading their latest installment titled "More Blank Bibles" I got to thinking about whether I should make my own, or do something altogether different.

I like the idea of the blank Bible as it allows me to quickly jot down notes as I'm reading and have them easily accessible for future reference when I am reading that passage again. Plus, it's a nice way to write my own personal commentary of sorts and quickly get a feel for how far along I am in the process. The one thing I don't like about that idea is having it spread across eight or so volumes; that just seems to be a bit much for a project like that. Indeed, it's a novel idea and will work for many, but I'm not sure that this will work for me.

I then had the idea of writing my notes in a separate notebook, which I had started to do at one point. This way, I can still use my favorite Bible (at this point in time, it's the MacArthur Study Bible NASB version) without having to destroy & rebind it and have my notes separate from it. Logistically thinking, at least for myself and the way I work, there is a problem in this too, for a few reasons. First, in keeping things separate I will have to go flipping to search for what I'm looking for in a notebook, with no kind of reference system to quickly find what I'm looking for (of course I could make one). Secondly, I'm not a big fan of writing because: 1) I write sloppily, 2) I write slow, and 3) my hand tends to cramp up rather quickly, so just imagine me trying to write a long discourse by hand. That idea alone has kept me from doing this method, which also makes the blank Bible not much of an option either.

Now, there's the third option, which is probably the most feasible, but another that I still don't like too much. WORDsearch 8 has a Bible notes feature which works very much like a notebook or a blank Bible. It allows you to type your notes into a word processor type window that is synced to a particular verse (or range of verses). This is great when working on a study as it allows you to quickly find your notes when searching on a particular passage. The only downside to this really, is that you cannot name your notes at this point (a feature that I really wish was available, so as to distinguish between multiple notes on a single verse). Logos provides a similar feature that is not quite as intuitive, but it is a lot more flexible in how it allows you to lay out the data. The only drawback to using the system is that the notes are not searchable from within the system, whereas they are in WS8.

That option sounds nice, but there's a catch. I'm the kind of person that doesn't like to use an electronic Bible when I'm reading; I prefer to use my hard copy, that way I can sit on the couch, or wherever and read. It's much harder to do that when sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen. I don't know, I just get in a different mindset when I'm reading my hard copy, it just feels more real and personal to me versus using my computer. Now don't get me wrong, I love using my computer for doing my intense studies (i.e. my devotions and Bible studies) where I need all of my reference works available to me. I just feel that a package like WS8 or Logos is more than I need for simple not taking (even though both are designed for such).

I guess the best solution is going to be for me to try and do this: learn to read my physical Bible @ my desk (just bought a new one from Wal-Mart for $45 that's just big enough for my laptop, and using the keyboard drawer as my workspace [i.e. for my Bible & notebook]), and then have WS8 open & ready to take notes on passages as I need to. I think that's going to be the best bet and work best for me, presenting the best of both worlds. And hey, when it comes time to publish (if that time ever comes) it's already in an electronic format that simply needs to be exported and pasted in to Microsoft Word and then formatted properly.

Yup, I guess that will work... I'll try it tonight.