Who were the Judaizers?
The Judaizers claimed to believe in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah but insisted followers of Jesus cannot be saved unless they also kept the Mosaic law.
spirit, pneuma, G4151
Tools and resources you need to do a word study on the Greek word for Spirit/spirit, pneuma
Galatians: Living by Faith
A 15-week Bible study podcast series on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In Galatians, Paul argues that you can recognize the gospel by its substance, source and result.
Bible Study: What to observe
Once a friend confessed: “I know an essential step of any Bible study is observation. But what am I suppose to observe?” So glad you asked! Sometimes we take this step for granted when talking about how to study the Bible, but observation is a skill we learn and practice like any other.
Generally, the study process begins with the big picture, zooms into the details and then returns to the big picture to put it all together. Observation takes place in the “detail” stage.
Here’s are a few basic things you can “observe”.
June 2023 Reflections
What’s coming next on the podcast? Galatians (13 weeks) plus a deep dive into the Fruit of the Spirit (12 weeks). The podcast will return later this summer. Stay tuned for details.
Bible Study: How to Observe
The first step in Bible study is observation. The goal is to slow down your reading and generate a list of questions that must be answered to understand the passage. I tend to break observation into the following 4 steps which generally correspond to my first few readings through the passage.
How to Interpret the Bible
After you’ve done your observation, word studies, outlining and answered the questions you generated, it’s time to start putting it all together. In this step, you want to collect, refine and organize all those details you observed into a coherent meaning. Observation primarily focuses on the questions: “what does it say and how do I know?” Interpretation focuses on the questions: “what does it mean and how do I know?”
Bible Maps
After investing in a few good translations, the next tool I recommend to improve your Bible Study is a good collection of maps. While most study Bibles have some maps in the back, serious study requires access to more detailed geographical information about Palestine and the ancient near east.
How NOT to interpret the Bible
https://www.wednesdayintheword.com/how-not-to-interpret-the-bible-dont-think-twice/
How is the Old Testament organized?
In the Christian Bible, the Old Testament is divided into 4 main parts based on genre. Within each genre, books are organized by author, chronology and size.
May 2023 Reflections
What did you learn from Thessalonians? I’d love to hear your from you.
Study Break
The podcast is on break for some much needed study time before we start a new series.
About the Author
Krisan Marotta is a Bible teacher and host of Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.