Real Life Answers

By Stephanie

The Bible is a big book and you may not know where to start as you attempt to meaningfully study it. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Make a plan that incorporates one or more of the approaches listed below and try it out. This way you can take it in bite-size pieces and start to understand what God would want you to understand. It takes work to learn of God; but that’s the point, right? We tend to value what we work for.

Each year I try to focus my studies of the Old and New Testaments with a different approach. Last year I read the New Testament like a novel. I learned that those who trust God find purpose and meaning for their lives. The believers in the stories of the Bible see the big picture and look to the real source of happiness. This year I’m not reading the Bible like a novel. Instead, I am searching for answers with specific questions in mind. In doing this, I’m already learning lessons that have helped me in many ways. I’ve come to understand God much better and develop more trust in Him. I am hopeful that I will gain an even deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ as I continue my scripture study.

Methods for studying the Bible:

From cover to cover.

• Start at the beginning and read as if it were a novel. Take notes and/or highlight as you go along.  Record impressions, thoughts, and plans for applying what you learn to your everyday life.

Chronologically.

• The books of the Bible are not in chronological order. For example, the letters of Paul are ordered by length. Try reading the books in an order that may be closer to true chronological order. Also, read about the history of the time period. For example, read about King Darius while reading the book of Daniel, or study the history of Rome while reading Paul’s letters in the New Testament. This chronology might help.

By subject or question.

• Read through with a question in mind. It may be something general (“How did each person featured overcome obstacles?”) or it may be more personal (“How can I forgive someone who hurt me?”). Find lessons in the stories you read.
• Start with a question and search for answers. If your question is “Who is Jesus?”, search for “Jesus” in the Bible Dictionary or index. This may lead you to an account of what Jesus did in Matthew and Luke. Search for words that may be associated with your topic; in this case, try “Christ.” This may lead you to other interesting topics of study, such as other names and titles that have been given to Christ, leading you to Isaiah’s prophecies about Jesus. Good study leads you from one question to the next and can be really interesting.
• Study to understand principles you believe in, but have a hard time explaining to others. For example, ask yourself, “What is faith?” or, “How should I pray?” Study until you can succinctly and successfully answer these questions.

By person.

• Study a person’s life. For example, if you pick Peter, one of Jesus’ apostles in the New Testament, read the verses that talk about him and his life story. Pay attention to how Jesus responds to and treats him. Note how others treat him and how he treats others.

By word.

• Learn the true meaning of one simple word, like hope, by looking in the index for all times the word is mentioned and see what each verse tells you about it.
• Try to figure out the relationship between two words, like repentance and hope. How does one affect the other?
• Pick a word that connects cause and effect, such as “therefore.” Make a grid and write the cause on the left side (what is written before “therefore”) and its matching effect on the right side (what is written after “therefore”). For example, in Genesis 42:21, Joseph’s brothers are in dire circumstances and need help. This causes them to remember the time they had done wrong to their brother and had not helped him. They say, “we saw the anguish of his soul . . . and we would not hear.” The effect: “therefore is this distress come upon us.” The word “therefore” in this verse connects the cause (doing wrong to their brother) with effect (distress).

Try one of the methods above and find one way you can incorporate what you’ve learned into something you do this week. What methods do you use for studying the Bible? Share your ideas here!

I love to read, but I admit that I don’t typically get caught up in the scriptures like I do with a bestselling novel. While I believe God would like me to study the Bible and Book of Mormon with great intensity, I’ve often asked myself, “What’s the point of reading the scriptures?”

I recently found one pretty solid answer. In the book of 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, the prophet Nephi is delivering a message to his people where he describes what he calls the “doctrine of Christ” – the basics of our religion. This doctrine comprises faith, repentance, baptism, the companionship of the Holy Spirit, and then virtuously enduring until the end of mortal life (after which there are great things to come upon being reunited with God in heaven).

Some of Nephi’s followers were curious what they should be doing after baptism – what could they do to stay on a path that would lead them to eternal life with God? Here is Nephi’s answer:

“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).

So there you have it. The words of Christ will tell us all things we should do. And we can’t know the words of Christ unless we study them, and ponder them, and feast upon them. That’s where the scriptures come in.

We now know that feasting on the words of Christ (the scriptures) will tell us all things we should do, and we know it will help us gain eternal life, but those two things are a little hard to grasp on a day-to-day basis. I’ve turned to some thoughts from modern-day leaders of our church to help me get a closer look at why scripture study is beneficial to us.

One elder called the scriptures “a veritable banquet of insights and divine counsel.” He said, “let us feast at the table often.” So that’s an indication that to receive the benefits of feasting, we have to do it regularly. And then he gives the promise, or the “why”: He says that “if we do [this], the Holy Spirit will fill our lives, helping us to be ‘nourished by the good word of God.’”

So there is one practical reason to study the scriptures. If we do so, we’ll not only have the Holy Spirit with us, but it will fill our lives.

Another leader taught that we feast upon Christ’s words when we desire and obey them. So simply reading scriptures doesn’t count as feasting – we have to desire them, and then take action after we close the book by obeying the words. He says “to feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience. When we feast upon the words of Christ . . . they become an integral part of our nature.”

Finally, feasting upon the words of Christ is one of the best ways for us to learn about Jesus Christ, to become more like Him, to draw near unto Him, and to properly make use of God’s greatest gift to us – the Atonement.

There is no better place than the scriptures to learn about Jesus Christ and the Atonement, for that is where it was all originally documented. We can read and study about the actual events themselves, as well as the accounts of all those who prophesied about Christ, those who lived and served with him, and those who continued to spread the gospel after his death.

We recently received a question from a reader regarding our beliefs related to the Bible and the Book of Mormon. On this blog we often quote from the Book of Mormon, so I’m glad Marcus sent us his query about the book and its origins.

The quick definition of the Book of Mormon is this: Just like the Bible, the Book of Mormon is the word of God — it acts as another testament of Jesus Christ. Along with fellow members of my church, I believe in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon as scripture that contains God’s guidance as he revealed it to the prophets in ancient times.

Some of the differences between the two books are the setting and timing — the Bible was written by and about the prophets in Israel from the creation until shortly after Jesus Christ’s death. The Book of Mormon deals with the prophets who lived in the Americas between about 600 BC and 400 AD. One of these prophets, Mormon, compiled the various records onto gold-like plates (basically thin, metallic pages that are engraved on both sides). He then hid the records safely away, knowing that the faithful Christians would soon perish.

Fast forward a few hundred years to the early 1800s and we find the beginnings of Christ’s church as we know it today. Joseph Smith, a young boy at the time, was in the midst of a religious revival in his upstate New York town. He turned to the Bible for guidance in knowing which Church to align himself with, and he read that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5). So he did just that — he knelt in a nearby forest and asked God for the truth. In response to that humble prayer, God called on Joseph Smith to restore to the earth the gospel that Jesus Christ had preached nearly 2,000 years prior. As part of this restoration, Joseph Smith translated the ancient records of Mormon.

The combination of the Bible and the Book of Mormon creates a fullness to our church and the individual lives of its members. Both books testify of Christ. Both are necessary. The Book of Mormon reaffirms what we learn from the Bible — Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came to earth to provide a way for us to overcome our sins. Through our faith we can know of the truthfulness contained in both books.

Look out for a follow-up post in the coming days from Tim, where he’ll share a more personal experience of believing and following the Book of Mormon.