Principles for Bible Study

"In Essentials, Unity; In Non-essentials, Liberty; 

In All Things, Love." - John Wesley

1. The Word of God is Jesus Christ, and the words of the Bible tell us about that Word. Therefore, when we study the words of the Bible we always look behind, in, and through those words for God's Word - Jesus Christ.

2. No Christian has a monopoly on understanding either God's Word or the words of the Scripture. This includes biblical scholars and the most unlearned Christian. All of us must listen to one another as we seek to understand the richness of God's gifts.

3. We must assume everyone has Christian integrity and not accuse one another of being unchristian, no matter how unusual are the opinions.

4. We must further assume that we will arrive at different understandings of portions of Scripture and that that will not disturb God as much as It will some of us.

5. Few of us will know Hebrew or Greek, and we therefore need to use a variety of English versions to try to understand the text.

6. While we accept our differences, we do not feel that those differences are unimportant, or that they should be ignored or treated as if they did not matter.

7. Different biblical understandings can remain among us, but we can still be warm Christian friends. In fact, as we grow to better understand our differences, we can grow in our appreciation of one another.

Adapted from Strengthening the Adult Sunday School Class by Dick Murray. © 1981 by Abingdon Press. Permission is granted to copy this page for DISCIPLE.