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ОглавлениеUsing this Book
This study guide consists of two sections:1
1. Introductory information
2. Study sheets
As you prepare to enter this process of biblical study, it involves several steps reflecting the principles of lectio divina. You may have other ideas, or even a completely different method, and that is fine, but it will still help if you understand the starting point.
You should also have some kind of guideline for how you will approach your study. That guide is going to suggest a process of study, which I’ll repeat briefly here:
1. Preparation, including materials, prayer, and opening your mind
2. Overview
3. Background
4. The inner cycle (or central loop): Meditate, Question, Research, Compare
5. Sharing
This is a study process and it says very little about what you might do at each step of the process. It is, however, built on the principles of lectio divina, or “holy reading.” Let’s summarize those principles first and then look at the steps and see how they will help you apply these same principles to your study.
Holy Reading: A Model for Bible Study
Lectio divina, which means holy reading, is an ancient practice of studying scripture. There are many ways to practice lectio divina. It has been done in many ways since Origen described it around 220 CE. The great monastic traditions of the church further developed it into distinct phases and practices. The basic principle is that reading and studying the Bible should be remarkably different than reading the morning paper or studying Shakespeare. The Bible is a sacred text; it is a Living Word. It should not be, therefore, studied like as if it were a collection of dead pages from history.
When the two men were walking down the Road to Emmaus, they met the risen Christ, but did not recognize him (Luke 24). As they were walking down the road, Jesus interpreted to them the biblical story. Only later, as they were breaking bread, did they realize that Christ was with them the entire time.
Lectio Divina is a practice that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, invites the risen Christ to interpret scripture to us anew. It is a prayerful reading of scripture that expects God to speak once again through this Holy Word. Prayer should influence the way you study the Bible, and studying the Bible should influence the way you pray. In lectio divina, it is impossible to tell when you are studying and when you are praying, as there is no difference.
This practice is usually applied on small passages of scripture for an extended period of time. However, in this study lectio divina is used as a strategy to study an entire book of the Bible. This is somewhat challenging because the scripture text is so large, but the prayerful approach is still crucial to Christian study of the scripture. In these lessons, the ancient practice of lectio is blended with modern study methods that consider the historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
The historical methods are important to us because they help connect us to people of a different time and place who experienced the same God that we do, learned from the same texts, and were led by the same Spirit. In this context we do not study history for its own sake; we study history so that we might meet those who wrote the texts and those who have studied the passages before us.
The lessons in this guide are designed around the four movements of lectio divina established by Guigo II, a 12th century Carthusian monk, in a book called The Monk’s Ladder. He organized the practice around four rungs that help us draw closer to God through reading the Bible.
Reading (lectio): The first rung of the ladder is reading. Believe it or not this is the step most often skipped or diminished. It is important to do the Bible reading for each lesson to get the most out of it. Ideally it should be read several times so that you can become familiar with the language and themes of the text. This book is a guide to help you study the biblical text. It is a supplement to the text itself, and the text of scripture should be the primary focus in your study. The steps of the participatory study method emphasize different ways of reading to help the text become part of you as you study.
Meditating (meditatio): The next step is to prayerfully meditate on the text. Dig deep into it. Study the words. Break it down into pieces. In this study this is where most of the background information is located. Look up words to find their meaning. Notice if there are any words or actions that the Holy Spirit may be leading you to examine further.
Praying (oratio): Third, we learn to pray the text. Use what you have learned from the scripture to formulate a prayer. It may be helpful to write it down. (There are note pages at the end of each chapter.) At the end of each lesson is a prayerful exercise that expounds on one of the themes from the text. Feel free to add your own prayers. This is where the text really becomes alive to us.
In the method used for this study guide, prayer is not seen as simply one part of the study; prayer permeates your study. You start with prayer and listening so that you will hear what God has to say through the text. Then you end by turning what you have heard from God back into prayer. The prayer never ceases!
Contemplating (contemplatio): The last step is the most difficult and rewarding. You have read the text, studied the text, and prayed the text. Now it is time to be the text. Let it seep into your being. Be still and listen. Make sure you leave some time after the prayer for silence and reflection. It is said that Dan Rather once interviewed Mother Theresa about her prayer life. Rather asked her, “What do you say to God when you pray?” Her answer was simple; “I don’t say anything; I just listen.” After that he asked, “Well, what does Jesus say to you?” And Mother Theresa answered, “Oh, He doesn’t say anything, either. He just listens.” Listening is what is important. You may not always feel anything, but God is there. Another facet of contemplation is to learn to do the text. We cannot be just hearers of the word; we must also be doers of the word. Let the scripture change the way you live your life.
Applying the Principles in Participatory Study
Preparation
As you begin the study, preparation will involve getting the materials you want to use, then prayer to begin each session of study. Part of this introductory time will be making decisions about the time and resources you can devote to this study. This is also your time of prayer. Before you begin to read, you need to pray. Then you need to listen. You come to the text because God calls you to it.
Overview
Getting the overview is accomplished by reading the letters of John through at least once, but preferably three times. Don’t feel bad about how many times you read. Choose a number that seems reasonable to you. If you start reading the third time, and it feels like a burden, move on. This is part of lectio but only part. You will learn to read in other ways in different phases of your study. Once you have read the letters of John through your chosen number of times, read one or two of the following
1 The entry on the letters of John in a Bible handbook
2 The entry on the letters of John in a Bible dictionary
3 The introductory note on the letters of John in a study Bible, if you’re using one.
4 The introductory section of a good commentary on letters of John (see Appendix B for resource details)
Here is where we introduce historical elements into your study. Don’t imagine that God cannot talk to you through this text because you are so far separated from the people who wrote it. They were people like you who had hopes, dreams, gifts, and failings. Study the background to help you connect to them. Christianity is a community that extends not only in space right now but in time.
The Central Loop
For this overview, your central loop, as I call it, is your whole study of the book. Keep in mind that no element of your study is something you do just once and then forget about it. Prayer is continuous. There are multiple ways of reading, questioning, studying, and sharing.
For this study, I have divided the letters of John into eleven units.
Introductory Matters—The Word of God and the Word of Life (1 John 1:1-4; John 1:1-18)
Walking in the Light (1 John 1:5-2:6)
A New Commandment (1 John 2:7-28)
The Children of God (1 John 2:27-3:10)
Love One another (1 John 3:11-24)
Testing the Spirits (1 John 4:1-6)
Behold the Love of God (1John 4:7-21)
Overcoming the World (1 John 5:1-12)
Prayers of Restoration (1 John 5:13-21)
Walking in Obedience (2 John)
Walking in Truth (3 John)
This is most closely related to meditatio, but the implementation of meditatio extends into the next section where you question the text in a directed way. Don’t concentrate on the boundaries between one activity and the next. They are all related!
With each unit there will be an opportunity to try to think of new questions one might ask for further study. Generating new questions helps keep us from getting stale. Not only do I not have all the answers; I don’t even have all the questions! Think of a question primarily as a way to prepare your mind to hear the text. When we listen or read, we often hear what we expect to hear. If I’m listening to the radio for weather, I may miss a major discussion of politics. You can miss what God is saying to you through a Bible writer because you are looking for something else. Questioning is an important part of meditatio, but it also relates closely to oratio—take your questions to God in prayer.
Finally, find something to share. Remember that sharing can be in the form of a question. For example, one might ask others how they understand a particular word, such as “incarnation,” “poverty,” or “atonement.” Take notes on their answers, and bring that information back to your study. Then ask yourself what your neighbors will hear when you make particular statements, such as “I must be bold for Jesus!” or “Jesus is the only way to receive atonement.” Do those statements mean something to them? Do they mean the same thing to them as they do to you?
This is part of contemplatio, as you try to be and do the text. We often think of sharing primarily as telling someone things that we have learned. But if what you learned is that God loves prisoners, for example, you might find that the best way of sharing that lesson is to become active in prison ministry. Sharing demonstrates that you don’t believe the text is your private possession. It is God’s gift to the Christian community.
Resources
The following resources are referenced regularly in the text. Additional resources are listed in the Appendix. In a small group it is a good idea to have different members of the group bring different reference works. For individual study, use a selection:
1 Study Bibles. There are a considerable number of study bibles available. Some take a more scholarly approach, while others are devotional. In selecting a study bible, it is best to begin by selecting a specific translation and then find a study bible that is based upon that text. The New International Version is very popular and there are a large number of study bibles related to it. While the NIV emerged from evangelical Protestantism, most mainline Protestant churches use the New Revised Standard Version. If your choice is the NRSV (as is true for me) then the leading options are: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, The Harper-Collins Study Bible, and The Access Bible. Again, these are not the only translations or study bibles available for consultation, especially since the ones mentioned are based on the New Revised Standard Version. A note on study bibles in general—one should be careful to separate in one’s mind the text from the commentary. It is easy to confuse them since the two are placed together. It is, of course, always good to look at resources from a variety of perspectives, and thus resources beyond one’s study bible should be consulted. Look at materials you are likely to disagree with to stimulate your thinking.
2 Concordances. You may decide to consult either English language concordances, or those that include material on the original languages. If you get a concordance, find one that matches the Bible version you use. Besides print versions there are several free online sites that are helpful, including The Bible Gateway (multiple translations) and the Oremus Bible Browser (NRSV).
3 Bible Dictionaries. The information in a good bible dictionary overlaps what is found in many study Bibles and Bible handbooks, but they can be very useful for general study of topics being considered. It is important that if purchasing a bible dictionary to get an up-to-date one. See the resource list for suggestions.
4 Bible Handbooks. The information found in a Bible handbook will be similar to what is found in many study Bibles, only it will lack the biblical text.
5 Bible Commentaries. These resources offer more detailed exegetical explanations and interpretation of the actual text. They range from one-volume to multiple volumes. For the New Testament, I would recommend purchase of The People’s New Testament Commentary written by Fred Craddock and Eugene Boring. In purchasing commentaries, it is best to stay away from sets such as Matthew Henry or Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. These were written several centuries ago and lack the kinds of historical and linguistic information you will need for deeper study. They can have some devotional value, but they can be found online.
When it comes to comparing passages, you will find your study Bible, concordance, and any Bible with reference notes to be very useful. Remember, however, that even the cross-references are just someone’s opinion of how one passage is related to another. You don’t have to agree. Look at the passages yourself, and ask not just whether they are related, but how they are related.
Remember to keep an open mind and a receptive heart while studying the Bible. Study prayerfully. Meditate on what you read. Try to place yourself in the audience of people who might have first heard this book read to them aloud in a small house church.
1 Energion Publications offers a pamphlet with an outline of this study process and a list of resources. It is titled I Want to Study the Bible, and can be found on the site https://participatorystudyseries.com or on https://energiondirect.com. It is available in ebook formats as well as print.
