The Study of the Bible.
By William Walton Clark
PAUL enjoins Timothy to “hold fast the form [outline] of sound words.” And he further says that God hath given us “the spirit of a sound mind.” If this be exercised in the pursuit of scriptural wisdom, much knowledge will be gained. The Bible may be studied like the globe. The latter has its two hemispheres; each hemisphere has three continents; every continent has its countries; every country its divisions into States, counties, and towns. So the Bible has its two testaments, each testament three great divisions—the historic, poetic, and prophetic portions in the Old Testament; the historic, doctrinal, and prophetic portions in the New Testament; these divisions are subdivided into chapters and verses. We should seek to learn the general scope of the Bible as a whole, of each testament, every division, and particularly the aim and outline of the individual books. As we take up each portion let us inquire, What was the design of God in writing this particular book? for what special purpose was this gospel, epistle, or prophecy written? And we often find the key to the book in the first verse. (See Isaiah 1:1; Matthew 1:1; John 1:1; Revelation 1:1.) Genesis is the book of beginnings; Exodus treats of redemption; Leviticus of priesthood; Numbers of wilderness journeyings; and Joshua of warfare. In the other historic books there is also a leading thought. Take the prophecies. Isaiah treats of Judah and Jerusalem, as its first verse declares, while Hosea is burdened on account of backsliding Israel. Dr. John Hall once said to a company of students, that the man who would open up the hidden beauties of the minor prophets would be doing for the Bible what Livingstone and Stanley had done for the world in opening up Central Africa. There is no study that we have enjoyed more than this, taking each prophet by himself and endeavoring to obtain a clear idea of the scope and aims of his prophecy. In the study of the New Testament it is essential to grasp the outline of each book. Matthew’s aim is to present Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews, the son of David and of Abraham, the fulfiller of the law and prophets. Mark portrays the Lord as the servant who came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” the meek and lowly one who went about doing good. Luke presents Jesus as the Son of man, tracing his lineage beyond Abraham to Adam and setting forth his compassion, love, and sympathy. But John depicts him as the Son of God, describing his divine glories, as Creator, Redeemer, and Judge. Matthew is Jewish, Mark is Roman, Luke is universal, and John is spiritual. The outline and scope of each epistle is very necessary to understand before we can either read or teach intelligently. Look at Ephesians for example. It contains six chapters. The first three are occupied with our spiritual blessings, the last three with our responsibilities. Paul, after showing how high and exalted our calling is, exhorts us to walk worthy of it [chapter 4:1], and then goes on to tell how to walk; after which he clothes us with the whole armor of God and tells us to stand. We who are sitting in heavenly places are told to walk in earthly places, and then to fight against the wiles of the devil. This is the outline of the Ephesians. Every other epistle as well as the Revelation has its own peculiar theme, which we should attempt to comprehend ere we can derive the fullest benefit in its study.—Rev. William Walton Clark.