Bible Study | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 26, 1873

Bible Study.

PROTESTANTS glory in a Bible, says the Baptist Union, and then neglect it. They read it some, but study it little. A real Bible student is a rarity. Every Christian ought to be one, and his children should be taught the word of God so thoroughly that its beauties, sweetness, and purity, become a part of their natures, enter into their characters, giving strength and comfort. Glorious men would be raised by this process, men of sterling integrity, of broad sympathies, noble purposes, generous impulses. But we praise the Bible and neglect to study it. And lacking Bible knowledge, faith is weak, morals are unstable, hearts unsanctified, hopes lack inspiration and gladness. Faith comes by hearing. The word of God must dwell in us richly to produce rich fruits of character and comfort.

The cause of this defeat rests mainly with our teachers. Students are trained in theology, but meagerly in the Bible; hence, preachers lack a thorough knowledge of the word of God, and have little skill in teaching what they do know. Among our thousands of ministers, few are good Bible students, and still fewer, skillful Bible teachers. They do not even aim at proficiency in this direction. The popular style of preaching is of another type, dogmatic, rhetorical, hortatory. Moreover, attempts at expository preaching usually fail from lack of knowledge and skill. How can one interest a congregation unless his own soul is full of his theme, his material abundant and wisely handled? The mass of ministers merely take texts from the Bible, and draw sermons from their own thinkings and imaginings; instead of preaching the word, they preach theories. The doctrine is generally good, the principles are correct, but they lack the authority, unction, and power, which always attend the word itself.

The people will not excel their teachers in Bible study. Why should they? They may well ask, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” It requires some study and persistent drill to teach geography and arithmetic well, and much more to teach the Bible. Do we expect pupils to succeed in school studies without help? We need it still more in our churches. The people do not know how to study the Bible to advantage. Commentaries are a help, but do not meet the chief want. The pulpit must set forth the sacred word so as to enamor the people with its wealth and beauty and wisdom. But what can the pulpit do till better instructed? Ministers do not know how to expound the Scriptures effectively, and so must be taught.

We lament the growth of skepticism, and well we may. The atmosphere is full of unbelief. It is working infinite mischief to morals and piety. The root of the evil is in the church, aye, in the ministry. Faith limps even there; it is feeble, hesitating, cautious, questioning, and seeks bolsters from philosophy, logic, speculation. “Faith comes by hearing;” doubt, through ignorance. When we know the word thoroughly, we trust it implicitly; “thus saith the Lord” settles all doubt. This is ample, sure footing for a royal, masterful faith, and it behoves ministers of Christ to plant themselves upon it. Then they can lead the people to it, and the faith of the church will affect the currents of thought throughout society; the head waters regulate the currents below. The Bible is its own best interpreter and best defense. Apologetics have their uses, but a thorough knowledge of the word itself will insure a sublimer, a stronger, a more triumphant, faith than a world of logic. Reasoning about the Bible is weakness itself compared with the testimony which its own utterances bear.

The Sunday-school promises reform. Children are our teachers. The uniform lessons, their exposition in the religious press, the interchange of thought and inducements to study among children are affecting adults and improving sermons. Is it the dawn of a brighter era? Will it make the church a school indeed, and all its members learners? Will it impel ministers to dig deep for the treasures of God, and bring out things new and old from the storehouse? Will it change the whole order of ministerial education, and make a knowledge of God’s word the chief, the central, object of drill? If so, mists and gloom will yield to a glorious faith, and faith would bring holiness, enthusiasm, strength, and gladness.—Golden Censer.