I became a Christian 42 years ago at the age of 13, you do the math. I’ll give you a hint, I’m in the middle of living my first full year as a “senior citizen”.
Anyway, for the first few years of my Christian walk I was content to learn and grow through whatever was being taught in class or from the pulpit on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and learning the discipline of prayer. I was very fortunate because I had excellent Bible class teachers and heard solid, theologically sound sermons from Godly men. I was certainly into biblical things through my teens; I listened to Christian radio, enjoyed singing hymns to myself, occasionally read my KJV Bible – I particularly liked Psalms, tried to memorize a few verses here and there, and hung out with Christian friends. All of these were good, but I wasn’t really applying myself in order to grow at a steady, proper rate. In my late teens and early twenties I was faced with the many challenges of life that we all are, and it made me realize I needed more than could be offered by a couple hours of passive learning each week and the smattering of my other feeble efforts. So began the long journey all Truth-Seekers probably take to try and get closer to God in their daily lives.
At first it was enough to read daily devotionals and adhere to various “Read The Bible In A Year” plans. These were very helpful to get familiar with general concepts, learn biblical terminology, read about the experience of others, and develop a daily habit of time with God. But as I matured I outgrew them and yearned to go deeper than reading without real understanding, though I didn’t know how on my own. Thankfully, my Dad, an excellent Bible student, led me to some very good books by Christian scholars, as well as Bible historians, ancient cultural experts, reliable commentaries, Hebrew and Greek lexicons, and Bible dictionaries. Slowly, and with the aid of these study materials, I began to take responsibility for feeding myself in order to grow up in Christ.
This phase lasted a long time, as I think it does for most of us. But, somewhere along the way, unrecognized at the time because it was so gradual, I had reached “spiritual maturity.” I was, as Hebrews 5:11-14 describes, “acquainted with the teaching about righteousness…” and “by constant use” had trained myself “to distinguish good from evil.” Now I was ready to try and learn the kinds of stuff the authors of the books I was reading knew. But, short of getting a degree in Old Testament Hebrew or New Testament Koine Greek or something even more intimidating, what were the options for a “lay scholar”? I didn’t know what kind of “more” I wanted, I just knew there was more.
Naturally, I asked God for help and, as always, He graciously led me. It’s humbling and awe-inspiring when God answers our prayers directly and definitively, especially when we want to know Him better. He really does love us and wants to draw us closer to Him so we can be in fellowship with Him more and more. So, if you’ve found yourself in the same place, looking for ways to go deeper in your own personal Bible study, then I recommend you check out these books.
*I am not in any way affiliated, paid, or asked to review any of these books. I make no money from these links to Amazon, they are simply for your convenience.
1. How To Read The Bible Book By Book (Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, 2014 edition) Amazon link: https://a.co/d/dgiBBUf
The Overview, located in the first few pages of this book, tells God’s grand, overarching story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation – the “whole” story – in such a profound way that it changed my whole approach to Scripture and made me excited for the rest. I used this as my in-depth guide through all 66 books over a two-year period of time and have returned to it again and again in order to mine the clear, constant pattern and message of how God has sought us because of His own loving and faithful nature.
Zondervan, the publisher, describes it as follows: For each book of the Bible, the authors start with a quick snapshot, then expand the view to help you better understand its message and how it fits into the grand narrative of the Bible. Written by two top evangelical scholars, this survey is designed to get you actually reading the Bible knowledgeably and understanding it accurately.
In an engaging, conversational style, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart take you through every book of the Bible using their unique approach:
- Orienting Data—Concise info bytes that form a thumbnail of the book.
- Overview—A brief panorama that introduces key concepts and themes and important landmarks in the book
- Specific Advice for Reading—Pointers for accurately understanding the details and message of the book in context with the circumstances surrounding its writing.
- A Walk Through—The actual section-by-section tour that helps you see both the larger landscape of the book and how its various parts work together to form the whole.
2. Galatians: The Charter of Christian Liberty (Merrill C. Tenney, 1950) Amazon link: https://a.co/d/7EU5KT1
This book, more than any other, taught me how to study Scripture by myself. Firstly, it’s a marvelous study through Galatians, comprehensive and definitive, but it’s Tenney’s second purpose of showing his readers how to use ten different study methods that made me a better Bible student. I’ve used this method numerous times over the years to study various books in both the Old and New Testaments and have found them to be of incalculable value. If every church would devote time to teaching these methods to all members of the body of Christ, I’m convinced each person would move closer to fulfilling the apostle Paul’s prayer for the Philippians, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (vs. 9-11). *Some of the methods are quite technical and require a fair amount of academic rigor and a lot of persistence to learn, but the rewards of growth far outweigh any agony in acquisition.
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company describes it as follows: To attain a full comprehension of the scriptural truth of Galatians, Tenney examines the epistle in ten chapters, each employing a different method of study: synthetic, critical, biographical, historical, theological, rhetorical, topics, analytical, comparative, and devotional. Includes helpful charts, outlines, and bibliography.
3. Key Bible Concepts (David W. Gooding and John C. Lennox, 2001) Amazon link: https://a.co/d/1wGffnF
Originally published in Russian in a series of articles for teachers to use as an introduction to the Bible following the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s, this short book helped lead many former atheists to Christ. It succinctly and powerfully brings the fundamental elements of the Gospel into focus. I think it could be used as an effective way to share the essentials of the Good News with others, especially those who are not familiar with the Bible story.
Myrtlefield House, the publisher, describes it as follows: How can one book be so widely appreciated and so contested? Millions revere it and many ridicule it, but the Bible is often not allowed to speak for itself. Key Bible Concepts explores and clarifies the central terms of the Christian gospel. Gooding and Lennox provide succinct explanations of the basic vocabulary of Christian thought to unlock the Bible’s meaning and its significance for today. Sin, faith, holiness, justification, reconciliation–what do these words mean, anyway? As in any other field, it is in getting to grips with the technical terms in the Bible that leads not only to a deeper understanding of them, but to an increased ability to communicate their meaning to others.
4. The Riches of Divine Wisdom (David W. Gooding, 2013) Amazon link: https://a.co/d/4Azoumw
This book brilliantly and inextricably tied the Old and New Testaments together for me. Through a crystal clear, detailed, and theologically sound and cohesive style, Gooding once and for all silences the notion that Christians don’t need to study the first 39 books of the Christian Bible.
Myrtlefield House, the publisher, describes it as follows: The wisdom of God is revealed in both Old and New Testaments, but it is impossible to appreciate that wisdom fully if the two are read in isolation. Sometimes the New Testament quotes the Old as authoritative. Sometimes it cancels things that the Old says. At other times it indicates that the Old was a type that illustrates New Testament doctrine. How are we to understand and apply its teaching? Is the New Testament being arbitrary when it tells us how to understand the Old, or do its careful interpretations show us how the Old was meant to be understood? Could it be that the New Testament’s many different ways of using some of its passages provide us with guidance for reading, studying and applying the whole of the Old Testament? Drawing upon many years of biblical research and teaching, Professor Gooding addresses these issues by expounding key New Testament passages that use the Old Testament. First he examines the importance of the general relationship of the two testaments. He then considers five major thought categories of the New Testament’s interpretation that encompass the many insights that it employs as tools for harvesting the wealth of the Old. Finally he formulates guidelines for interpreting Old Testament narrative and illustrates them from three familiar passages. Taken together these insights provide invaluable help for appreciating the richness of God’s multifaceted wisdom, which has come down to us as the revenue of all the ages.
5. Friend of God: The Inspiration of Abraham in an Age of Doubt (John C. Lennox, 2024) Amazon link: https://a.co/d/iGqxAnB
John Lennox has become one of my favorite apologists, teachers and defenders of the Faith. He’s an Oxford professor of Mathematics and has debated some of the leading atheists of our day using his astonishing knowledge and understanding in the fields of science, math, logic, reason, philosophy, ethics, and Scripture. He has written many books that argue the case for God as Creator using science (which I also highly recommend) and is an excellent Bible scholar and teacher. I am including this book because it models how to ask yourself questions as you read text in order to analyze a biblical character or topic, in this case Abraham and Faith, respectively. I think it is also an excellent example of someone who applies study skills and methods to Scripture.
SPCK Publishing describes it as follows: Abraham is the only character in the Bible to be described as ‘the friend of God’. This comprehensive study by John Lennox explores why.
Abraham is unquestionably one of the most outstanding and influential figures in world history. He had no political or military achievements, and he left no literary remains, yet today billions of people – more than half of the world’s population – claim him as their spiritual father.
Throughout the Bible, Abraham is seen as a pivotal figure in God’s plan of salvation. In this richly detailed account of his life and times, John Lennox helps us to see through mists of the past to the real flesh-and-blood man, with all his strengths and weaknesses, to better appreciate all that Abraham stands for as a model of faith today.
I pray these books are useful for you and, as always, may God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Amy's Axons 