Robert M. West (1)

Contents
- Introduction
- Preparation (...for study)
- Interpretation
- Classification (... Bible study methods)
- Collaboration (... study helps)
- Motivation (some examples of people he knew)

He is in the sola scriptura camp. That belief ignores the history of how we got the Bible. If a person knows how we got the Bible, he/she realizes that it is a collection of books. Those books went through a selection process, and different selectors will come up with different books to include. For example, the Great Books of the Western World selected in 1952 is quite different from the Wester Canon by Harold Bloom, which is different from the Harvard Classics.

Sola Scriptura also limits the accepted canon to a small region in the Middle East. Doesn’t God care about and speak to any of his children, regardless of where on the Earth they live.

What about those prophets cited in our present Bible, whose works are not included in the current canon? Authors in the Bible regarded them as worthy of citing.

Despite those limitation, it has a variety of ideas on how to study, which will vary over a person’s lifetime as interests and needs change.

It is a short little book, and thus a quick read that can give a person some useful ideas about Bible study.

I received this book as a gift (or perhaps it was a loan) from someone my wife and I are discussing the Bible with.… (more)

I am planning to teach a course in prison ministry on basic Christian Discipleship, Bible Interpretation being one of the modules has me researching various books.

Robert West's How to Study the Bible is not a high level approach and gives some primary practices that are worth noting. It is very easy to read.

For a more in depth book on this subject Robert Stein's 'A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible' was recommended to me. I certain there are other books that are more advanced but my objective is basic interpretation for a beginners level.

I've not yet read Stein's book but have a Kindle version and have it in my reading schedule for a February start.
… (more)