HOW T O R E A D

THE BIBLE
.

LIKE A

SE M I NA RY
PROF E S SOR
A PR AC T IC A L and E N T E RTA I N I NG
E X PLOR AT ION OF T H E
WOR L DS MOST FA MOUS BOOK

M A R K M. YA R BROUGH

New York Boston Nashville

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Shelley, I have a question for you...

OK. Heres a frequent occurrence in Bible studies everywhere.

Youve likely been there. You may have been the leader.
After the opening prayer, the study leader, Bill, says, We are
going to pick up where we left off last week. I believe we almost made
it to the end of chapter 5. Lets wrap up this chapter and then well
be ready for the start of chapter 6. We only have two verses today.
Look at Romans 5:2021 and lets read it before we talk about it:
The law was brought so that the trespass might increase. But
where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that,
just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through
righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Then Bill says, Shelley, what does that mean to you?
Stop.
Have you been in a study like this? Have you led one in this
way? If you havent, youre one of the few, because what I just
described occurs all too frequently in churches of every Christian
denomination.
And we are in trouble. Giant, gargantuan trouble. In recent years,

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this method of study has crept into the classrooms of the Christian
church and diluted our o nce-strong orthodoxy. It has led us down
a path of spiritual relativitywhere the Bible means whatever you
think it meansand disconnects interpretation from the authority
of the biblical text. Instead, the focus of Bible study becomes the
experience of the reader.
Listen to it again: Shelley, what does that mean to you?
Bills question sounds so inviting and harmless. It is a personal
question. It asks for a response from an individual based upon his
or her understanding and conviction. On the surface it sounds like
a skillful question. But what is it really communicating? Does this
approach to Bible study encourage counterproductive reasoning?
Here are some of the responses I encounter when discussing Bible
interpretation:
Meaning registers differently based upon the unique circumstances of the hearer, right? Interpretations do vary, dont they?
The reality of the text, especially the biblical text, will mean
something different to each one of us because we are all different, right?
God has created us with differing perspectives and convictions; so we will think differently about the text, wont we?
You may have guessed by now that Im not at all comfortable
with these responses or with this Bible study scene in general. In
fact, I am deeply troubled by what I perceive as a dangerous trend.
Perhaps youre wondering, Whats the big deal with asking what
something means to someone? Heres why this issue is so critical:
If the biblical text can mean whatever we want it to mean...then
the text has no meaning at all. If the message of Scripture can mean
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anything to anyone simply based upon his or her subjective experience, there is no meaning to discover or interpret. Reading the Bible
becomes no different than looking for shapes in the clouds. One
persons imagination is no less valid than anothers.
How many times have you sat through a Bible study in which
everyone put forward an opinion on a particular text, sipped coffee,
nibbled doughnuts, and then returned home just as poorly informed
as when they arrived? Bible study? Hardly.
In a what-does-this-meantoyou kind of discussion, each persons interpretation is relative to his or her life experience. At best,
the Bible study is a social club; at worst, its a breeding ground for
heresy. Someones localized perspective is presented as gospel truth,
and unsuspecting learners embrace doctrinal error as the meaning of
the text.
Understanding how to interpret Scripture is critical. The process
is foundational to the Christian faith; it is the bedrock of all that
we believe as Christ followers, and it upholds everything we do in
response to those beliefs. Bible interpretation begins by acknowledging the biblical text as the written expression of an authority, and
that we must submit to this authority. In other words, we are subject to the text, not the other way around. Imagine you were to pick
up a history book and read the line Abraham Lincoln was born
on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, and became
the sixteenth president of the United States. Its unlikely you asked
yourself the question, What does this mean to me?
Interpretation isnt open to subjective experience. Our experiences
dont change the information presented by the author. Interpretation is the process of understanding what an author has stated. In
this respect, we read the Bible the same way we read other books.
Our opinions do not shape the meaning of the text; the text tells
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us how we are to think and behave. Thats how seminary professors

approach it.
Seminary professors? Yes, I know...
Im sure an image just
popped into your head. You probably see a nerdy scholar surrounded by towers of ancient-language books. Hes boring and drab,
except when hes rambling on about the most recent archaeological
dig or theological debate. Id like to dispel that myth. (Most of it,
anyway.)
Most seminary professors are normal people who have families
and hobbies just like anyone else. When it comes to the Bible, we
have areas of sacred Scripture that we love more than others, just like
youand theres nothing wrong with that. Life experiences draw us
to certain portions of the Bible and have molded us in unique ways.
But...
When it comes to the interpretation of Scripture, a seminary
professor absolutely believes that personal passions and individual proclivities must be set aside in favor of dependable rules of
interpretation. And the first rule of biblical interpretation the seminary professor accepts is based upon what the Bible testifies about
itself: It is the God-breathed, inerrant, inspired, authoritative Word
that has been recorded and preserved for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that we will be equipped for
every good work (2 Timothy 3:1617). It is Gods Word, recorded
through human writers as they were guided by the Holy Spirit
(2 Peter 1:2021). Consequently, the seminary professors personal
ethics must submit to the teaching of Scripture; he or she does not
interpret the text to justify his or her personal opinions.
Put simply, the Bible is Gods gig, not ours. He has spoken, and
we are responsible for knowing what He has said. So we cannot
allow our personal biases to get in the way.
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Other rules of interpretation are foundational, but not theological per se. These linguistic guardrails help us understand any written document: the Bible, Homers Iliad, Shakespeares Hamlet, or
the New York Times. These rules are based on the conviction that
regardless of the literature, words have meaning and sentences have
structure. Interpretation, then, is the process of understanding what
the author intends for us to understand. Theres nothing mystical
about interpretation. As one Bible teacher said, If the plain sense
makes good sense, dont look for any other sense lest you wind up
with nonsense.
Perhaps youre thinking that rules of interpretation will turn
Bible reading into a boring exercise in decoding. Let me reassure you
that this commitment to follow dependable rules of interpretation
helps the reader connect with the writers of the biblical text, and
ultimately with its divine Author. And theres nothing more exciting than that! Consequently, seminary professors are both enamored
with and intrigued by Scripture. We long to satisfy our own inquisitiveness, keenly aware that we, too, are changed by this living Word.
As my longtime mentor and teacher, the late Prof. Howard Hendricks, was fond of saying, The Bible was not written to satisfy your
curiosityit was written to change your life.
The rules for studying Scripture will make Bible reading more
exciting, not less. The rules are numerous, and some are more
detailed than others. Many are engaging and enlightening, and
we will talk about these in the pages ahead. For now, lets return to
the question Bill put to Shelley in his Bible study: What does this
mean to you?
No matter how well intended, the question is dangerous simply
because it ignores the basic rules of interpretation we naturally follow when reading other kinds of literature. Here are some examples:
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Words have meaning, and there are boundaries to what words

can mean.
The author wrote the words in r eal-life context.
The author existed at a real point in time and wrote those
words for a reason.
The original audience received those real words written by a
real author in a real context, and they received those words in
a particular manner.
To be sure, Shelley does have something to say. In fact, she has
something to say that seminary professors and other Bible teachers
need to hear. Just as there are rules to which professors subscribe,
Shelley has rules of her own, and some of them are helpful. The nonformal reader approaches the biblical text in a unique manner that
is definitely needed. There are at least three primary rules that guide
Shelleys approach to understanding the Bible: face-value reading,
experience, and passion.
Shelley approaches the text with a simple, face-value reading. And
this is so refreshing! Sometimes professors get so gooped up with
technical evaluations that they get lost in theory. But not Shelley.
She sees things as they are and simply calls it like it is.
She also interprets the text through a lens of experience. This,
too, can be refreshing. Shelley isnt trained to go back in time, evaluate words, spend time in the context, and assess the argument of a
book. Even so, she draws conclusions from her focused evaluation.
Her approach can be helpful as long as boundaries exist to steer the
discussion back to the intended meaning of the original author, who
was guided by God, the ultimate Author of the text.
While Shelley seeks from the text a face-value reading that is
interpreted through experience, rest assured that she is passionate
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about connecting the text to life. As a committed Christ follower,

shes begging for a reality check. Shelley appreciates academic evaluations, word studies, and detailed classroom explanations. She
really wants to know how it works. She craves application of the text.
While our first obligation is to know what God said, Shelley
reminds us that we must move beyond theory and apply it to life. She
needs the text to be real. In a world that is falling apart, shes longing
for stability. Biblical answers bring m
uch-needed light to a dark culture devoid of hope. Shelley longs to grab hold of a safety cord, and
shes looking to the Scriptures to provide it.
Arent you? Arent we all?
The hope we seek in the pages of the Bible must be hope that
comes from God, not interpretations conjured from a fertile imagination. We cant rely upon meanings we desire to find in the t ext
or even what we casually suppose it means. False hope is mistaken
hope, and it has led many down the wrong path. The meaning of
the text must derive from the text itself; only then will we grasp what
God is saying to His children.
I hope to do in the coming pages what I do in my class: to lead
you on a journey of how to read the Bible. We will peek into the
seminary classroom together and listen in on the discussion. But I
want us to gain more than academic skills. I want us to become better informed about what to do with this ancient document written
by God. Why? Because the Bibleunlike any other document
contains words of life. God has spoken! As a colleague of mine often
repeats, God has spoken, and He has not stuttered.
And if ever we needed to know the truth of what the Bible says, it
is today in a culture that rejects truth, denies absolutes, and ignores
our transcendent God. We need to know what the Bible says and
more i mportantwe need the personal change that it can produce.
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The circle is full of peoplecoffee in handsharing what the

Bible means to them. My prayer is that when we get to the end of this
book, you will be equipped to discover what the author intends the
text to mean. You will know the rules that guide our interpretation
and can help others to see the authors meaning.
I pray my students will be able to read and interpret the Bible
without my help. With some helpful instruction, a little patience,
and a lot of practice, I know they can. And so can you.

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HOW T O R E A D
THE BIBLE
LIKE A
SE M I NA RY
PROFE SSOR

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ON E

BASIC THINGS

Dont forget two basic things. Thats all they said.

When I was twelve years old, I had an opportunity to work on
an authentic, dust-infested, boot-scootin ranch in South Central
Texas. It was 3,200 acres of cow pasture in the middle of nowhere,
but for this t welve-year-old boy it was a taste of heaven. Other ranch-
hands-for-rent worked there from time to time. As I interacted with
them, I was convinced that the Lord had called me to be a cowboy.
I looked forward to the day the older cowboys would invite me to
come and work cattle with them. They were eighteen. (Hey, when
you are twelve, eighteen is old.) To me, they were mature. They had
experience. They had stories!
The invitation finally came when I turned fourteen. They needed
my help to work the cattle! They assigned me the task of chalk boy.
When the cows had been given their worming medicine, my job
was to put a chalk mark on their backs to identify which cows had
received their medication. They said, Mark, well pick you up in the
morning. Dont forget two basic things: Wear your s teel-toed boots,
and whatever happens, dont get stuck in the corner of the pen.
The next morning I put on my hat and my o verallswithout a
Tshirt. I looked so good. In my mind, I projected John Wayne or
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Clint Eastwood. I was tough. I was raw. I even tossed my s teel-toed

boots aside because they were too clunky. A professional cowboy
like me needed no such props.
Minutes later they came, I jumped into the back of the truck,
and off we went. Friends, you should have seen me work. There had
never been a better chalk boy on the face of the planet. Then, without warning, chaos. To this day, I dont know what happened or even
how it happened. Somehow there was a shifting in the herd, and
that whole group of cows began to back up. All the other cowboys
were on the other side of the pen and I was s tuckin the corner!
Suddenly I felt a hoof mashing my left foot. If you recall, I was
too tough for steel-toed boots. Ouch! I did everything within the
abilities of my fourteen-year-old frame to move that beast, but to
no avail. I stretched out my right leg in an attempt to pull myself
awayonly to have the hoof of a different animal pin down my
foot. I was playing Twister with Beefy the Bovine and her brother,
and I was losing! I could literally feel my toes crackle and pop. (I
ended up with several broken toes.) And in my moment of panic,
all I could remember were those prophetic words: Dont forget two
basic things.
It was a bad moment, and it was about to get a whole lot worse.
Just then, one cow began to back up. Beep. Beep. Beep. The animals
rear end pressed against my face. I was stuck with nowhere to run
and nowhere to hide. Then, the worst thing ever happened. That
cow let loose. Let me rephrase: She unloaded.
I might add that it had clearly been a green-grass day on the
ranch. It was horrible. Were talking gallons of cow pucky shooting
everywhere. I was wearing overalls with no shirt, so it poured down
the inside of my front bib and came out the bottom of my pant legs.

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It made me sickliterally. In fact, I passed out. As I was falling, I hit

my head against the metal pen and opened a gash in my scalp. It was
ugly in every sense of the word.
When I came to, I saw six young men hovering over me, laughing
their heads off. Of course, I didnt think it was very funny.
Pause the story. Have you been there?
I dont mean in the cow pen sharing my cattle tragedy. I wouldnt
wish that on my worst enemy. I mean, have you ever simply forgotten the basics? Have you ever been there?
Of course you have. Weve all forgotten the basics. And at times
we have paid a dear price for our foolishness. I want to suggest that
many of us forgetor have never been provided withthe basics of
how to read and study the Bible.
If you want to read the Bible like a seminary professor, you need
to establish a basic method for studying our sacred text. A sound
approach will keep you out of the corner andby the grace of
Godkeep you from being covered in heretical hooey.
The model we will walk through in this book, and the model I
teach in seminary courses, is simple: Know it, work it, and live it.
Know It
Understand the structure, story, and substance of Scripture.
Identify how the Bible is packaged and presented.
Work It
Learn the rules for studying Scripture.
See with your eyes and think with your head.
Live It
Use the instruction from Scripture for everyday life.
Embrace what the Bible says and put it into practice.

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This succinct model gives a basic approach to studying Scripture,

and it will provide a grid to follow as the chapters unfold. Repeat it
out loud and let it stick: Know it; work it; live it.
As we discuss what we must know in the next few chapters, keep
my cow story in mind, and dont forget two basic things.
First, it is very important to understand the basic structure of the
Bible. This will help get your arms around the text as a whole and
give you confidence in working with it. Our English Bible is put
together in a certain way, so it will help to identify how the Bible is
organized. This will not only assist you in navigating through the
various books, it will prevent you from feeling lost when someone
says, Turn to Habakkuk.
Second, understand the story and substance of the Bible. By that
I mean it is critical to know the basic content (message) and convictions (beliefs) taught from Scripture. Obviously, Im not talking
about having a mastery of the details. Im talking about having a
framework of the Bibles overall narrativethe Bibles big picture
and the core beliefs held by those who embrace it. This big-picture
perspective will help us discover what God is saying and why He is
saying it.
If youre already starting to feel overwhelmed, dont worry. Be
patient with yourself; well get there together. Like Home Depot
says: You can do it. We can help.
Let me begin with some affirmations.
I applaud you for desiring to study the Bible. If youve invested
funds in the purchase of this book, you undoubtedly long to have a
better approach to studying Scripture. Good for you! Maybe youre
taking a class at church or reading this book on a recommendation.
Great! Or maybe youre a student reading this as a required text for

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a course. It means youre in a degree program that has Bible study as

part of the curriculum. Excellent!
In any case, youre investing in something and youre looking
for a return on your investment. Just dont forget, any worthwhile
investment in learning begins with the basics. And that is where we
will begin. After all, if we fail to know the basic things, we could end
up hobbling around on broken toes and covered in cow manureat
least theologically.
And you dont want that. It stinks.

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