THE KING’ S BUSINESS
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II. HELPS NEEDED IN CONSTRUC TION OF BIBLE READINGS 1. A Concordance. , Among concordances 'Cruden’s stands first and foremost for those who study the Bible in English only, and have no knowl edge o f Greek or Hebrew. Strong’s, Young’s and the Englishman’s Greek Con cordance, may be used very effectively by those who have a very little knowledge of the Greek. Indeed, if one knows but the Greek and Hebrew alphabet he can use these works with great profit, and with much advantage over Cruden’s. 2. A Topical Text Book. There are two kinds o f such books: one in which the topics are arranged in their logical order, irrespective o f their order-in the Bible;. the other, contains the topics according to their order in the Bible. Inglis’ Bible Text Cyclopedia is a good illustra tion o f the latter; Torrey’s Topical Text Book o f the former. Each one has its own particular advantage; both should be in the possession o f the preacher. 3. Word Lists. By these are meant such lists of topics and subjects as will be found at the back o f the ordinary Teacher’s Bible. 4. A Good, Well-bound Reference Bible. This, while mentioned last, is the most important. What is the best référence Bible? Opinions differ. One Bible teacher likes one kind, another prefers some other. There is as much difference among Bible teachers with reference to the best edition "of the Bible as there is among music teach ers touching the best make of pianos. Any o f the standard editions o f the Bible are good: "the Bagster, Oxford, Nelson. It is good to have a Revised Version as well as the Authorized Version to which you may continually refer. Some things are much clearer in the Revised Version than in the King James Version. III. THE PLAN AND METHOD OF CON STRUCTING BIBLE READINGS Having chosen the theme for the Bible Reading—the rules for which are the same as those which enter into the choice o f a 1 Ü ^'T'- m
text for' a textual sermon,, proceed in the following manner : 1. Find Out the Teaching of the WHOLE Bible on the Subject Chosen. - — The Bible must be searched from Genesis to Revelation in order to obtain a full and .Complete view o f thè subject under consid eration. Only thus may onesidedness and hobby-riding be avoided. I f we are to declare the whole counsel o f God to the people we must know the whole counsel, and in order to know it we must know what the whole Bible says about it. This means that in preparing a Bible Reading- on “ Faith,” for example, we must look up not only all that is to be found under the word “ faith,” but also what is rècorded under the synonyms for faith, such as “belief,” .“believe,” “ receive,” “trust,” etc. This does not mean, of- course, that one must read the Bible through from beginning to end in order to do this. The concordance may be used for this purpose. 2. Prepare Sheets of Paper with Appro priate Headings. Prepare four or five sheets o f blank paper. On the top of the first sheet write the question, “What?” ; on the second, “Why?” ; the third, “ How?” ; the fourth, “What then?” More sheets o f paper may be used as the needs o f the case may required 3. Now Take the Concordance, Which We will Suppose in This Case Is Cruden’s, and Turn to the Word “ Faith.” The first thing you find under this word is a number of definitions o f the word. Various kinds of faith are mentioned, such as, historical, temporary, justifying faith, etc. These definitions; with their accom panying references, may be written down on the sheet of paper marked, “What?” This is for the purpose o f defining the subject. Coming more particularly to the work - o f the concordance proper: reading down the column you come, for example, to Hebrews 11:1 : “ Faith is the substance of things hoped for,”'"etc. You have here a definition of faith. Now write on the sheet
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