Seven Rules for Bible Studÿ A n Address Delivered to Evening School Students of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles By DR. FREDERIC W. FARR of Los Angeles
secure is to become fam iliar w ith the contents of th e Word— thoroughly cog nizant of all th e facts of Scripture, and read them so often th a t you see them on th e page where they occur, even w ith closed eyes. In th a t way, a man w ith one book, if th a t book be the Bible, has a larg e and liberal cu ltu re i and an education th a t will serve m ani fold purposes in solving th e problems and bearing th e burdens and discharg ing th e duties of daily life. Christian w orkers m u st be ta u g h t and trained . To teach is to cause to know ; to tra in is to cause to do, for know ing and doing are related as a means to an end, as a cause and effect. “ If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them .” Theory precedes practice. How could a man ever do anything unless he knows how it ought to be done? We no t only have to be taugh t, we have to be trained . We m u st learn th e theory, we m ust acquire the practice and knowledge as a means to an end. I shall briefly mention con ditions under which Bible study may be prosecuted w ith success. R egeneration The first condition is indispensable, fundam en tal; indeed it is no t so much a condition as a prerequisite, and th a t is regeneration. You m ust be born again before you can understand the Bible. It is absolutely necessary. (Matt. 1 3 :1 1 ). W h at Daniel says of prophecy is tru e of all Scriptures— “The wise shall understand, th e wicked shall not.” He means th e character ra th e r th a n cu ltu re is th e condition of und erstand ing prophecy. If you only
EOPLE are always asking, how shall I study the Bible? W h at is th e best method of Bible study? There is no sh o rt cut, no royal road, no magic method. Say to such an 'read th e Bible over and over nor twice, nor thrice,
inqu irer, again-—n o t once
b u t many, many tim es.” And th a t is all any one can do. Read it u n til you become fam iliar, cognizant of its con tents, un til you are so fam iliar w ith your Bible, be it Bagster or Oxford, th a t you can close your eyes and visual ize th e passage by locating it upon a p articu la r page ju st where it belongs. In riding upon a railro ad tra in you h ear th e tra in men call ou t th e sta tions, and you refer to your tim e card to verify the call as each station is passed, and you wonder a t th e train ed memory of th e man who can rep eat th a t long list of way station s w ithou t a mis tak e, and you ask him how he ever does it, and he smiles and replies th a t he has done it so long it is automatic, done w ithout th o u g h t and w ithou t effort; and so th e best product of Bible study becomes spontaneous and invol untary. You have read th e Bible so frequently, so thoughtfully, so earn estly, so prayerfully th a t it comes to you w ithou t direct effort on your p art where to locate a passage and you label it instinctively. And when th e facts of Scripture are all in your head and h eart, you can safely tru s t th e Holy Sp irit to in te rp re t those facts, and you need no t th a t any man teach you, and therefo re th e only th ing to seek and to
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