The Bible is pre-eminently God's book and must be approached spiritually if we are gain any benefit from it. We need to seek the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit who inspired the authors in order to understand its meaning. "No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us" (1 Cor.2:11,12). If we wish to hear God speak to us we must approach he Scriptures prayerfully and humbly ask God to open our eyes so hear his voice. I pray: "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (Ps.119:18).

Second, the Principle of Reason

Reading the Bible reverently does not mean abdicating our reason. We are to use our rational and critical powers to reflect on the relevance of what we read. St. Paul writes, "I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say" (1 Cor.10:15). A serious reading of Holy Scripture requires the willingness to think through the implications of what we read. "These things happened to them [Israel] as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come" (1 Cor.10:11). Unless we draw on all our God-given mental and intellectual capacities our study of the Bible will be superficial and our lives will reflect our shallowness.

Third, the Principle of Tradition

While the inward witness of the Holy Spirit enables us to learn the truth of God by ourselves, we benefit from other believers because Christianity is a historical religion. We belong to a Christian community in which God has appointed teachers down through the ages to help us understand his Word. While the apostolic tradition is always subject to Scripture itself, it provides guidelines to prevent false teaching, e.g. the Creeds, Councils, and Church Fathers of the early centuries.

Fourth, the Principle of Simplicity.

We should look for the natural sense of the passage rather than some esoteric meaning dictated by our interests or imagination. It is a help to discover the intention of the author or speaker. We must take seriously the rules of vocabulary, grammar and style. Each literary genre must be interpreted as it was intended, e.g. poetry as poetry, symbolism as symbolism, metaphor as metaphor, hyperbole as hyperbole, humor as humor, ancient history as ancient history with all its spin or biases. A major task is to determine what kind of literature you are reading. That is why we have study Bibles and commentaries to help us.

Fifth, the Principle of History.

We should look for the original sense of what the first hearers or readers would have understood. This means studying historical background and literary usage. A failure to do this exegesis, as it is called, can result in reading into scripture what is not intended, or misapplying its teaching today. An example of this is to discover the principle involved in cultural actions so that you can translate them into contemporary cultural terms. When Jesus set us an example in washing the feet of the disciples he surely did not intend us to do that literally every time we celebrated the Lord's Supper. He does intend for us to find ways in our society to serve one another.

Sixth, the Principle of Harmony

We should look for the general sense of the scripture. From the human standpoint the Bible is a library of sixty-six books by many authors over a period of nearly two thousand years. However, from a divine standpoint, the whole Bible comes from one mind -- the mind of God, and so has a unity. We are not, therefore, permitted to expound one place of Scripture to contradict another. Consistency of interpretation is assisted by the belief that, while God reveals himself to people in their generation, as they could understand, he does not contradict himself as he progressively reveals himself and his purpose throughout biblical history. The disciples could not understand until Jesus opened their minds. So the Old Testament is not contrary to the New Testament. In both Testaments everlasting life is offered to all people through Christ. The Ceremonial Rites and Civil Laws in the Old Testament are no longer to be observed but the Moral Laws are to be obeyed. The general sense of scripture is to be found in those teachings which are affirmed throughout the Bible, and especially in the New Testament, as universally binding on all people.

All Christians should possess a Bible that is easy to read and to understand. I recommend the English Standard Version or the New International Version. Both have very good Study Bibles in those translations. I also recommend having a copy of Eugene Peterson's paraphrase, The Message. You also need to have a method of reading the Bible daily. I have used the Scripture Union method for sixty years. Encounter With God notes guide me each day. It gives me a manageable passage to meditate on with helpful notes by international commentators.

If you wish to be encouraged to have hope you will read and study the Holy Scriptures every day. They are "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man and woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim.3:15,16). Do you want to be prepared for the coming of Christ: then read the Scriptures.

Ted's blog is found at www.tedschroder.com SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.1, January, February and March is available for gifts at Amazon.com