General Guidelines for Reading Scripture | How to Read the Bible Semester Discussion Guide

Part 5: General Guidelines for Reading Scripture

The following should be read aloud as a group, with each person reading one paragraph before passing on to the next person. Afterwards discussion will follow with the provided discussion questions.

For searching of the Scriptures and true knowledge of them, an honorable life is needed, and a pure soul, and that virtue which is according to Christ.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria¹

If, however, some are idle, and do not take the trouble to give heed to Bible-reading, and to search the Scriptures, and do not obey Jesus’ command to seek for the meaning of the Scriptures and to ask God about them and to knock for the truths locked up inside them, that is no reason for supposing that there is no wisdom in Scripture.

Origen of Alexandria²

After spilling much ink on what the Bible is and how to interpret it, here some general guidelines are offered on how to practically read the Scriptures in day-to-day life. These are time tested methods that have worked in the lives Orthodox Christians throughout the centuries, and they work for us today as well.

Pray that God and the human author enlighten you to the meaning of the Scripture you are reading.

St. Paul tells us that, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”³ Similarly, no one can understand the true meaning of the divinely inspired Scriptures unless it is granted to him by God. Because of this, it is important that we pray for God and the human author of the Scripture reveal to us its meaning. Before reading St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, for example, you can pray, “Through the prayers of the Holy Apostle Paul, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.” You can also use the following prayer that the priest prays in the Divine Liturgy before reading the Gospel:

Illumine our hearts, O Master Who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy gospel teachings. Implant also in us the fear of Thy blessed commandments, that trampling down all carnal desires, we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well-pleasing unto Thee. For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father, Who is from everlasting, and Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.⁴

Live by what you read.

The only true way to understand something is to experience it. Consequently, we cannot understand the truth unless we live according to the truth. Christ is this Truth, and the Truth will set us free.⁵ Therefore, if we read something in the Scriptures and do not attempt to live it, or at least to repent of the places where we are not yet able to live it, our mind and understanding will be closed to what the Scriptures mean. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I say?” Christ says in the Gospel of Luke, and the same can be said to each of us who reads the Scriptures and does not attempt to live by them.⁶ As St. James the brother of the Lord says, “If any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”⁷

Read a book of the Bible in a single sitting.

Much like a movie is intended to be a cohesive work of art watched in a single sitting, so also is an individual book of the Bible intended to be understood as a cohesive whole.⁸ However, often Christians are in the habit of reading the Bible a few verses at a time and then asking, “What does this mean to me?” While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, this can sometimes lead to reading a book of the Bible out of context as isolated units of text instead of as a holistic work with a unified message. Imagine, for example, someone who tried to understand a movie by only watching isolated five minute clips of that movie. While this person will surely understand something of the movie by doing this, they will undoubtedly miss the larger point and context of the movie because they did not view it as a whole. Similarly, reading an entire book of the Bible in a singular sitting is extremely beneficial to understand what that book says. That being said, if you are not able to read the whole book in a single sitting, reading it in two or three sittings will also be beneficial.

Don’t be worried if you don’t understand.

While reading the Bible, it is very likely that you will come across passages that are confusing or even disturbing. Here it is key to not become overly worried, but rather to simply accept the lack of understanding and ask for God to reveal the meaning of the passage in his own time, if he so wills. If the Church Fathers themselves struggled to understand the Scriptures and believed some parts of Scripture were only revealed to those who are spiritually mature, it should be no wonder that we sometimes have trouble understanding the Scriptures. Oftentimes deeper understanding of the Scriptures comes naturally after periodically rereading the passage and continuing to live our life as faithful Orthodox Christians.

Memorize and pray lines of Scripture.

If a line of Scripture sticks out to you, it may be helpful to memorize that line and repeat it or pray it throughout the day. In the history of Orthodox monasticism, a tradition developed of praying short lines of Scripture (particularly from the Psalms) in order to combat various temptations or thoughts that one may encounter.⁹ Christ himself quotes Scripture in order to cut off the temptations of the devil, and surely we are allowed to follow the example of our Savior in this matter.¹⁰ This tradition can be especially helpful to us today in a world of constant distractions and temptations all around us.

Ask your spiritual father how to incorporate Scripture reading into your daily prayer rule.

Many Orthodox Christians incorporate the reading of Scripture as part of their daily prayer rule. Some Orthodox Christians will read the daily epistle and gospel readings at the end of their morning prayers, others may read a few chapters of the Bible a day until they have finished it, while others still might follow a reading plan to read the entire Bible in a year. Ask your spiritual father or local parish priest what kind of Scripture reading would be most beneficial for you in your spiritual life.

Our next installment will cover various patristic and academic resources you can use while studying the Bible. May God continue to enlighten us through the prayers of his most pure mother and all the saints!

Discussion Questions

1. What practices or habits help you stay engaged when reading the Bible?
2. Why might prayer before reading Scripture be important?
3. Have you ever memorized or prayed with a verse of the Bible? How did that affect you?
4. What obstacles make daily Scripture reading difficult, and how might you work around them?

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¹ St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, Volume IV. Quoted from Dr. Mary Ford’s The Soul’s Longing: An Orthodox Christian Perspective on Biblical Interpretation.

² Origen of Alexandria, Contra Celsum, Book VI, Chapter VII. Translated by Henry Chadwick.

³ 1 Corinthians 12:3 RSV.

⁴ Common Prayers – Before Reading the Holy Scripture from The Orthodox Church in America. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/prayers/before-reading-the-holy-scripture

⁵ cf. John 14:6, John 8:32.

⁶ Luke 6:46 RSV.

⁷ James 1:23-24 RSV.

⁸ This suggestion was first made to me by Dr. Robert Foster in his Introduction to the New Testament course at the University of Georgia in the spring semester of 2017. I am thankful to him for this suggestion which has continued to enhance my reading of the Bible to this day.

⁹ For example, see Talking Back by Evagrius of Pontus. Translated by David Brakke.

¹⁰ cf. Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13.