Leading a Bible Study: Study Resources

In her presentation, Pastor Fetterhoff understandably did not spend a lot of time talking about potential resources you might use in a Bible study. After all, the focus of a Bible study should be on the Bible. We believe that God has made the Bible understandable enough to find salvation without any other assistance, not least because God’s Holy Spirit is always there to help us find the way.

The Holy Spirit gets us where we need to go. We shouldn’t fear the possibility that we won’t understand something. And when we are reading the Bible together in community, it is even more likely that the Spirit will get us where we need to go.

Nevertheless, just because the way of salvation can be discerned without assistance, that does not mean that we may not find ourselves puzzling over the details from time to time. What are some tools that we might seek out to help us? Remember, don’t get too overly reliant on these resources, and you should use more than one because even the experts sometimes disagree. This is good to know!

Devotionals and Study Books

There are any number of books you can use to study the books of the Bible. For example, a quick search of Wesleyan Publishing House will reveal a number of resources for Bible study. Some of them cover most or all of the biblical text while others are more book-specific. Some even treat a portion of a book like the Sermon on the Mount or the main sections of Romans.

Beyond the Wesleyan tradition are a myriad number of Bible studies available. These come from all sorts of different perspectives, so you may want to consult someone in your church to make sure you do not use something whose theology might be at odds with your church. Whatever resource you use, let the Bible give the final answer. “Test the spirits” of any book you might use against the Bible itself.

Study Bibles

One of the most convenient ways to get background information on a biblical text is to find a good study Bible. A study Bible not only has a translation of the text at the top but notes on the text at the bottom. These notes were written by people who know the original languages of the Bible. They have studied the historical and cultural backgrounds of the text. And they know the ongoing debates among experts about what the text might mean.

You should also keep in mind that study Bibles come with various biases. For example, the English Standard Version is against women in ministry so you will find that skew in the notes of its study Bible. The New International Version also can lean a little Calvinist in theology, so you may find that bias in some of the notes of its primary study Bible, although in general, it fits well with the Wesleyan evangelical tradition.

If you are looking for a study Bible whose study notes were written by some or all individuals from the Wesleyan tradition, here are three key ones:

The NLT Study Bible (New Living Translation)
The CEB Study Bible (Common English Bible)
The NRSV Wesley Study Bible (New Revised Standard Version)

Commentaries

Commentaries are in-depth treatment of the biblical text, often from an expert point of view. While devotional books tend to focus on application, commentaries often focus on what the text first meant to its original audiences. They can go to various levels of depth, with the most scholarly ones sometimes taking more than one volume to cover a book like Isaiah.

Again, these come from various perspectives, and you will want to be careful which one you choose. Some, for example, may not operate from a belief in the inspiration of Scripture. Here are some resources that have been produced within the Wesleyan tradition:

The Wesley One Volume Commentary. This volume was created by faith-filled scholars from various Wesleyan denominations and is perhaps the only scholarly commentary in the Wesleyan tradition in one volume.

The Wesley Bible Commentary Series. Although the Old Testament is incomplete, this is a series of commentaries created specifically by scholars in the Wesleyan Church.

New Beacon Bible Commentaries. This series of Bible commentaries was created by the Nazarene Church, a sister denomination. Some volumes were produced by individuals associated with The Wesleyan Church.

Inductive Bible Study

If you want to level up in your ability to study the Bible in its original meaning, you might first consider taking the MicroCourse called, “How to Read the Bible” here on Kingswood Learn. This MicroCourse is a smaller version of a full course through Kingswood called, “True^North: Disciple-Making in the Word.” It uses David Smith’s book of the same name.

There are any number of free tools online that you can use to do your own Bible studies. Here are just a few resources you may already be aware of: