Looking for personal Bible Study ideas

I currently have the Logos 4 Leaders Library package. I have used it many times for seminary homework assignments, and it has been a tremendous help. Right now I am taking a 2 month break between semesters and I am trying to do some personal Bible study in the free time I have. Does anyone have any pointers on a good way to study the Bible? I know with my classes I can choose a passage from a list and hit the ground running, but without that list I feel like a rubber duck floating in the ocean. There is so much to learn and I don't know where to start!

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Room4more

I currently have the Logos 4 Leaders Library package. I have used it many times for seminary homework assignments, and it has been a tremendous help. Right now I am taking a 2 month break between semesters and I am trying to do some personal Bible study in the free time I have. Does anyone have any pointers on a good way to study the Bible? I know with my classes I can choose a passage from a list and hit the ground running, but without that list I feel like a rubber duck floating in the ocean. There is so much to learn and I don't know where to start!

Try this: go back thru some of those assignments, and attempt to recall a passage or subject that peeked your interest but you just did not have the time due to syllabus requirements.

Read thru some of those papers you wrote. I am pretty sure that somewhere in the crevasses of your mind something will be re-called....something so meaningful in class time that you mentioned but the prof side-stepped.....

You may be surprised what you remember.....

R4m.

David Wilson

Just a wild suggestion, unless something similar has already been one of your assignments: pickup a copy of Beale and Carson: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (75% off in the current March Madness sale, very useful and unlikely it will ever cost less than on this sale) and use it alongside your favorite Bible.

Start with John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 1 and take the time to see where Beale and Carson point you the numerous links to the Hebrew Bible.
There are just so many places where Jesus' audience would have recognized a turn of phrase that alluded to a passage from their Old Testament that we often either miss altogether or take in the wrong context. Once you have completed John's Gospel, go through the Gospel stories on the Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection and check out all the links to the Passover, the Seder and the Haggadah.

Ken McGuire

Easiest would be to pick another text from the list, and to hit the ground running, like you say you know how to do already. An expert has already determined that you would be ready to handle it, and that there are interesting things there to find.

Another option is to go with a lectionary. Even if your church doesn't use one, they can be useful because it is a list worked out for you <g> and it would let you maybe understand those of us who do use one. In addition, there are vast web resources for the Revised Common Lectionary out there...

Another option would be to go to a related work to what you have recently studied. For example, years after taking a class on 1st Corinthians, I found that because of what I learned for that letter, a lot of the issues for 2nd Corinthians made sense.

Beginnings and endings are often good, because they can be setting up or summing up the themes of the work. Look at the the thanksgivings and benedictions in the epistles. Are they related to the issues discussed in the body of the letter? If so, how? For myself, I have been surprised at how much interesting stuff is actually going on in Matthew's geneology - once I got past just the "begats". What stories is Matthew highlighting from the Old Testament? How is he reshaping them? How does this fit with the way Matthew, in general, uses the Old Testament? What does this say about the people for which he was originally writing? What "big" stories does he skip?

Or pick a small little book, say Jude or Obidiah. How do they fit with the books around them? What special do they have to say?

Or just pick up the bible and read - either randomly or some other plan - see more how scripture sheds light on scripture.

Or read some other ancient texts. How are the letters of the Apostolic Fathers like the letters of the New Testament? How are they different? What about the Sibiline oracles? Other apocalyptic works, like Hermas, Enoch, etc... Heck - how is the way Homer talks about things like and unlike various things in the Bible. Take a look at Philo or Josephus, or the Dead Sea Scrolls. Or maybe heretical works? Is the Gospel of Thomas a Gospel? What can it tell you about issues thought important to the writer? How does this relate to the Bible?

I know that I didn't give a a specific plan, but instead gave multiple plans... Try something that looks like it might be interesting.

SDG

Ken McGuire

Drew Sartorius

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/477026#Comment_477026

Thanks for the pointers guys. I'm not sure if I still have access to the scripture lists from my past classes, but I at least have an idea of where to start. I'm feeling a little less lost right now

Unix

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/477030#Comment_477030

Drew, talk to Soulgazer on Christianforums. He has been an author of scholarly books, and a pastor.　He　guides　where　to　start　studies.　

David Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/476992#Comment_476992

Once you have completed John's Gospel, go through the Gospel stories on the Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection and check out all the links to the Passover, the Seder and the Haggadah.

There was no such thing as a seder when Yeishuu`a lived. The seder is a concoction of the rabbinic authorities that was instituted as a result of the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent lawful inability to sacrifice lambs at Passover. Same goes for the haggadah.