|
Juxtaposing these thoughts, St. Jerome
encourages us that, "Ignorance of Scripture, is ignorance of Christ"
Therefore the Church continues to teach jointly with God's Word, that when
we remain faithful to the Sacred Scriptures from our mother's womb to the
tomb, we will receive wisdom for salvation, which leads to knowing Christ.
In this new millennium, one should not be chained to historical practices
but to God's Word in our mind, on our lips and in our hearts by studying
God's Holy Word.
However, my favorite response to the questions
about Bible Study is that Catholics do not know the Bible consequently
making them unable to quote the Bible. My thoughts regarding this matter are
that when we hear someone quoting a verse like, "John 3:16 said …." we
seldom know if that verse is a favorite verse of theirs or if they have just
come from church hearing that verse. My position is that when people quote
verses, they are quoting a verse that they have studied (memory verse) or
the verse is connected to some event that is meaningful to them. Bible Study
is a purposeful task that plumbs the depths of God's Word and considers the
totality of the call of the Holy Spirit and salvation history.
A good Bible Study includes a lesson plan, some
discussion and questions, meditation, and perhaps some journaling, and
finally, a call to action. Let us explore a five step program called the
Five I(s) for a good Bible Study program. The Five I(s) are Invocation,
Investigation, Integration, Interpretation and
Implementation. When using this five step approach to Bible Study, one
must understand that once you are familiar with these steps you will find
yourself utilizing each of the Five I(s) in random order according to your
familiarity with the Bible. Now for beginners and experienced readers of
God's Word, we must always enter into a prayerful frame of mind.
Continue article on next page
Return to start of article
|
|
