Top 3 Biggest Mistakes When Studying the Bible

Bible Study is Worth it, but it is Not Without its Pitfalls

Learning the Bible is one of the most important things you can do with your time on earth. The Bible is a challenging book, but the challenge is worth accepting. In this article I want to discuss 3 big mistakes people often make when studying the Bible and how you can avoid them.

1. Not Considering the Context

One of the fastest ways to reach a wrong conclusion about the Bible is to read verses without considering their context. It’s easy to flip to a specific verse and begin interpreting right away without paying attention to key details in the surrounding verses that may influence the text.

Imagine if you opened a novel, flipped to a random page, read a random sentence, and then tried to interpret how that sentence was important to the overall story without reading the whole book or even the chapter where the sentence was found. We would never do this with a novel, so why would we do it with the Bible?

Before trying to interpret any Bible verse, make sure you understand at least a little bit about the context of the passage. Here are a few key questions to ask yourself before beginning your interpretation work.

• What books (Romans, Acts, Colossians, etc) is this verse found in and what is the overall theme/purpose of the book?

• What is the theme of the chapter in which this verse is found?

• Does this verse build on or share a connection with its surrounding verses?

• Who was this verse originally written to?

• Does this verse have a universal application or was it meant only for specific people at a specific time in history?

These are just a few questions that will protect you from making hasty and inaccurate interpretations. Context is as important as the words of any verse. You can’t properly interpret anything without context.

2. Reading Devotional Books and Not the Actual Bible:

There are tons of good devotional books and Bible study guides on the market, but sometimes I see people who only use devotional books and rarely read the text of the Bible for themselves.

It is extremely important to read the Bible itself and not just books that explain the Bible to you!

Reading the Bible isn’t always easy, but we need to begin the process of familiarizing ourselves with the Bible as soon as possible. It absolutely can be understood. It takes study and dedication, but it is a journey worth undertaking.

The danger of never understanding the Bible for yourself is you’ll never be able to identify when someone is teaching you something that isn’t correct. You don’t want to be dependent on the authors of study guides to interpret the Bible for you, that is too risky, because your soul is on the line.

Every Christian should have some command of the Scriptures. Devotional books and study guides can be great supplements, but at the end of the day, it’s the Bible itself that you want to know.

3. Proof-Texting (aka Cherry Picking):

Proof-texting is when someone flips through the pages of their Bible to find all the verses that agree with them on a particular doctrinal point while ignoring those that may pose difficulties to their views.

This is very common when you study the Bible topically. The problem of cherry picking has also been worsened by denominational disputes over doctrines.

As an example, let’s say you want to study the topic of femininity in the Bible. You go to your local bookstore and buy a book with an attractive cover titled “Biblical Womanhood.” You begin reading the book and the author presents you with a series of verses all throughout the Bible talking about the qualities of a godly woman. The author uses these hand selected verses to try to convince you to share their view of biblical femininity.

Sense the author used Bible verses in the book, does that mean they presented the biblical view accurately? Not necessarily! It could be that the verses the author selected were only those that seemed to agree with their view of biblical womanhood. The author may have left out all the verses that oppose the view they’re promoting.

We must interpret the Bible comprehensively. We can’t pick the verses we want and toss out the rest. We need to deal with the verses that challenge our views just as much as the ones that affirm our views.

This can be a real challenge because sometimes our pride wants to get in the way of unbiased interpretation. Many of us are attached to certain doctrinal beliefs for various reasons. Maybe our preacher told us to believe a certain thing, maybe our family has traditionally held a certain belief, or maybe we are connected to a denomination that holds a firm doctrinal view.

At the end of the day, we need to be able to put aside our external attachments and be attached ONLY to the truth of God’s word. When we do that, we won’t have a need to cherry pick the Bible because we won’t be afraid to wrestle with challenging verses.

In Conclusion:

My best advice is to read the Bible honestly and often. You will fall in love with God’s word as you absorb more and more of it through the years. It will change your life in all the best ways. Don’t approach it as a way to prove what you already know, but read it as a way to understand the will of God. Always read its verses in context, don’t rely on other authors to tell you what’s in it, and please don’t proof-text your way through it.

Study it prayerfully, with reverence, and respect for its divine Author. Study it with confidence that it can be understood and applied.

*You may benefit from our daily Bible study series on this website and our YouTube channel. We’ve been studying through one chapter of the Bible every day, with the intention of studying all 1,189 chapters. Each day, we read the text of the Bible and then study together with the help of a PDF outline. You can download these outlines for free on the 2BeLikeChrist website. We would love to have you join us every day!