Sometimes I come in contact with a Christian who feels dumb. They want to be a more informed believer, but don’t know where to begin. They’d like to have a broader knowledge and understanding of the Bible or Christianity in general, but feel overwhelmed or intimidated. You’ve got to begin somewhere, and small steps can get you moving in the right direction! My knowledge has grown very slowly over time. Here are three things that helped me over the years.
- Get your self a good study Bible. (A devotional Bible is NOT a study Bible.) I love my classic Ryrie study Bible but a variety of study Bibles are available. Don’t let the word “study” scare you. A study Bible just contains extra notes and commentary, that is not simply devotional, but designed to help you better understand the text. The Bible was written in a very different time and place, and the commentary can aide you. When you hear a sermon or a Sunday school lesson on a certain passage – utilize the features of your study Bible. Look to the bottom of the page and read any notes on the verses. Look up any cross-references. Read the introduction to the book of the Bible that the verses are from. Be curious!
- Subscribe to the magazine Christianity Today (CT). Over the years, this magazine introduced me to various theological or biblical issues that I’d previously known nothing or little about. It provides thoughtful, biblical perspectives on the church, ministry, culture, and everyday Christian living. You’ll find news from the Christian world and book reviews. While evangelical, it is not limited to covering just one denominational or theological perspective but is broader in scope. I think some Christians read only the publication of their denomination, and this is limiting. CT has truly been helpful to me.
- Broaden your book reading. I think some Christians are “devotion-ed” to death. All they read is devotionals or other light encouraging material. Yes, we need some of this, but we need MORE than this. Here are several beginner type books to get you started:
Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grud
em is a brief, introductory book on Christian doctrine.
Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks is a book on how to better understand and read the Bible for yourself.
131 Christians Everyone Should Know, has brief chapters that introduce you to influential people from Christian history.
Learning is a life long process no matter what the field. We never “arrive” but there is always more to know. Don’t let that discourage you. 2 Peter 3:18 tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Growth means life. Are you stagnant? Or do you have signs of life? Consider it a privilege that you can keep growing in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Enough Light 
I like to give people James Emory White’s A Mind for God which makes a good case for thinking Christianly and also has a great reading list.
I was not familiar with this book. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thank you for these suggestions, Laura. I grew up in church and attended a Christian school from kindergarten until my freshman year of college, so I grew up studying the Bible. My mom also subscribed to CT, and I remember reading it as a teenager. (Sometimes I used articles from CT for current events reports in history or Bible class.)
It’s hard for me to understand what it must be like to have little to no knowledge of Scripture; it’s just an entirely different life experience. Sometimes, I’ve been in Bible studies/prayer groups with people who don’t know as much as I do, or who haven’t heard certain (cliched) illustrations/stories a gazillion times, and I’ll become a little impatient. Thanks for the reminder that not everyone has had the same background!
Honestly, coming from such a Bible-intense background has made certain things harder. For example, in my fiction writing, I have to really think hard about non-churched characters: how much do they know, if anything? What do he/she think about all those things I take for granted? It forces me to rethink so many things.
One more reading suggestion, If you have children, there a wonderful book called “What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers.” It gives a great overview of each book of the Bible, as well as simple illustrations for each chapter/section. It helps makes a long and sometimes overwhelming book feel more manageable.
Thanks for adding to the conversation Laura and the book recommendation! I come from a Bible-immersed background too, and as my spouse reminds me at times, I can expect people to know way too much!
A concern I have is people who have actually been in church their entire life, yet only have a very rudimentary knowledge of the Bible and Christianity. It seems some churches are clearly failing to teach their people, or some people do little or no study on their own, or a combination of both.
That’s a concern of mine as well. We’ve been searching for a church for a year-and-a-half, and finally found one. (It’s one we’d visited for a while back at the start of the church-search mission but we found it too far away. Now that we’ve moved closer, it’ll be easier to fit in and do things!) One of the big attractions is that the Word of God is taught thoroughly, even (especially) to the children. We do our part at home, of course, but it helps if the church re-enforces it. We’d been concerned at the megachurch that the kids were being entertained more than taught.
It seems very sad to me that there are so many people in the BIble Belt who go to church and don’t know very much of substance, including how to discern heresy when it’s preached from the pulpit or heard elsewhere.
Study Bibles and a subscription to CT are excellent, and the more you are in the Bible the more you know what is helpful in CT.
I think I’ve mentioned that I read through study Bibles Genesis to Revelation, then usually get a new study Bible and start over again. I just finished the Archeological Study Bible and for a change of pace I’m reading the Narrated Bible. It still has study aids but they come in the form of brief narratives in between Scripture passages, and they seem to mainly serve to help the reader understand the context of the Scripture itself.
I’m reading through a narrated Bible too Tim. I love it. I plan to read through another one next – not quite sure which yet. I do have the Archeological Study Bible but I’ve only used it for reference. How long did it take you to get through it?
It took 3-4 years to get through that one, Laura.