No Shortcuts
We offer a resource, not a magic wand.
April, 2016
An especially difficult aspect of writing Bible commentary is choosing how much detail to include. Being overly brief can leave unanswered questions or holes in a person's understanding. But once the major issues are described, how much more material should be given? Even for shorter portions of scripture, it's possible to give pages and pages of information. Language, culture, science, history, and so forth can take up quite a bit of space. However, length can be intimidating. And, great depth is not always necessary to understand the verses at hand. If discipleship is the goal, where is the best balance between commentary that's "detailed," and that which is "accessible?"
As readers will have noticed, at BibleRef, we tend to err on the side of brevity. This is not a decision made lightly, but one based on a common sense principle: there are no shortcuts.
Discipleship, by definition, requires a person to invest time and effort. Growing in one's relationship with Christ, and one's knowledge of the Bible, isn’t just a matter of passively reading. The Bible is a necessary part of our spiritual growth, but it's not enough all by itself; scripture says as much (James 1:22). We have to add action and fellowship in order to become true disciples. Like an athlete, or a craftsman, a disciple of Christ can't expect to make progress overnight. Nor can they expect to understand everything after taking in a few bite-sized chunks.
As it relates to a Bible commentary, there's no way to cover every angle of every doctrine in every verse. Context is a major theme of BibleRef. Some spiritual topics require a look at more than one passage to truly understand. Is it possible for a person, who has read only the commentary for a single verse, to misunderstand some doctrinal topic? Yes, and the only way to avoid that is to make every verse's commentary outrageously long and complex.
BibleRef is meant to be a resource, but even the greatest resource is only effective when used correctly. This is why we emphasize accessibility, layman-level understanding, and context. Our objective is to encourage further study. We want those who study the word to be encouraged to continue, to a deeper and fuller understanding of the Word of God. When we can't explain every facet of a doctrine in one particular verse, we know that other portions of the commentary can help to make it clear.
It would be wonderful if we could transform the inexperienced reader into an expert simply by reading a few paragraphs. That, however, we cannot do. Instead, we focus on commentary that delivers truth, in clear terms, and which invites the reader to dig deeper. We strive to provide useful tools, since that's all we can offer. There are no magic wands. There are no cheat codes.
There are no shortcuts.
-- Editor
