''Carefully,'' not ''Narrowly.''
We should study the Bible with "care," not a lack of context.
November, 2019
A frequent boast made by preachers is their commitment to teach the Bible "word by word, verse by verse." That's fine, so far as it goes, but it can also be a major problem. It's especially wrong when such teachers use that claim in opposition to those who speak of studying the Bible "in context." Acting as if the Bible simply needs to be studied slowly, or narrowly, is not at all a good idea. Those who interpret Bible texts differently are almost always dealing with the same words, so how one studies is no trivial issue.
As readers have (hopefully) noticed, at BibleRef we place a very high emphasis on context. That simply means that every word of the Bible matters, equally, and not a single word is meant to be understood without an attempt to connect it to the rest of the Word of God.
It's possible to study the Bible in a "word by word" way, and still study it "in context." What's dangerous is when someone tries to only do one or the other. If we don't pay attention to the actual words being used, then we're likely to miss something. If we ignore the context, we might not understand what the actual word is meant to imply. If we're going to understand the Bible as it was intended, we need to be respectful of both. We also must remember that Scripture was never meant to be studied alone—discipleship with other believers is a must. Most problems in interpretation start with failing in one or more of those areas.
Taking an extreme example, the first (English) word of the Bible is "in." What does that mean, and how do we interpret it? Should we study this word, first, before we read and study the others? The answer, of course, is we know literally nothing about what the word "in" means until we read the words around it. It's fair to say that context is an absolute requirement for interpretation.
We should also remember that Scripture was not written in fortune-cookie-sized chunks. The original writers did not intend sentences and phrases to be chopped up and understood as their own independent statements. This is how many false teachers operate: they claim to interpret the Bible "word by word," but what they really mean is "I'll insert the wrong interpretation here, then use it to 'prove' what I assumed later on."
Frequent examples of failure to respect context are verses such as Matthew 19:21, Jeremiah 29:11, and Philippians 4:13. Those are sometimes cited as proof that God intends all Christians to be poor, safe, and 100% successful, respectively. In reality, reading the full passages makes it clear that no such things are being said. But, someone interpreting verses out of context might use that wrong interpretation later—to claim that some other verse means the same thing.
It's also important to remember the Bible is not literally "the entire Christian faith." The great commission is to "make disciples," not "go print Bibles." Scripture is infallible, inerrant, and authoritative, but it's not something we're meant to study totally alone, without the guidance of more mature Christians. The entire history of false faiths like Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses is rooted in faulty teachers who stuck with their first—wrong—impressions no matter what.
With respect to those who use the "word for word, verse by verse" terminology—and especially those who are using it correctly—the only reasonable way to study the Bible is in context. We absolutely must pay attention to specific words, and no verse is meant to be discarded or ignored. Yet we also must gauge every verse in connection with all God's other inspired writings, and do so in cooperation with other Christians.
The Bible itself demands we pay attention to details (1 Timothy 4:16; Matthew 5:18), watch for context (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12), and work with others (1 Peter 5:5; James 3:1; Matthew 28:19) as we seek to understand God's Word. That's our mission here, and one we take very seriously.
-- Editor
