Bible Study References

[Wade]

I was wondering what are some recommendations for good bible study resources?

I recently got a Matthew Henry's Commentary and am finding it very rich and helpful.
I have enjoyed using a Strong's Concordance for a while which is also enjoyable.
When I look in the Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary often the word I am looking for won't be in it...
I have Menno Simons Complete Works but getting it recently I have not read it yet.
Martyr's Mirror is another we have.


Any other recommendations? And if you want to share in why it is helpful that would be nice too.

[MaxPC]

There are so many out there but ultimately, my wife and I always go back to reading the Bible every day in a practice that is called Lectio Divina: the prayerful reading of the Bible. I feel it lets God speak to me personally without the filter of a program by an author.

[mike]

One resource that I like to use if I'm going to teach through an entire book of the Bible is IVP's Bible Background Commentary.

[Bootstrap]

One resource that I like to use if I'm going to teach through an entire book of the Bible is IVP's Bible Background Commentary.

I love that, it's usually quick to read and gives most of the relevant cultural information you really need to know.

[Bootstrap]

I was wondering what are some recommendations for good bible study resources?

I recently got a Matthew Henry's Commentary and am finding it very rich and helpful.
I have enjoyed using a Strong's Concordance for a while which is also enjoyable.
When I look in the Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary often the word I am looking for won't be in it...
I have Menno Simons Complete Works but getting it recently I have not read it yet.
Martyr's Mirror is another we have.

What do you want these resources to do for you? How would you decide if a given resource is good for your needs?

If you want to learn to study the Bible on your own, I like these resources:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... /resources

There are lots of other good resources for scripture engagement here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... ngagement/

I wouldn't treat the definitions in Strong's as authoritative, it was not designed to be used as a dictionary, and just lists the KJV translations used for each word. It essentially tells you the King James translations used for each word. Vine's is much better, but as you say, it does not include every word. If you can at least read the Greek letters, then you have a lot of options for lexicons, I can list some if you like.

Menno Simons discusses a lot of Scripture and does so well, but tends not to focus on exegesis of one text at a time, focusing rather on the overview of biblical teaching with lots of biblical references. Martyr's Mirror isn't really so much a Bible Study tool at all.

[MaxPC]

Wade: I've always enjoyed your own thoughts about Biblical discipleship. Do you seek a study for verification or expansion of your perceptions of Anabaptist theology?

Ernie's fellowship, Followers of the Way, have some excellent Biblical messages to expand thinking and understanding:
http://followers-of-the-way.org/messages.shtml

[Wade]

Hopefully this answers most of the questions:

I like study helps for verification but also expansion of proper precepts. (I have a lot to learn.)

I like it when they help in seeing something clearer that it is easy to relate to and then apply to real life in practical ways. I am a slow reader so Matthew Henry's Commentary is very daunting but yet there is some clarity in it that I have not heard before that is rather helpful. (Not being raised Christian I do find at times some of the basic things that others understand I need broken down into simpler form.) (With weak reading skills it can be helpful to hear the same things over and over and from different wording tell it sinks in...)

No matter what resources I have used often I will stop them for a bit and just read scripture itself. But not having a church that we regularly attend it is easy for me to become unbalanced in views at times. So study helps can also be just other ideas, even if they don't always line up with my thinking; they really can be helpful in broaden my view. That is part of the reason I ask all of you because not am I just interested what works for me, I like to hear what also works for you.

[Josh]

Wade: I've always enjoyed your own thoughts about Biblical discipleship. Do you seek a study for verification or expansion of your perceptions of Anabaptist theology?

Ernie's fellowship, Followers of the Way, have some excellent Biblical messages to expand thinking and understanding:
http://followers-of-the-way.org/messages.shtml

That is not Ernie's fellowship, and some of their messages deviate quite far from what I consider Anabaptism and conservative Mennonite thinking.

[Josh]

IVP's study materials are good. I personally recommend staying far away from Strong's.

I like Menno Simons' approach to scripture. I find it refreshing compared to a typical fundamentalist view.

[gcdonner]

I was wondering what are some recommendations for good bible study resources?

I recently got a Matthew Henry's Commentary and am finding it very rich and helpful.
I have enjoyed using a Strong's Concordance for a while which is also enjoyable.
When I look in the Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary often the word I am looking for won't be in it...
I have Menno Simons Complete Works but getting it recently I have not read it yet.
Martyr's Mirror is another we have.

What do you want these resources to do for you? How would you decide if a given resource is good for your needs?

If you want to learn to study the Bible on your own, I like these resources:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... /resources

There are lots of other good resources for scripture engagement here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... ngagement/

I wouldn't treat the definitions in Strong's as authoritative, it was not designed to be used as a dictionary, and just lists the KJV translations used for each word. It essentially tells you the King James translations used for each word. Vine's is much better, but as you say, it does not include every word. If you can at least read the Greek letters, then you have a lot of options for lexicons, I can list some if you like.

Menno Simons discusses a lot of Scripture and does so well, but tends not to focus on exegesis of one text at a time, focusing rather on the overview of biblical teaching with lots of biblical references. Martyr's Mirror isn't really so much a Bible Study tool at all.

While it is not as popular as Strong's, Young's Analytical Concordance is exhaustive, gives a portion of the sentence that the word is found in, and lists all different forms of the words (English-KJV) separately. This same Robert Young also produced a literal translation of the bible. They were compiled in the latter part of the 19th century. I prefer it to Strong's for in depth bible study research.
Obviously you are online, I would highly recommend downloading (free!) the eSword digital bible. It has a host of reference material that you can download for free and more that you can purchase as well. There is also an independent site that offers more for free to go along with eSword. I have over 50 bible versions, a host of dictionaries & commentaries as well as maps, etc.
Here is a link:
http://www.e-sword.net/
They give screen shots so you can get an idea of how it is laid out and you can also modify the layout, text and colors to suit your own preferences.
Enjoy!