Understanding Scripture: Forty Things to Know about the Christian Bible

Robert P. Vande Kappelle

Des. 2020 · Wipf and Stock Publishers

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The Bible is the single most important book in the history of Western civilization; it is also the most widely misunderstood. To understand the Bible, we must consider its historical and literary context. Utilizing the contributions of three disciplines—biblical introduction, biblical theology, and biblical interpretation, Understanding Scripture sets the record straight. Intended as a handbook or study guide, this work provides forty practical guidelines to make your reading of the Bible more useful and your understanding clearer. The goal of this book is not simply to persuade you to read the Bible more frequently, but to encourage you to read it with discernment.

The forty concepts alluded to in the book’s subtitle are not factual in nature, meaning they are little concerned with biblical information. Rather, they comprise interpretive tools, “insider” techniques used by biblical scholars but widely unknown or ignored by average readers or believers. Parabolic in nature, the forty statements are designed to promote conversation rather than close or clinch an argument. This book is designed to keep you awake at night, romancing Scripture rather than mastering it, nourishing your spirituality rather than gorging or starving it.

Understanding Scripture is useful for individual or group study. Each chapter concludes with questions suitable for discussion or reflection.

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Robert P. Vande Kappelle, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), is the author of over twenty books, including volumes on ethics, church history, and spirituality. Dr. Vande Kappelle is also the author of biblical studies on the book of Revelation, the Gospel of John, the Wisdom Literature, the letter to the Romans, Luke-Acts, and his 2016 study of biblical themes titled Securing Life.