Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin

When I first came to faith in Christ I was given a wonderful book which I treasure to this day. It is called Learning and Living the Christian Life by John Blanchard. This book helped me so much in teaching me how to read my bible and pray among other things. One thing we are at a disadvantage in here in Northern Ireland is having a weekly bible study. America seems to have them in every church. We announce a prayer meeting weekly in our church and it follows a set pattern. There is a hymn, a bible reading and our pastor "teaches" from the passage, then we move in to a time of praying when anyone can pray but we don't have an actual women only bible study. Why? Well I think it's because we have this belief that to do so would lead to false teaching. The belief is that ordinary people cannot teach scripture, they have to have a theological degree from a recognised Bible College. And it can never be women only, it must be a man who leads. Quite right too I hear you say as that is what the bible teaches. But you know what, that leads to problems. We bring people to faith in Christ and they live only on what is taught on a Sunday or at a weekly prayer meeting. My question is - if you were physically only been fed twice a week wouldn't you be malnourished? We never teach new believers how to actually read their bibles. Yes we say you should and maybe pass on some good bible reading notes to new believers but you know what happens? We develop a habit that makes us feel guilty if we miss a day. We never develop the actual joy of having a personal relationship with Christ himself. I have to put my hands up and say this was my experience for 30 odd years. That guilt feeling ... Well it followed me every day. I felt judged on my reading of God's word. By whom? Myself!

I read the bible from cover to cover every year during that time but I couldn't honestly say I understood or put together what was written or read. I developed a habit then progressed to the situation of looking for that little verse that spoke to me on each occasion. It was all about me, me, me.

Jen Wilkin in her introduction states that it is her intention through this book not to teach merely a doctrine, a concept or story line but a study method that will allow you to open up the bible on your own. It intends to challenge us to think and to grow using tools accessible to everyone, whether we hold a high school diploma or a seminary degree, whether we have minutes or hours or give to it each day. It intends to change the way we think about bible study.

How exciting!

She starts in the first chapter with 2 turnarounds:

Let the bible speak of God
Let the mind transform the heart

In the first turnaround she uses the illustration of Moses being called by God from the burning bush. She makes the point that God had to turn Moses' attitude from thinking of himself to God. God shows Moses what he has done, is doing and will do. So often we approach our bibles like this - what is it saying about me and my life right now? We need instead to focus on God and who he is because in doing so we will begin to understand ourselves.

Too often we approach things from the perspective of how we feel at that moment or in response to something that has happened to us. Jen shows that if we use our mind rather than our heart we get a different perspective and we get to know God more personally.

For me the illustration of playing the piano struck a chord. I love to learn how to play new pieces but to do that I need to practice constantly. I become determined and when I play in public I hope it shows that I love playing, I put my heart and soul into it. So too with scripture. When I read the bible I get to know more about God and what he has done for me, his love is shown so clearly. The more I read the more I become engaged in a personal relationship and get to know more about him.

In chapter 2 of Women of the Word Jen Wilkin looks at how we approach bible literacy. She focuses on 5 approaches:

The Xanax approach
The Pinball approach
The Magic 8 Ball approach
The Personal Shopper approach
The Telephone Game approach
The Jack Sprat approach

As she explains each approach she also presents the problems with these approaches. As Jen says we probably have taken one of these approaches at one time or another as our life has demanded such.

It is at this point that Jen Wilkin introduces the 5 P's of sound bible study:

Study with purpose
Study with perspective
Study with patience
Study with process
Study with prayer

I have to agree with what Jen says - studying in one set way such as say for instance taking a verse on its own and breaking it down word for word can make it so out of context. This leads to an incorrect understanding and even makes someone easy prey to false teaching.

 

Chapter 3 Study with Purpose

The bible is a book about God - fact! From Genesis to Revelation the bible is telling us about the reign and rule of God. This is the Big Story of the Bible, the purpose for which it was written.

Each of its 66 books contributes to telling this Big Story - a story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration. The bible purposes to tell us this Big Story in a thousand smaller stories from its first page to the last.

When we study the bible we should ask how the portion of scripture we are reading is telling us the Big Story of the Bible as a whole. This is what scholars call the metanarrative - the comprehensive explanation or guiding theme that illustrates other themes in a text. It is basically a story about stories.

Example: Genesis 1 and 2 God creates all things, chapter 3 tells the fall of mankind, then in verse 15 we see the introduction of redemption. In the rest of Genesis and Exodus the plan for redemption takes the shape of people chosen by God. The rest of the Old Testament continues to explore this theme ultimately pointing towards Christ's perfect redemptive work on the cross. In Revelation we see the restoration of order to the cosmos; God re-establishes perfect order with the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

I was reading Jen Wilkin's Women of the Word chapter 4 Study with Perspective.  When we come to read God's word we need to ask ourselves the following questions:

Who wrote it?
When was it written?
To whom was it written?
In what style was it written?
Why was it written?

I understand questions 1 to 3 but number 4 was certainly something I never thought of before. We have to remember that in the bible there is historical narrative, parables, poetry, wisdom literature and prophecy.

Jen advocates having a study bible and commentaries. It is good to know that as I have journaled through my bible for the 16 months I have been doing something right!

To be honest I have to admit that for years I would have read chapters of the bible without really asking these questions. I would read for the sake of saying I had read my bible that day but I probably could not have told you what it was that I read! Now that I am delving deep into scripture I find it so much more meaningful. And I am learning very slowly that it is not all about me. It doesn't matter if I don't hear what God is saying to me directly from a verse but rather it is more important to actually hear the verse and put it into context. It will be stored away so that some day I can bring it back to my remembrance.

 

In the fifth chapter Jen Wilkin talks about studying with patience. To be honest this is the part I struggle with as like Jen says I want to know and understand what God's word is saying right at the moment I read it.

Too many give up in studying the bible because they become frustrated at not having that "aha" moment.

I have watched various people on Instagram post their journal bibles and how they underline and put notes beside large sections and I want to be able to do the same. But you know what I have discovered? Those who do this very rarely share what they have written or discovered that led them to highlight that section. I have often wondered why. Maybe they will let me know some day.

I in fact do the opposite. I share everything. Why? Because I would love to meet others who are genuinely studying the bible and find it difficult. I want to share what I have learned and for others to share what they have too. In that way maybe we will learn to enjoy bible study and actually enjoy it. Now there is a thought! You mean you can actually look forward to reading God's word. Yes!

Yes it takes time and effort. This is the time in my life when I can and want to do it. I have been finding that although I have read the scriptures for years it actually has been sitting there in the background like a safety deposit box waiting for me to one day use it for such a time as this.

 

Chapter 6 of Jen Wilkin's book Women of the Word explains the process of bible study. There are basically 3 steps

Comprehension - what does it say?
Interpretation - what does it mean?
Application - how should it change me?

Jen uses the illustration of an alarm clock. During sleep we register the sound and begin to comprehend it. We start to interpret what it actually means and then apply it.

She then outlines the 6 tools to comprehending a passage:

A printed copy of the text
Repetitive reading
Annotation
An English dictionary
Other translations of the bible
Outlining

Within the interpretation stage we should use cross referencing and paraphrasing.

In applying God's word we should ask 3 questions:

What does this teach me about God?
How does this aspect of God's character change my view of self?
What should I do in response?

I have to admit that this is my third time reading this book. And I do follow quite a number of the steps outlined here but I am going to keep this as a handy guide for future study as I think it is a good reminder for every time I open the bible.