When I was young, I really appreciated comic books. I still enjoy thoughtful strips, since they move the action forward quickly and I can easily grasp the meaning. As a youngster I was drawn to the funny pages in the morning paper. My favorite remains Peanuts. I admit that often I feel like Charlie Brown, though I aspire to the theological confidence of Linus. Anyway, I wasn't much of an avid reader, but comic books captured my attention since it was usually easy to understand the author's intent even if the message itself was somewhat sophisticated. That's the beauty of a picture! Concepts and ideas just jump out at the reader.
Sometimes I think it's a shame that the Bible wasn't written in comic book form. Then we would likely have fewer disagreements about what it says, though we might still struggle to obey. However, whether we realize it or not, it is written with visual and active language. It is up to the astute Bible student to carefully observe the textual markers.
Think about when you read Scripture, how there are certain words that stand out as important to a particular passage. The key is to make sure we are taking note of those words the author wishes us to notice more closely. That can take a lot of effort, since we are separated by time, language, and culture.
Traditional inductive Bible study approaches are certainly helpful:
The three main steps of inductive study [1]:
- Observation – What the text actually says.
- Interpretation – What the text meant to those to whom it was originally written.
- Application – How do we respond to the timeless truths of the text today?
I certainly encourage using this methodology. However, it’s a little trickier than what the simple steps above suppose. As Possin puts it:
“Inductive study is an approach to the Bible that helps the student build their conclusions from observations of the text.” In other words – observation first, conclusions second. Sounds simple, but there are complications. [Ibid]
He goes on to talk about those complications. I appreciate his honesty, and it's helpful for all of us to realize that most people struggle to get to the real point of the biblical passage.
To get to the point of today's installment, there is a comic book efficiency available to us in our Bible study methods by looking at verbs. Dr. Julius Wong-Loi Sing said in a hermeneutics lecture, you could make endless observations and still not really grasp the main thrust of the passage. Dr. “J” (as he is affectionately known at Moody Theological Seminary) introduced in that lecture a most important concept that I shall attempt to briefly unpack here: VERB PRIORITY.
The way Dr. J put it, if you recognize the placement of verbals (the parts of speech called verb and participles that denote action), you are on your way to understanding all the other words in a proper relationship. In other words, in a complicated Bible passage where you might not really get what is being said, look for the key verb forms and then see if you can put it together. This is really what is meant by the inductive approach of observing "what the text says".
In the passage of 1 Peter 1:1-9, I have configured Logos Bible Software to use a visual filter to color verbs in shades of orange (brighter orange is active voice; dark orange is passive voice):
This passage is an excellent example of why searching the verbs is so helpful. There are so many other words (nouns, adjectives, etc.) that might make it really hard to get what is the key message. In verse 3, the main verb form is "born again." You can see that visually in comparison to all the other words above. Since Logos is filtering from the Greek, there is another verb in verse 3: the word "living" is technically a verb.
It is clear from the context that God has done this rebirthing work in us in relation to the resurrection of Christ, and the implications are woven in verses 4-5. Additional supporting data is provided in verses 6-9 on why it seems odd that things are difficult now, since the living hope would seem to make suffering a thing of the past. Instead, Peter is providing a framework for us to understand that our suffering and trials now have a purpose, namely to demonstrate our faith is real (1:7).
Notice that the Bible editor put a heading starting at verse 3: "A New Birth to a Living Hope". They realized that those verbs (new birth and living hope) are the key to this section. So the more you can identify verbs in a Bible passage, the more confidence you can have in getting to the main theme and message the author wishes you to receive. Thus, the method of verb priority can accelerate your observation process. It will serve much like a comic strip in four panes, and quickly get you to the main point. Moreover, by practicing this method you can gain confidence in your interpretations.
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